The Pentagon's FY27 budget request for weapons continues the investment in the SIG Sauer-based Next Generation Squad Weapons, with a few changes. 

In the NGSW, as previously reported by Guns.com, SIG beat out a crowded field of gun makers in April 2022 to land a 10-year contract for two new guns chambered in the new hybrid 6.8x51 round to replace the Army's 5.56 NATO-caliber small arms in front-line service. 

The rifle, initially dubbed the XM5 but now type classified as the M7, is based on SIG's MCX Spear platform and is set to replace the M4, while the SIG LMG-6.8 (adopted as the M250 light machine gun) will replace the FN-made M249 SAW. 
 

SIG also provides suppressors for the NGSW program while Vortex supplies the M157 optics system used on both rifle and LMG. 
 

What the Army wants

The Department of War's new 122-page Weapons budget workbook for FY27 requests $382.3 million for the NGSW program, up slightly from the $372.2 million requested last year while down from the $408.4 million in 2025. 

The NGSW is even featured on cover of the workbook.
 

The request covers 14,944 XM8s, 2,795 M250s, and 20,402 Vortex M157 optics. No additional M7s are requested in the budget. That's not to say the Army will never buy more M7s, just that the service doesn't have plans to buy any more in the coming year. Or, perhaps, an updated M7A in the near future. 
 

What's the XM-8?

The XM-8 is the new carbine variant of the M7, approved by the Army in March and accepted the first delivery of the platform in early April. After receiving Soldier feedback on the M7, which is heavier than the standard M4, the Army decided to advance procurement of a shorter, lighter, more mobile carbine version of the rifle. While the M7 has a 13-inch barrel, the XM8 runs an 11-incher. This, coupled with other improvements, delivers a more M4-like experience while still retaining the 6.8x51 common cartridge.  

"Compared to the rifle, the carbine variant is approximately 3.5 inches shorter and over 1 pound lighter, now the same weight as an M4A1," said the Army's Capability Program Executive Ground in a statement. "Despite its shorter and lighter design, the carbine still exceeds its lethality requirements due in part to the performance of the 6.8mm tactical ammunition."
 

Other plans by the Army to shed weight and add capability to the NGSW include more lightweight ammunition, 25-round magazines in lieu of the current 20-rounders, and alternate commercial-off-the-shelf optics fits with and aiming lasers issued to six Mobile Brigade Combat Teams this year.