These units will then receive the Army’s newest rifle and machine gun.

VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. – The Army has accelerated and transitioned fielding of the next-generation Squad Weapon rifle to special operations and Pacific-focused units in the coming months and next year.

The Next Generation Squad Weapon program includes a 6.8mm rifle and an automatic rifle to replace the 5.56mm M4 and Squad automatic weapon, respectively.

The NGSW also includes fire control, which contains advanced ballistics and aim assist not available in currently used rifle optics.

“We have not fielded a weapon of this magnitude in a close combat force since the M16 began being used in 1967,” said Col. Jason Bohannon, who manages the Soldier Lethality portfolio in the Army Executive Office. program-Soldier.

The Army deployed the NGSW package to a battalion of the 1st Brigade, 506th Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division, in late March, with the XM7 rifle, XM250 automatic rifle, and XM157 fire control.

This summer, the North Carolina National Guard’s 30th Armored Brigade Combat Team also received the weapons.

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The Army is ramping up its production of rifles, automatic rifles, optics and ammunition for close and adjacent combat forces ahead of upcoming deployments, officials said.

The Army is building a separate ammunition production line at the Army Ammunition Plant in Lake City, Mo., while Sig Sauer, the firearms producer, produces cartridges for 6.8 mm at an Arkansas facility, officials said.

The current goal is to stockpile enough 6.8mm ammunition for training, deployment and war reserves for all of the Army’s close combat units, Bohannon said.

A host of units are expected to receive a mix of the combined rifle, automatic rifle and optics, while others will receive just the rifle for now, according to information presented Thursday by Army officials at the National Defense Industrial Association’s annual Future Force conference.

“We do commissioning as the material comes off the line, directly to the units,” Bohannon said.

The weapon combination offers shooters 7.62mm or better performance in range, lethality and barrier penetration, all significantly better than the existing 5.56mm round for the individual carbine and squad-level light machine gun.

With increased distance and barrier penetration, Army planners expect Soldiers to be more effective at range in more modern, urban-like battlefield settings.

Reports of poor range performance and ineffective barrier penetration by the 5.56mm round during the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan prompted Army leaders and developers to seek a better round for close combat force.

There are about a dozen units in the NGSW commissioning pipeline for fiscal year 2025, which begins October 1.

• From October to December, the Army Reserve’s 100th Infantry Battalion, 442nd Infantry Regiment at Fort Shafter, Hawaii; elements of the 25th Infantry Division, at Schofield Barracks, Hawaii; the Army Ordnance School, Fort Gregg-Adams, Virginia.
• From January to March, the 3rd Brigade, 101st Airborne Division at Fort Campbell, Kentucky; 2nd Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Washington; 1st Brigade, 1st Armored Division, at Fort Bliss, Texas.
• From April to June, the 1st Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment at Hunter Army Airfield, Savannah, Georgia.
• From July to September, the 1st Battalion, 34th Armored Brigade Combat Team with the Minnesota Army National Guard; several battalions of the 10th Mountain Division, Fort Drum, New York.

The NGSW is currently limited to close combat units such as infantry, reconnaissance, combat engineers and associated combat units. The Army’s conventional non-close quarters combatant is expected to continue using the 5.56mm M4 and M249 SAW in the near future, officials said.