Tag Archives: NGSW-AR

Meet the New Army Small Arms Ammo Facility

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In WWII, the Army had 12 War Department-owned and operated plants dedicated to making small arms ammunition, around the clock.

These plants slowly shuttered post-war, with brief respites caused by Korea and Vietnam, until the Twin Cities Army Ammunition Plant, which had been placed on “standby” in 1976, was finally closed in 2005, leaving only Lake City AAP in Independence, Missouri as the only remaining Army small arms plant.

Even at that, Lake City was run on contract at first by Olin-Winchester, then Northrop Grumman, and, since 2019, by Olin-Winchester once again.

Well, the Army is moving ahead with the construction of its first new small arms ammunition factory in decades, and it will be dedicated to making ammo for the Next Generation Squad Weapons.

The new 450,000 sq. ft., facility, built on the Lake City AAP campus, had its groundbreaking on Feb. 5.

It will feature modern manufacturing systems capable of producing “all components” of 6.8×51 Common Cartridge ammunition as part of the NGSW program.

The 6.8x51mm, seen in SIG-loaded 113-grain ball for the NGSW program and a .277 Fury commercial load (white tip). (Photos: Chris Eger/Guns.com)

The Army specified this includes “cartridge case and projectile manufacturing, energetic operations for loading and charging ammunition, product packaging, process quality controls, testing laboratories, maintenance operations, and administrative areas.”

Opening by 2028 (ish), it is expected to be able to make upwards of 400 million rounds a year– against Lake City’s legacy capacity to make 1.4 billion rounds of all other calibers. Until then, 6.8 is sole-sourced through SIG.

More in my column at Guns.com.

The NGSW You Have at Home

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The Army’s Next Generation Squad Weapon program, which SIG won in April 2022, aims to use the XM7 rifle to replace the M4 Carbine series with America’s warfighters and the XM250 machine gun to do the same for the M249 Squad Automatic Weapon. While the M4 and M249 are 5.56 NATO platforms, the new NGSW series will use the Army’s new 6.8 Common Cartridge family of ammunition.

An infantryman with the 2nd Battalion, 502nd Infantry Regiment (Strike Force), 2nd Brigade (Strike), 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), executes chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear defense (CBRN defense) day qualification with the Next Generation Squad Weapon-Rifle and Fire Control while operationally testing at Fort Campbell, Kentucky. (Photo Credit: Mark Scovell, Visual Information Specialist, U.S. Army Operational Test Command)

That’s what makes the newest MCX Spear variant offered commercially so cool, as it is chambered not in SIG’s consumer .277 Fury variant of the cartridge but in 6.8x51mm – and SIG plans to make overruns of Army ammo available to consumers.

The rifles will still be able to shoot dimensionally identical .277 Fury, while other caliber options such as .308 and 6.5 CM are a barrel swap away.

Plus, there is military overrun ammo inbound.

The military overrun ammo on hand was 113-grain copper solid ball in 20-round boxes, 460-round cans, and 920-round crates. With a .330 ballistic coefficient and 3,200 FPS velocity out of a 16-inch barrel, these rounds spec out at 2,569 foot-pounds of energy at the muzzle. The case is a brass/stainless steel hybrid that allows for increased muzzle velocity/energy compared to traditional brass.

More in my column at Guns.com.

First National Guard Unit Gets Hands on Next Generation Squad Weapons, Navy Next?

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A North Carolina unit is the first in the National Guard to field test the new SIG Sauer-made XM7 and the XM250, which is replacing the M4/M4A1 carbine and M249 Squad Automatic Weapon, respectively.

The 30th Armored Brigade Combat Team, a National Guard outfit that carries the “Old Hickory” lineage of the World War I & II era infantry division of the same number, earlier this month conducted a qualification table range session with the Army’s Next Generation Squad Weapon platforms at Fort Liberty (formerly Fort Bragg), North Carolina.

The unit is the first in the Guard to receive the XM7 and XM250, just months after the first regular Army unit, the famed 101st Airborne Division, began receiving their NGSWs.

