By Matthew Cox
Staff writer
Originally published Nov. 21, 2005
The Pentagon has ordered the Army to include the weapons needs of its sister services in its search for a new family of small arms.
Army weapons developers had planned to hold an open competition to select a replacement for its M16 rifles, M4 carbines, M249 squad automatic weapons and selected M9 pistols, a program known as Objective Individual Combat Weapon Increment I.
However, the Defense Department's Joint Capabilities Board recently directed the Army to work with the Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps to make the effort work for all the services, said Rich Audette, deputy project manager for Soldier Weapons.
"If I have a soldier who is carrying a rifle, why shouldn't that same rifle be used by the Marine Corps?" Audette said, explaining the JCB's position, in a Nov. 8 interview.
"The JCB said I need you services to look across the board and see the possible uses for this across your services."
As a result, the request for proposal that invited the arms-making industry to participate in the competition has been canceled.
"We did not feel it was fair to leave an RFP in suspension for an extended period of time," Audette said. "It wasnit fair to anybody that was interested in competing."
In short, soldiers fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan are stuck with their current weapons for now.
The Army's effort to replace the venerable M16 started in late 2003 when weapons developers began testing the XM8.
The Heckler & Koch-made XM8 family of prototypes features a compact model for close quarters, a standard carbine and a designated marksman/squad automatic rifle model.
But after spending $29 million in testing, the Army halted work on the system in the beginning of the year after the Infantry Center, the service's proponent for small arms, decided it was time to look for a replacement for the M249 squad automatic weapon as well.
XM8, which does not include a light-machine gun variant, was part of a longer-range effort to perfect an over-and-under-style weapon, known as the XM29, developed by Alliant Techsystems and Heckler & Koch.
The XM29 fires special air-bursting projectiles and standard 5.56mm ammunition. But at 18 pounds, it's still too heavy to meet the Army's requirements, so planners decided to perfect each of XM29's components separately, allowing soldiers to take advantage of new technology sooner. XM8 is one of these components. OICW Increment I - an Infantry Center requirement, which the Army approved in October 2004 - calls for a "nondevelopmental family of weapons that are capable of firing U.S. standard M855 and M856" 5.56mm ammunition.
It's intended to replace current weapon systems including the M4, M16 and selected M9 pistols.
The requirement also calls for the family of weapons to include a light machine-gun model rather than the XM8's squad automatic rifle variant.
Currently, each infantry squad contains two M249 SAWs that serve as light support weapons because of their 5.56mm ammunition and high rate of fire.
OICW Increment II deals with separate development of the air-burst technology of XM29, and OICW Increment III would bring the two components back together when technology is available.
The next step in the OICW Increment I process will come in December when Army weapons developers meet with the senior leadership to set a new timeline for working with the other services on the joint weapons program.
"We have not canceled OICW Increment I," Audette said, explaining that the Army will have to re-examine its small-arms requirements, but that doesn't mean they will change dramatically.
"Right now the Army has not backed away from a family of weapons concept but [performance specifications] could be redefined."
Previous stories
Competition sought for new Army rifle (April 24)
Marine officers, staff NCOs to be issued M4s (June 25)
Special report: Too late, XM8 (June 1)
Army Times Editorial: Field the best weapon (Feb. 26)
The 416: Delta Force has them, why not you? (Feb. 19)
Congressmen fire new special operations weapon (July 21, 2006)
Multimedia
The H&K 416 in action
A demonstration of the SCAR
A tour of the XM8
