The only Arctic, Airborne, Recon cavalry squadron in the U.S. Army has been busy trying out the service's new Next Generation Squad Weapon systems in some of the worst weather Alaska can offer.
The 1st Squadron (Airborne) of the 40th Cavalry Regiment, working with Fort Greely's Cold Regions Test Center in one of the coldest parts of Alaska, has been putting the NGSW platform through its paces. The program includes SIG Sauer's XM-7 rifle, which will fill the role currently held by the M4 Carbine series, the SIG XM250 light machine gun slated to replace the M249 Squad Automatic Weapon, and the Vortex-produced M157 Fire Control optics system used on both platforms.
"Extreme environmental testing is critical to ensuring reliable systems," noted Col. Jason Bohannon, the Army's Project Manager Soldier Lethality on Feb. 9.
Meanwhile, a social media page for the 1st Squadron-40th Cav noted that they have been experiencing "sub-Arctic conditions in the vicinity of Ft Greely where temperatures haven't topped above -25 degrees."
How have the tests gone thus far?
"The Arctic environment is extreme and unforgiving to both the soldiers and weapons," said Bohannon. "Our intent is for the weapons to perform in conditional ranges that exceed those which soldiers would have to endure. I have been impressed with both soldiers and weapon performance."
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The Alaska tests come just after the NGSW wrapped up a series of new equipment training sessions and a limited user test with troops drawn from the 75th Ranger Regiment and the "Screaming Eagles" of the 101st Airborne Division in Kentucky late last year.
Before the recent testing and training at Fort Campbell, the Army had conducted over 100 technical tests, fired over 1.5 million rounds of 6.8mm ammunition through the guns, and logged more than 20,000 hours of soldier testing with the NGSWs.
What's next?
"In addition to Arctic testing, the weapons, ammo, and fire controls will be subjected to jungle and hot weather testing," said PEO Soldier.
As previously detailed by Guns.com, the Army's objectives for the program, at least as it currently stands, is for almost 250,000 weapons and FC units:
- M7 Rifle (NGSW-R): 111,428
- M250 Automatic Rifle (NGSW-AR): 13,334
- M157 Fire Control (NGSW-FC): 124,749
The NGSW is only expected to be used by soldiers in the Army's active (COMPO 1) and reserve (COMPO 2) close combat force – identified as infantrymen, cavalry scouts, combat engineers, combat medics, special operations troops, and forward observers. Army spokesmen in 2022 said other units and specialties will continue to use legacy small arms. "For example, the company supply sergeant will continue to carry an M-4 or another weapon, not the Next-Gen Weapon."