A soldier of the 30th ABCT, a North Carolina Army National Guard unit, with the XM7 on the range at Fort Liberty earlier this month. (Photo: Cpl. Nigel Hatcher/U.S. Army)

This comes as ADM Daryl Caudle, commander of the U.S. Fleet Forces Command, toured SIG Sauer’s new Academy and SIG Experience Center in Newington, New Hampshire, earlier this month. Images released by the Pentagon show Caudle and staff inspecting the state-of-the-art facility where over 480,000 M17 and M18 handguns have been produced for the military thus far. 

And include Caudle handling an NSGW.

240610-N-XX999-1001 NEWINGTON, N.H. (June 10, 2024) Adm. Daryl Caudle, commander, U.S. Fleet Forces Command, examines a firearm during a leadership meeting and tour at SIG SAUER Academy and Experience Center (SEC) in Newington, New Hampshire, June 10. 

Of note, the Marines have been interested in the platform going back to 2020.

101st Airborne Starts Getting Its New Guns

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Part of the famed 101st Airborne Division recently became the first unit issued with the new Next Generation Squad Weapon system.

A March 28 social media post from the PEO Soldier office detailed that the 1st Battalion, 506th Infantry Regiment, a unit of the Fort Campbell-based 101st, received the NGSW, marking a key milestone for the program that intends to replace the 5.56 NATO M4 Carbine and M249 Squad Automatic Weapon with a new family of weapons chambered in 6.8mm.

The new guns will be used in an upcoming New Equipment Training, an in-depth, train-the-trainer course, set for this month. From there, the systems and training will fan out across the brigade.

Elements of the 101st had been previously involved in an extensive series of more than 100 tests spanning over 25,000 hours and 1.5 million rounds of ammo with the platform. 

An infantryman with the 2nd Battalion, 502nd Infantry Regiment (Strike Force), 2nd Brigade (Strike), 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), executes chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear defense (CBRN defense) day qualification with the Next Generation Squad Weapon-Rifle and Fire Control while operationally testing at Fort Campbell, Kentucky. (Photo Credit: Mark Scovell, Visual Information Specialist, U.S. Army Operational Test Command)

The program includes SIG Sauer’s XM-7 rifle, which will fill the role currently held by the M4 series, the SIG XM250 light machine gun slated to replace the M249, and the Vortex-produced M157 Fire Control optics system used on both platforms. SIG also supplies suppressors for the platforms. Of note, the XM-7 is based on SIG’s MCX Spear series.

Next up for NGSW is to equip a National Guard armored brigade in May.

More in my column at Guns.com.

Denali Paratroopers Test New Next-Gen Weapons at 25 Below

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The only Arctic, Airborne, Recon cavalry squadron in the U.S. Army has been busy trying out the service’s new Next Generation Squad Weapon systems in some of the worst weather Alaska can offer.

The 1st Squadron (Airborne) of the 40th Cavalry Regiment, working with Fort Greely’s Cold Regions Test Center in one of the coldest parts of Alaska, has been putting the NGSW platform through its paces. The program includes SIG Sauer’s XM-7 rifle, which will fill the role currently held by the M4 Carbine series, the SIG XM250 light machine gun slated to replace the M249 Squad Automatic Weapon, and the Vortex-produced M157 Fire Control optics system used on both platforms.

“Extreme environmental testing is critical to ensuring reliable systems,” noted Col. Jason Bohannon, the Army’s Project Manager Soldier Lethality on Feb. 9.

Meanwhile, a social media page for the 1st Squadron-40th Cav noted that they have been experiencing “sub-Arctic conditions in the vicinity of Ft Greely where temperatures haven’t topped above -25 degrees.”

If your range gear includes “Mickey Mouse” Boots, you may be testing an NGSW in Alaska in winter. (Photo: PEO Soldier)

That just seems…really cold. (Photo: PEO Soldier)

The 40th has a long military history of making it work under terrible conditions. Based in its current form in Alaska since 2005– from where they deployed to Iraq (Southern Baghdad) once and Afghanistan twice (Paktya and Khost Provinces)– it draws its lineage from the old 40th Tank Battalion which entered combat on August 15 1944 fighting across northern France into Belgium where it made a significant contribution to the defeat of German forces at St. Vith during the Battle of the Bulge then drove into Germany linking up with the Soviets on the Baltic coast.

