Five Companies to Demo Rifle Prototypes for Army

Five companies will demonstrate automatic rifle prototypes in June as part of a competition to replace the U.S. Army‘s standard M16/M4 weapon and light machine gun, Military Times reported Thursday.

The Army selected General Dynamics‘ ordnance and tactical systems unit, Textron’s AAI subsidiary, FN America, PCP Tactical and Sig Sauer last year to participate in the Next Generation Squad Weapon program.

The service allowed FN to submit two variants. Each of the remaining four manufacturers will provide one system for test firing in the summer.

The report said the Army wants to procure a lightweight, 6.8mm caliber replacement for both its M16/M4 and Squad Automatic Weapon.

U.S. Marines and special operations forces also plan to implement the new weapon.