Latest news with #M7
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Yahoo
Army's next generation rifle designated M7 amid criticism over performance
The Army has officially designated its newest rifle and automatic rifle the M7 and M250, respectively. The move, which the service touted as a 'major program milestone,' comes weeks after the Army's new rifle came in for some heavy criticism from within its own ranks. Both weapons have now received their type classification that confirms they met 'the Army's stringent standards for operational performance, safety, and sustainment,' the service announced this week. But an Army captain has raised serious questions about the Next Generation Squad Rifle — previously known as the XM7 — including whether the weapon's 20-round magazine provides soldiers with enough ammunition for combat. (The War Zone was the first to report on the criticism, and you can read their deep dive here.) 'The XM7 is a tactically outdated service rifle that would be better classified as a designated marksman rifle, if that,' Army Capt. Braden Trent said during his presentation at the Modern Day Marine exhibition in Washington, D.C., in late April. 'This rifle is a mechanically unsound design that will not hold up to sustained combat on a peer-on-peer conflict.' Trent conducted his research into the rifle as part of his project for the Marine Corps' Expeditionary Warfare School. His views are not endorsed by the Defense Department, Army, or Marine Corps, according to his 52-page research paper on the subject. Sig Sauer, which has been awarded a contract to produce the rifle, pushed back on Trent's assertion that the M7 is 'unfit for use as a modern service rifle.' 'We have a very large staff of individuals that work daily on that rifle to ensure that every aspect of its performance is scrutinized, every aspect of its safety is criticized,' Jason St. John, the senior director of strategic products for Sig Sauer, told Task & Purpose for a previous story. 'We are highly confident that we have provided the U.S. Army soldier with a very robust weapon system that is not only safe, but it performs at the highest levels.' Still, questions remain about whether the rifle, which chambers a 6.8mm round, has enough magazine capacity. The M7 is expected to replace the M4A1, which has a 30-round magazine. Trent said he observed a live-fire exercise in which soldiers equipped with the XM7 burned through most of their ammunition within 15 minutes while trying to suppress a simulated enemy, even though they had borrowed spare magazines from radio operations, medics, and platoon leaders. Brig. Gen. Phil Kinniery, commandant for the Army's Infantry School and Maneuver Center of Excellence at Fort Benning, Georgia, told Task & Purpose that commanding officers ultimately determine how much ammunition their units will carry into battle, and the traditional seven-magazine load could be adjusted. Kinniery also said that the Next Generation Squad Weapon rifle's larger round will give soldiers an advantage on the battlefield. 'From having been in several firefights throughout my career and deployments in Afghanistan and in Iraq, that [6.8mm round] round stops the enemy,' Kinniery said. 'What we're actually bringing to infantry soldiers or, really, the close combat force across the Army, is something that stops the enemy at one round versus having to shoot multiple rounds at the enemy to get them to stop.' Army to eliminate 2 Security Force Assistance Brigades, reassign experienced soldiers Why the Army's new XM7 rifle reignited a debate over volume of fire Air Force delay on separation and retirement orders isn't 'stop loss,' defense official says F-35's close call over Yemen raises questions about how it's used An Army unit's 'extreme use of profanity' was so bad, they made a rule about it
Yahoo
22-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Sig Sauer's XM7 Rifle Gets Army's Seal Of Approval Despite Controversy
Sig Sauer's controversial 6.8x51mm XM7 service rifle has now received a formal standard type classification, with the official designation changing to M7. This is a vote of confidence for the weapon weeks after an Army captain publicly criticized the rifle as potentially unsafe, ineffective, and overly expensive, claims that the service and Sig Sauer subsequently vehemently rebutted. You can read more about that in our deep dive here. Along with the M7, Sig Sauer's XM250 light machine gun (now designated the M250) achieved Type Classification-Standard status, the Army announced yesterday. The service described this as a 'major program milestone' for the Next Generation Squad Weapons (NGSW) program, which includes both guns, as well as the XM157 computerized optic and the accompanying family of 6.8x51mm ammunition. This new status means the weapons meet 'the Army's stringent standards for operational performance, safety, and sustainment,' per the Army. 'This milestone reflects our commitment to delivering cutting-edge capabilities that give our Soldiers the tactical advantage and lethality required on the battlefield,' said Col. Jason Bohannon, Project Manager Soldier Lethality. 