{"id":52395,"date":"2024-03-29T16:32:36","date_gmt":"2024-03-29T16:32:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/uncategorized\/2024\/03\/29\/101st-airborne-first-army-unit-to-field-next-generation-squad-weapons\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T04:18:17","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T04:18:17","slug":"101st-airborne-first-army-unit-to-field-next-generation-squad-weapons","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/news\/your-army\/2024\/03\/29\/101st-airborne-first-army-unit-to-field-next-generation-squad-weapons\/","title":{"rendered":"101st Airborne first Army unit to field Next Generation Squad Weapons"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Soldiers from the 101st Airborne Division at Fort Campbell, Kentucky, on Thursday became the first Army unit equipped with the service\u2019s Next Generation Squad Weapon systems, officials said in a service release.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Troops with the 1st Battalion, 506th Infantry Regiment accepted <a href=\"https:\/\/www.armytimes.com\/news\/your-army\/2023\/12\/20\/army-to-field-new-rifle-machine-gun-and-optic-in-2024\/\" target=\"_blank\">the next-gen weaponry<\/a> \u2014 the XM7 rifle, the XM250 automatic rifle, the XM157 fire control advanced optic, and the 6.8mm family of ammunition \u2014&nbsp;in preparation for an equipment trainer course in April, the statement said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Army\u2019s newest rifle and automatic rifle had already made it into soldiers\u2019 hands for testing, but are now officially being fielded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div id=\"fb-root\"><\/div>\n<script async=\"1\" defer=\"1\" crossorigin=\"anonymous\" src=\"https:\/\/connect.facebook.net\/en_US\/sdk.js#xfbml=1&amp;version=v19.0\" nonce=\"BMjvY2IP\"><\/script><div class=\"fb-post\" data-href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/PEOSoldier\/posts\/pfbid0rkzNBH3vkJzKrb52j16qays1DWMfXXFGcEJbxYzRmUdNKY6q3FMYMXFZRBU3F3GYl\" data-width=\"552\"><blockquote cite=\"https:\/\/graph.facebook.com\/100064817347773\/posts\/820325113471393\/\" class=\"fb-xfbml-parse-ignore\"><p>LTC Mark Vidotto, Next Generation Squad Weapons (NGSW) requirements manager for Army Futures Command, LTC Eric Evans,&#8230;<\/p>Posted by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/PEOSoldier\">PEO Soldier<\/a> on&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/graph.facebook.com\/100064817347773\/posts\/820325113471393\/\">Thursday, March 28, 2024<\/a><\/blockquote><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThe process of developing and fielding new equipment is never without challenges and setbacks and speed bumps, so we\u2019re celebrating the fact that we\u2019re delivering on schedule, as promised,\u201d Lt. Col. Mark Vidotto, from the Army\u2019s Soldier Lethality Cross Functional Team at Fort Moore, Georgia, said in a statement. \u201cIt was a team effort from start to finish.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/news\/your-army\/2024\/02\/29\/soldiers-test-next-generation-squad-weapon-in-extreme-cold-weather\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"240\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/NGSW-25th-ID.jpg.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">Soldiers test Next Generation Squad Weapon in extreme cold weather<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">A platoon from the 101st Airborne Division will be the first to field the new weapons later this year.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The XM7 rifle is slated to replace the M4 carbine, while the XM250 automatic rifle will replace the M249 Squad Automatic Weapon, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.armytimes.com\/news\/your-army\/2024\/02\/29\/soldiers-test-next-generation-squad-weapon-in-extreme-cold-weather\/\" target=\"_blank\">Army Times previously reported<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The weapons, which soldiers spent more than 25,000 hours developing and testing, are set for use by close combat forces such as infantry, special operations, scouts, combat engineers, combat medics and forward observers. The weapons and optics will drop the \u201cX\u201d in their names once fielded, Army Times also reported.<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/news\/your-army\/2023\/10\/06\/whats-the-firepower-like-for-the-armys-new-rifle-automatic-rifle\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"199\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/11-08-22-LoadCarriageEvent-LiveFire-148.JPG.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">What\u2019s the firepower like for the Army\u2019s new rifle?<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">Units with 101st Airborne Division and 75th Ranger Regiment are testing the weapons now.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Efforts to develop the new weaponry began following the 2017 Small Arms Ammunition Configuration Study, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.armytimes.com\/news\/your-army\/2023\/12\/20\/army-to-field-new-rifle-machine-gun-and-optic-in-2024\/\" target=\"_blank\">Army Times reported<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Earlier this month, the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.army.mil\/article\/274748\/army_awards_next_generation_squad_weapon_ammunition_facility_construction_contract\" target=\"_blank\">Army awarded a contract <\/a>to Olin Winchester, the operating contractor of Lake City Army Ammunition Plant, to construct a facility to manufacture ammunition for the weapons. Partners included JPEO Armaments and Ammunition, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.armytimes.com\/off-duty\/gearscout\/2024\/01\/24\/sig-sauer-wants-to-be-the-small-arms-company-of-the-us-military\/\" target=\"_blank\">Sig Sauer<\/a> and Vortex, the release said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A 75th Ranger Regiment soldier <a href=\"https:\/\/www.army.mil\/article\/264799\/army_moving_forward_with_next_generation_squad_weapons_ngsw_program\" target=\"_blank\">previously discussing the XM7 rifle said<\/a> soldiers \u201cabsolutely would take this weapon to combat in a heartbeat.\u201d Another expressed a similar sentiment about the XM250 automatic rifle, sharing that the weapon felt \u201clike a huge upgrade.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Army plans to field weapons systems to a National Guard armored brigade in May, according to modernization schedules, the release said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A brigade from the 101st Airborne Division at Fort Campbell became the first unit equipped with the Army\u2019s new Next Generation Squad Weapons.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":88780,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":70,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":{"2":{"categories":["your-military","news"],"primary_category":"your-military"}}},"categories":[100,12,25,70],"tags":[],"coauthors":[3317],"class_list":["post-52395","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-daily-news-roundup","category-news","category-newsletters","category-your-army"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"VUCLYZVHPNAO5NXXYR5JQG7IGU","arc_canonical_url":"\/news\/your-army\/2024\/03\/29\/101st-airborne-first-army-unit-to-field-next-generation-squad-weapons\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented 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