Sig Sauer Shows off Army’s Next Generation Squad Weapon Submission

Sig Sauer feels they have a dominating submission to the Army's futuristic new Next Generation Squad Weapons program.

Designed to replace 5.56 NATO caliber small arms – M4 series carbines and M249 Squad Automatic Weapons – in frontline use with new platforms sharing a common 6.8mm cartridge, the NGSW program has been underway since 2018. Currently, Sig Sauer is one of three teams, along with Maryland-based AAI Corporation/Textron Systems and Vermont-based General Dynamics-Ordnance & Tactical Systems, vying for the contract.

The stakes are huge, with the NGSW platform being the largest shift in small arms by Western forces thus far in the 21st Century.

"The Army’s Next Generation Squad Weapons program is the most audacious effort in decades,” said Sig Sauer President and CEO Ron Cohen. "It is the ability to participate in writing history and whatever happens now will dictate the next twenty, thirty, forty years."

Sig's MCX Spear series carbine aims to be the Army's NGSW-Rifle, replacing the M4. Standard features include a fully collapsible and folding stock, rear and side charging handle, free-floating reinforced M-LOK handguard, fully ambidextrous controls, and a quick-detach Sig Next Generation suppressor. (Photo: Sig Sauer)

Sig's Lightweight MG is a belt-fed general-purpose weapon intended to become the Army's NGSW-Automatic Rifle, replacing the M249 while hitting the scales at 40 percent lighter and with a round that has double the effective range of 5.56. (Photo: Sig Sauer)

Both platforms use Sig's 6.8mm hybrid ammunition, which is billed as offering a significant reduction in weight over traditional ammo while offering better performance and greater penetration while using a 121-grain bullet. (Photo: Sig Sauer)

"We are the only company that makes the ammunition and the weapons, so we were able to harness the engineers on the weapons side with the engineers on the ammunition side," pointed out Cohen. "We are the picture of readiness. We are the singular small arms company in this competition, and SIG has the engineering resources, manufacturing resources, asset base and commitment to do this."

The Army plans to have the contract awarded for production models sometime this year and the first units equipped with the NGSW beginning in 2022.

Read More On:

Loading