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Next Generation Squad Weapon
U.S. military program to develop small arms / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Next Generation Squad Weapon (NGSW) program is a United States military program created in 2017 by the U.S. Army to replace the 5.56mm M4 carbine, the M249 SAW light machine gun, and the 7.62mm M240 machine gun, with a common system of 6.8mm cartridges and to develop small arms fire-control systems for the new weapons.[1][2]
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Seven defense manufacturers competed in the program, with five attempting to design and produce the weapons and two attempting to create and supply fire-control optics.[3] The winners were officially announced by the Army in early 2022: SIG Sauer to produce the XM7 rifle and XM250 automatic rifle, Vortex Optics to produce the XM157 fire-control system,[3] and Winchester to produce the custom 6.8mm ammunition cartridges designed by SIG Sauer.[4][5][6] The program was expected to cost $10 million in the first year of production, and $150 million the next.[1][5][6]