'We remain focused on equipping our force with the most reliable and effective tools to ensure mission success.' The new classification for these weapons ensures that they are 'acceptable for Army use prior to spending procurement funds at the Full-Rate Production Decision Review,' Alton E. Stewart, an Army spokesman, told TWZ Wednesday afternoon. It 'satisfies DoD requirement to designate when a system is approved for service use.' Army combat experiences from the Global War on Terror, especially operations in Afghanistan, where reports often emerged of U.S. forces being outranged, helped drive the core requirement for guns firing larger rounds that offer greater range and terminal ballistic performance. Concerns about improving adversary body armor were also a factor. The M7 and the M250, respectively, are set to replace a significant portion of the M4A1 carbines and M249 Squad Automatic Weapons (SAW) now in Army service. Both the M4A1 and M249 are chambered to fire the 5.56x45mm cartridge. As we previously explained, the M7 is 'a 6.8x51mm version of Sig Sauer's increasingly popular MCX Spear family of rifles. Though Sig's MCX family is a separate development, the core design is derived from the AR-15/M16 pattern family of rifles, and upper receivers from certain versions of the former can be directly paired with lower receivers from the latter with the help of an adapter. The overall configurations of guns in both families are very similar, as are the basic ergonomics and control arrangements.' 'MCX rifles notably use a gas piston operating mechanism rather than the direct impingement method found on AR-15/M16 types. Direct impingement (DI) involves propellant gases directly blowing into the main action to cycle it, which can more quickly lead to fouling on key components without regular cleaning. Piston systems that keep gas away from a gun's internal works can offer improved overall reliability in certain circumstances, although they tend to be heavier than their DI counterparts.' The Army's new designation of these weapons won't affect how they are being fielded, Stewart told us, but it serves to further rebut a scathing critique by Army Capt. Braden Trent. He presented his findings, which come from an unclassified student thesis, at the annual Modern Day Marine exposition in Washington, D.C., on April 29. The Army infantry officer did his work while attending the Expeditionary Warfare School, part of the Marine Corps University in Quantico, Virginia. What is now designated the M7 has suffered from serious reliability and other issues, including having cartridge cases 'ripped apart by the internal pressure of the system,' excessive barrel wear, and regular breakages of key components, Trent stated. He claimed that these problems, together with a host of other factors, including the weight and recoil of the rifle, make the gun 'unfit' for its intended purpose. Trent said he observed and/or learned of several other serious technical issues after being given the chance to interview 'over 150 soldiers, maintainers, and leaders,' as well as inspect a sample set of 23 XM7 rifles, all from the 1st Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division. The brigade's 1st Battalion, 506th Infantry Regiment was the first operational Army unit to begin receiving XM7s and the rest of the NGSW family of systems. In an interview with TWZ on the symposium's show floor, Sig Sauer vociferously pushed back on Trent's assertions. 'I believe that Captain Trent had some shortcomings and difficulties in understanding the totality of the NGSW program and some significant blind spots into the progress that the NGSW program has made over the last let's call it 24 months,' Jason St. John, senior director of strategic products for the Defense Strategies Group at Sig Sauer, told us. 'By him not having any clarity on any of the engineering change proposal efforts, and understanding of the 101st [Airborne Division's] fielding efforts, the actual pacing of the program … and really the ongoing product improvement efforts that the program office and Sig Sauer are doing in concert with each other, really clouded his perspective, and I believe his opinions that he represented. There are significant misrepresentations and holes in those statements [that he made].' In 2022, the Army awarded Sig Sauer a 10-year, $20.4 million initial production contract to produce M7s and M250s, following a 27-month evaluation of three competing weapon systems. By that point, more than 500 soldiers, Marines, and special operators had conducted a combined 20,000 hours of testing as part of the NGSW program, according to the Army. As of last year, the Army said its 'acquisition objectives' included the purchase of 111,428 M7s and 13,334 M250s. 'It's an exciting day for everyone involved, whether that is Sig Sauer, the U.S. Army as a whole, and especially the soldiers, who can have confidence that they are being equipped to enhance their mission success and truly possess tactical superiority in their small arms,' St. John told us Wednesday afternoon in an email. There is the possibility that other branches of the U.S. military could adopt the M7 in the future. At Modern Day Marine in April, the service noted that it had just recently completed an evaluation of the NGSW family of systems and had begun processing the results to determine what, if any, steps forward will be taken. For now, the primary arm of the Marines remains the M27 Infantry Automatic Rifle (IAR), which is, in turn, a variant of the HK416. The HK416 is a gas-piston derivative of the AR-15/M16 series. It is unclear whether or how the Army's type classification decision might affect the Marines' plans. We have reached out to the Corps and will update this story with any pertinent information provided. The Army is now continuing to move ahead with its plans to field what are now designated the M7 rifle and M250 light machine gun. Contact the author: howard@
