#USArmy

A couple of weeks ago Barrett Firearms Manufacturing Inc. announced that they had completed the first shipment of rifles to the US Army. The shipment of MRAD Mk22 MOD 0 rifles is the first of a series which will fulfil a $50 million five-year contract signed back in early 2021. The contract will see just short of 3,000 MRADs procured as part of the US Army Precision Sniper Rifle program.

FN America have been awarded a $92 million contract by the US Army to produce M240 series general purpose machine guns. The firm fixed price contract awarded 8 June calls for an estimated completion date of June 2026. FN confirmed that the contract will cover M240 provisions not just for the US Army but also other Department of Defense programs.

Much digital ink has been spilled over the last several years regarding the US Army’s NGSW ( Next Generation Squad Weapons) Program. Most of the rifles/carbines and machine guns currently employed by America’s soldiers are not particularly modern, by any stretch. Today’s M4A1 has seen some notable updates and improvements, to be sure, but at its core it’s still based on the same M16 that first entered service in the Vietnam era, more than half a century ago. The 5.56×45mm NATO round it uses has come under fire from time to time, for being perhaps a bit too anemic for its purpose. This same cartridge is used by the belt-fed M249 SAW (Squad Automatic Weapon), which was designed in the ’70s and has been in service since 1984. Though some update attempts have been explored since then, none came to fruition.

It has been a while since we had news from the US Army’s Next Generation Squad Weapons program, the last updates we got were on the final prototype and ammunition deliveries being made for the next stage of the Army’s evaluations. Now some interesting news regarding General Dynamics Ordnance and Tactical Systems’ bullpup entry the RM277-R and RM227-AR. A new company, LoneStar Future Weapons will be taking the lead on the post-development phase of the weapon.

Each day a different image from the world of firearms. We call this POTD, short for Photo Of The Day, and it’s our daily article series where we go to great lengths trying to find the most interesting pictures for you out there. Quite often we pick pictures of various kinds of Special Forces, so you can get an insight into how they dress, what equipment and firearms they use.

General Austin Scott Miller is a warfighter who knows a thing or two about firearms, and has previously been noted for preferring a 1911 over the Army’s recently-retired standard-issue sidearm, the M9. Now the former Delta operator has been seen carrying a modified Glock in Afghanistan, rather than the current M17/ M18 handguns that have been chosen to replace the aging Beretta service pistol. Of particular interest is that this is no stock Glock, as some Special Operations personnel have been authorized to use in the past. The General’s gun features some auspicious modernizations commonly associated with high-end handguns, often meant for competition. In these photos, you can see Miller is employing a red-dot optic, a mag extension, and a compensator added to the gun’s muzzle. It’s not clear whether his holster is concealing the weaponlight that would be needed to qualify the pistol as a full-blown Roland Special-style sidearm, but given the General‘s other accessory choices, it would not be surprising if this was the case.

The US Army has confirmed its procurement of Barrett Firearms Manufacturing Inc.’s MK22 Multi-role Adaptive Design (MRAD) rifle as the Precision Sniper Rifle. The $50 million five year contract will see just short of 3,000 MRADs procured. It has not been specified which calibre will be the primary chambering of the Army’s new sniper rifles but the Army’s announcement does mention the MRAD’s ability to switch between .338 Norma Magnum, .300 Norma Magnum and 7.62×51 NATO.

M1152 Ball and M1153 Special Purpose 9x19mm cartridges have been adopted by the US military along with the MHS handguns (M17 and M18). The M1152 is loaded with a 115-grain full metal jacket (FMJ) bullet and the M1153 Special Purpose cartridge utilizes a 147-grain jacketed hollow point (JHP) projectile. The intended use for the M1153 ammo is the situations where overpenetration is a concern, to minimize the collateral damage. Contrary to popular belief, not all hollow point cartridges are banned for military use – the US military has this option for their handguns and apparently, it does not violate any conventions.

True Velocity have confirmed delivery of their final shipment of over 625,000 rounds of their 6.8mm hybrid ammunition for the U.S. Army’s Next Generation Squad Weapon program. True Velocity shared a photo of the shipment on pallets about to leave the factory with some of the production team posing next to it.

With the  Next Generation Squad Weapon (NGSW) program underway, the US army is considering changes in squad size. Working with the basic assumption that introducing new weapons might mean a change in optimal squad organization, the Army’s Maneuver Battle Lab recently revealed that they have commenced a study tackling the issue. While it is uncertain if any change will result from the study, the army had already indicated that the size of the squad will not fall below 9 men.

Last month we reported that SIG Sauer had been awarded a major contract to provide the US Army’s new Direct View Optic (DVO) which will be used on the current M4A1 carbine, replacing the venerable ACOG. An award notice valued at $77,168,400 was posted in September.

The US Army is seeking to increase the lethality offered by its 40mm grenade launchers. For decades the M203 has been the US Army’s go-to under barrel grenade launcher, only recently has the M320 from Heckler & Koch surpassed it. Now the U.S. Army’s Army Contracting Command have launched a search for a new Precision Grenadier System or PGS.

Winchester has just completed its first historic ammunition delivery for the United States Warfighter by means of shipments of both 5.56x45mm NATO and 50 BMG ammunition departing to various armed forces locations across the globe. The Lake City Ammunition Plant has been producing ammunition since 1941 and this first shipment is part of a 7-year contract with the United States Army that was awarded in 2019.

Textron Systems, one of the three vendors in the running for the US Army’s Next Generation Squad Weapon program held a media panel earlier this week. The panel was lead by Wayne Prender, who is Textron’s Senior Vice President, Applied Technologies and Advanced Programs.

Its been a little while since we last saw Textron’s Next Generation Squad Weapon prototypes but with the  2020 Annual Meeting and Exposition coming up Textron have released a new promo video.