M4 Shermans in temporary position near St. Vith, Belgium, fire on enemy positions beyond the city. 40th Tank Battalion. 7th Armored Division.” Date: 24 January 1945. Salis, U.S. Army Signal Corps photo 111-SC-199467

Rangers and 101st Beat on the NGSWs

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The Army’s Next Generation Squad Weapons program just completed an important milestone with the SIG Sauer-produced firearms wrapping up testing at Fort Campbell, Kentucky.

First arriving in quantity at the base in early October, the NGSW just finished new equipment training and a limited user test with troops drawn from the 75th Ranger Regiment and the “Screaming Eagles” of the 101st Airborne Division.

The training started with classroom work on the new systems, including SIG Sauer’s XM-7 rifle, which will fill the role currently held by the M4 Carbine series, the SIG XM250 light machine gun slated to replace the M249 Squad Automatic Weapon, and the Vortex-produced M157 Fire Control optics system used on both platforms.

An infantryman with the 2nd Battalion, 502nd Infantry Regiment (Strike Force), 2nd Brigade (Strike), 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) (Screaming Eagles), installs the suppressor on the Next Generation Squad Weapon-Rifle during new equipment training while operationally testing at Fort Campbell, Kentucky. (Photo Credit: Mark Scovell, Visual Information Specialist, U.S. Army Operational Test Command)

Then came live fire on static ranges, compared to the legacy systems, and a series of drills in the LUT segment.

An infantryman with the 2nd Battalion, 502nd Infantry Regiment (Strike Force), 2nd Brigade (Strike), 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), executes chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear defense (CBRN defense) day qualification with the Next Generation Squad Weapon-Rifle and Fire Control while operationally testing at Fort Campbell, Kentucky. (Photo Credit: Mark Scovell, Visual Information Specialist, U.S. Army Operational Test Command)

An infantryman with 2nd Battalion, 502nd Infantry Regiment (Strike Force), 2nd Brigade (Strike), 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) (Screaming Eagles), fires the Next Generation Squad Weapon-Automatic Rifle during the buddy team live fire exercise while operationally testing at Fort Campbell, Kentucky. (U.S. Army photo by Mark Scovell)

More in my column at Guns.com.

Screaming Eagles Get Hands on NGSW

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The Army’s Next Generation Squad Weapons program is rolling right along, with the SIG Sauer-produced firearms making an appearance at Fort Campbell, Kentucky.

The base, home to the iconic “Screaming Eagles” of the 101st Airborne Division, will be the first to field operational units with the new guns under current plans, and Campbell brass appeared on the firing line to get a feel for the new hardware.

U.S. Army Fort Campbell Command Sgt. Maj. Chad Stackpole fires a Next-Generation Squad Weapon (NGSW) Machine Gun during a weapon familiarization demonstration, Sept. 25, 2023, at Fort Campbell, Ky. (Photo & caption: Kayla Cosby/U.S. Army)

U.S. Army Fort Campbell Garrison Commander Col. Christopher Midberry fires a Next-Generation Squad Weapon (NGSW) Machine Gun during a weapon familiarization demonstration, Sept. 25, 2023, at Fort Campbell, Ky. (Photo & caption: Kayla Cosby/U.S. Army)

As outlined by Soldier Systems Daily, Company A of the 2nd Battalion, 502nd Infantry Regiment, a historic unit that has been part of the 101st since World War II, will begin a Limited User Test with the NGSW platforms this week, comparing them to legacy systems. The Army plans to have the 101st’s 1st Brigade be the first unit fully equipped with the NGSW, likely sometime early next year.

