Next Generation Squad Weapon
US Military program to replace M4, M249 and M240 battle rifles
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.
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. 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, and Winchester to produce the custom 6.8×51mm Common Cartridge ammunition designed by SIG Sauer. The program was expected to cost $10 million in the first year of production, and $150 million the next.
History
The NGSW program began in 2017, after the U.S. Congress issued an order for the U.S. Army to conduct an assessment regarding the need to upgrade existing M4 carbines with SOCOM's SOPMOD free-floating rail. It was concluded that the M4 carbine was still favored by troops and also performed well under stress. Feeding issues and other problems were fixed by using different ammunition types and magazines. Despite this, the M4 had difficulty penetrating the types of bulletproof vests used by Russian and Chinese troops, especially at longer ranges. Pressure to develop a new weapon system also arose from military programs created by other countries, such as Russia's Ratnik program. The U.S. Army's Soldier Enhancement Program released its findings in December 2017, which recommended proceeding with the Next Generation Squad Weapon Program as a more cost-effective solution compared to only retrofitting M4s with free-float rail systems.
“Next Generation Squad Weapon” enters the record as uS Military program to replace M4, M249 and M240 battle rifles. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Next, Generation and Squad can confirm, complicate or overturn.
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Chronology, provenance and viewpoint should be read together before a broad social or political interpretation is accepted. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jun 11, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q108684919. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 2017 and 2022.
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