XM7 rifle

In January 2019, the United States Army began the Next Generation Squad Weapon Program to find replacements for the M4 carbine and M249 light machine gun. In September 2019, SIG Sauer submitted its designs.[9] SIG Sauer MCX-SPEAR is chambered in 6.8×51mm (.277 in) SIG Fury cartridge in response to concerns that improvements in body armor would diminish the effectiveness of currently used ammunition such as the 5.56×45mm NATO (used in the M4 and M249) and 7.62×51mm NATO.[1][10][11] Army Times describes this as an "intermediate caliber 6.8mm cartridge".[1] The ballistics of the .277 Fury indicate that it is likely a fully powered cartridge as it has higher chamber pressure, velocity and energy[12] on target than 7.62×51 mm NATO.[13]

On 19 April 2022, the Army awarded a 10-year contract to SIG Sauer to produce the XM7 rifle, along with the XM250 light machine gun, to replace the M4 and M249, respectively.[14][15] Originally the rifle was designated the XM5, as the names were chosen as the next numbers sequentially to the weapons they will replace,[16] but in January 2023 the Army announced it was changing the name of the rifle from XM5 to XM7 to avoid a trademark conflict with Colt's M5 carbine.[17]

The first batch of 25 XM7s is planned to be delivered in late 2023. The Army plans to procure a total of 107,000 rifles for close combat forces including infantry, cavalry scouts, combat engineers, forward observers and combat medics; there are no plans initially to issue the weapons to non-close combat soldiers. The contract has the capacity to build additional weapons should the U.S. Marine Corps and U.S. Special Operations Command choose to be included.[16]

Soldiers from Training and Doctrine Command with XM7 rifles

The XM7 weighs 8.38 lb (3.80 kg), or 9.84 lb (4.46 kg) with a suppressor. It uses SR-25 pattern magazine that holds 20 rounds in a box magazine[6] and an optional 25-round box magazine is also available.[7] The proposed combat ammunition load for each soldier will be 140 total rounds, distributed across seven 20-round magazines, in total weighing 9.8 lb (4.4 kg). Compared to the M4A1 weighing 6.34 lb (2.88 kg) unsuppressed with a basic combat load of 210 rounds in seven 30-round magazines in total weighing 7.4 lb (3.4 kg), the XM7 weighs about 2 lb (0.91 kg) more and each soldier carries roughly a 4 lb (1.8 kg) heavier load with 70 fewer rounds.[2][18]

Operational testing of the XM7 rifle, XM250 automatic rifle and XM157 Fire Control Optic is set to begin in 2024 and does not guarantee actual widespread future issue.[19]

Media related to XM7 rifle at Wikimedia Commons