No, the NGSW is not Canceled

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The XM250, Sig Sauer’s light machine gun, is the tentative NGSW-AR winner. Like the XM5, it is chambered in 6.8x51mm. It is expected to replace the M249 SAW in front-line service with the U.S. Army. (Photo: Chris Eger/Guns.com)

The NGSW-R, the XM7 rifle, is Sig Sauer’s MCX Spear. Using a 20-round magazine, it is chambered in a new 6.8×51 caliber. (Photo: Chris Eger/Guns.com)

The Army’s Next Generation Squad Weapon program– which is a big war battle rifle and light machine gun in a new (and very spicy) common 6.8x51mm caliber with a gucci optics package– is a thing.

As I’ve covered in the past several years, just about every large (and several small) rifle, ammo, and/or glass maker has tried to take a bite at the program, which stands to be the biggest small arms contract of the past 65 years.

In the end, last year SIG picked up the contract for the guns and their suppressors while Vortex got the optics.

Of course, the plan now is just to equip front-facing warfighters with the guns (spec ops, infantry, etc) rather than everyone, so the numbers are small, at least for now, but the potential to expand is great, especially if the program is successful and scalable.

Well, an op-ed piece by an Australian terrorism expert, without any clear first-hand experience with the guns or the programs, cast a mountain of shade on the system last month, something which should not have come as a surprise as he has ginned up hit pieces on the program in the past, which all kind of smacked from his personal feelings rather than something based in fact.

Then, the SIG and Vortex haters came jumping off the top rope on all the reddits, forum posts, blog posts, and gun groups saying that NGSW is a dead program and a colossal waste of time and treasure– all without citing any source rather than the articles written by said Australian terror expert (an academic who advocated scrapping the SAS of all things and that “the US may now be spinning dangerously towards insurgency).

However, the Army has responded with a press blitz of its own, coupled with the budget book asking for $300 million in funding for FY24 for the NSGW program. This will cover 1,419 M250 Automatic Rifle (NGSW-AR)s, 17,122 M7 Rifle (NGSW-R)s, and 14,932 M157 Fire Control systems, about one-sixth of what the Army plans to buy for the life of the multi-year program, numbers that sound about right. 

4th Ranger Training Battalion soldiers demonstrate the U.S. Army’s NGSWs during a Rangers in Action Ceremony Sept. 16, 2022, at Victory Pond, Fort Benning, Georgia. (U.S. Army photo by Patrick A. Albright, Maneuver Center of Excellence and Fort Benning Public Affairs)

So, for now, at least, it would seem that NGSW is very much still alive, no matter what the internet says.

As it stands the Army says it has conducted over 100 technical tests, fired over 1.5 million rounds of 6.8mm ammunition through the guns, and logged more than 20,000 hours of soldier testing with the NGSWs. 

Next is Production Qualification Testing and Operational Tests this summer, followed by the first weapons headed to units in the second quarter of 2024.  

SIG Making Consumer NGSW Rifle Variant

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SIG Sauer this week officially introduced the version of the military’s new Next Generation rifle that won’t require talking to a recruiter.

Last April, the New Hampshire-based firearms giant made headlines around the globe by pulling down the award for the Army’s Next Generation Squad Weapons, a series of 6.8mm rifles and light machine guns and their companion suppressors that are planned to replace the current 5.56 NATO small arms in front line service. The rifle, originally introduced as the XM5 and recently renamed the XM7, is based on the company’s gas-piston action MCX platform and uses SIG’s in-house developed SLX suppressor system.

While the as-issued XM7 currently being sent to the Army runs a standard 15.3-inch barrel (as measured over its muzzle device) and SIG released to the public a limited run of suppressed 13-inch barreled commemoratives last year that required two tax stamps, the MCX Spear will be fully NFA-compliant in at least most of its variants.

We were able to get a sneak peek at the consumer MCX Spear late last year while visiting SIG’s plant in New Hampshire but were sworn to secrecy on the program.

I thought it was pretty cool.

Maybe not $4,000 kinda cool, but still pretty neat.

More in my column at Guns.com.

A Dozen Interesting Takeaways on Sig’s Next Gen Weapons

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I recently got to hang out with the folks from Sig Sauer and learned about the company’s successful submission to the Army’s Next Generation Squad Weapons program. 

