The new rifle and automatic rifle will fire a never-before-fielded 6.8 mm round. The data platform “will enable units to regularly assess weapons’ health, reduce failure rates, extend the lifetime of a weapon and optimize maintenance plans,” the company stated in a release. An unloaded XM5 rifle is two pounds heavier than an unloaded M4. But the XM250 is four pounds lighter than the M249 SAW. The weapon has an advanced optic, shoots 6.8mm and will replace the M4 carbine and M249 SAW. The Army is slated to pick the actual weapon in the coming months. An estimated 250,000 optics will be delivered over the next decade to close combat troops. The new caliber outperforms both 5.56 mm and 7.62 mm. Criminal investigators are looking into an M4 rifle that went missing after a training event. The Marine Corps has started to rollout suppressors for the M4, M27 and M4A1 rifles. By Philip Athey
3 years ago The new weapons will bring the 6.8mm projectile into the U.S. military inventory for the first time. Load More