As part of Sig’s Freedom Days event at the Ben Avery Shooting Center outside of Phoenix, Arizona, the company had its MCX Spear and prototype XM250 light machine gun on display and available for attendees to shoot. 

Jason St. John, a well-mustachioed retired Army Ranger and now Sig’s director for government products, took a break from holding class on the systems and gave us the 411 in the below three-minute video. 

Some of the key takeaways:

  • The MCX Spear/XM5 has a low-profile buttstock that is both extendible and side-folding, providing soldiers a more compact firearm while riding in vehicles and aircraft. Nonetheless, it is still fully deployable with the stock folded. Attached with T27 Torx screws, it can be replaced with other stocks, and Sig has flavors including one with a gas mask cut and a six-way adjustable precision rifle stock. Alternatively, an M4-style tube can be fitted. 
     
  • It is closer in size to a compact AR-10/SR-25 rather than an M4. St. John explained it as “an AR-10 version of the M4 version of the MCX,” in talking about the upscale. “There’s no way to go to a medium-caliber solution without moving up from a small-caliber rifle…you’re not going to get the performance from an M4-sized rifle, so it was inevitable that the rifle was going to grow.”
     
  • The rifle is about as ambi as it comes. This includes a selector lever, bolt catch/bolt release, and a magazine catch/release on both the left and right-hand sides of the lower receiver. 
     
  • It has two charging handles – a rearward handle that is familiar to any AR/M4 user, and a side-mounted non-reciprocating charging handle on the left of the upper, akin to that seen on a G3/HK91 or SCAR NRCH. It folds to a low profile.
     
  • The MCX Spear has a user-swappable barrel and barrel extension held inside two T27 Torx screws in a self-contained clamp. Just loosen it up and swap it out for a shorter barrel or a different caliber. It doesn’t get much more modular than that. Sig has a commercial version of the gun in .277 Fury and 6.5 CM with .308 Win models coming soon. Sig also plans a Sig MCX Spear Rattler with an 8-inch gas trap barrel that, with hybrid ammo, will still provide carbine-like velocity. 
     
  • For those quiet moments, the MCX Spear has a two-position gas valve – “normal” and “adverse,” each with its own suppressed and unsuppressed settings – that allows the user to tweak the gas system for different ammo types and field conditions. Keep in mind that the Army may have to use the rifle anywhere from the polar regions to the jungle and desert. 
     
  • The XM250 has an extendable buttstock. Sig also offers the gun with a side-folding stock, so that already exists should the Army look for a more compact LMG down the road. 
     
  • The charging handle is on the left side of the XM250’s receiver while the feed tray opens from the left as well, rather than the top as on some other machine guns. Sig said this is so the feed tray doesn’t interfere with in-line optics mounted on the gun’s top Pic rail.
     
  • The machine gun has a quick-change barrel with a self-contained clamp that can be changed in seconds. This feature also allows the gun to swap between its standard 6.8 caliber to, for instance, a 7.62 NATO caliber, in minutes. 
     
  • Firing from an open bolt, the XM250 has a three-position safety: safe, full auto, and semi. Unlike other designs, it can be loaded with the bolt forward and charged with the selector on safe. 
     
  • Like the MCX/XM5, the X250 has a two-position (“normal” and “adverse”) gas valve, each with suppressed and unsuppressed settings.
     
  • The hybrid bi-metallic case on the 6.8x51mm cartridge developed for the Army by Sig uses a steel base/head and a brass case to allow the pressure to go from the traditional ~68,000 psi of an all-brass case to the region of 120K psi without any failure while still using conventional primers and powder. This translates to a 350 fps boost in velocity. Alternatively, this also allows for 16-inch-barrel-level velocities from an 8-inch barrel or a 24-inch-barrel-level velo from a 14-inch barrel.

Still curious and want more? Check out St. John’s full 18-minute talk and demo, below, filmed front and center at Freedom Days, an event that is likely coming closer to your area in future months.

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