Yahoo
20-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
SIG SAUER Announces U.S. Army Designates Type Classification Milestone for the NGSW Lethality Program
NGSW Type Classified NEWINGTON, N.H., May 21, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- SIG SAUER, industry leading manufacturer of elite military weapon systems, is proud to congratulate the U.S. Army on the milestone of officially designating Type Classification - Standard (TC-STD) to the SIG SAUER Next Generation Squad Weapon (NGSW) M7 rifle and M250 (belt fed) automatic rifle— cornerstone systems of the U.S. Army's modernization program and overmatch efforts. The M7 is the M4 carbine replacement, and the M250 replaces the M249 Squad Automatic Weapon; the systems bring superior range and lethality over legacy systems, providing a greater threat to enemy forces through superior overmatch. The Type Classification affirms the M7 and M250 meet stringent performance, safety, and reliability standards for widespread military use. This designation ensures seamless integration into the U.S. Army's inventory, streamlining procurement, training, and maintenance across units and asserting the materiel fully satisfies U.S. Army operational needs. This milestone marks the transition of these advanced firearms from developmental to standardized status, signifying readiness for widespread fielding. "This approval underscores the U.S. Army's commitment to equipping our soldiers with next generation lethality to maintain tactical superiority and enhance mission success," states Steve Rose, Executive Vice President, Defense Strategies Group. "The M7 and M250 represent a transformative leap in combat capability." The NGSW Program, initiated in 2017, aims to revolutionize small arms capabilities for the U.S. Army. Following a 27-month prototype phase, extensive testing culminated in the selection of SIG SAUER's XM7 and XM250 in April 2022. About SIG SAUER, Inc.: SIG SAUER, Inc. is a leading provider and manufacturer of firearms, electro-optics, ammunition, airguns, suppressors, remote controlled weapons stations, and training. For over 250 years, SIG SAUER has evolved and thrived by blending American ingenuity, German engineering, and Swiss precision. Today, SIG SAUER is synonymous with industry-leading quality and innovation, which has made it the brand of choice amongst the U.S. Military, the global defense community, law enforcement, competitive shooters, hunters, and responsible citizens. Additionally, SIG SAUER is the premier provider of elite firearms instruction and tactical training at the SIG SAUER Academy. Headquartered in Newington, New Hampshire, SIG SAUER has over 3,400 employees across sixteen U.S. locations in three states, and four additional global facilities. SIG SAUER is certified a Great Place to Work™. For more information about the company and product line visit: Media Contact: Phil Strader Vice President, Consumer Affairs SOURCE SIG SAUER, Inc.
Cision Canada
20-05-2025
- Business
- Cision Canada
SIG SAUER Announces U.S. Army Designates Type Classification Milestone for the NGSW Lethality Program
NGSW Type Classified NEWINGTON, N.H., May 20, 2025 /CNW/ -- SIG SAUER, industry leading manufacturer of elite military weapon systems, is proud to congratulate the U.S. Army on the milestone of officially designating Type Classification - Standard (TC-STD) to the SIG SAUER Next Generation Squad Weapon (NGSW) M7 rifle and M250 (belt fed) automatic rifle— cornerstone systems of the U.S. Army's modernization program and overmatch efforts. The M7 is the M4 carbine replacement, and the M250 replaces the M249 Squad Automatic Weapon; the systems bring superior range and lethality over legacy systems, providing a greater threat to enemy forces through superior overmatch. The Type Classification affirms the M7 and M250 meet stringent performance, safety, and reliability standards for widespread military use. This designation ensures seamless integration into the U.S. Army's inventory, streamlining procurement, training, and maintenance across units and asserting the materiel fully satisfies U.S. Army operational needs. This milestone marks the transition of these advanced firearms from developmental to standardized status, signifying readiness for widespread fielding. "This approval underscores the U.S. Army's commitment to equipping our soldiers with next generation lethality to maintain tactical superiority and enhance mission success," states Steve Rose, Executive Vice President, Defense Strategies Group. "The M7 and M250 represent a transformative leap in combat capability." The NGSW Program, initiated in 2017, aims to revolutionize small arms capabilities for the U.S. Army. Following a 27-month prototype phase, extensive testing culminated in the selection of SIG SAUER's XM7 and XM250 in April 2022. About SIG SAUER, Inc.: SIG SAUER, Inc. is a leading provider and manufacturer of firearms, electro-optics, ammunition, airguns, suppressors, remote controlled weapons stations, and training. For over 250 years, SIG SAUER has evolved and thrived by blending American ingenuity, German engineering, and Swiss precision. Today, SIG SAUER is synonymous with industry-leading quality and innovation, which has made it the brand of choice amongst the U.S. Military, the global defense community, law enforcement, competitive shooters, hunters, and responsible citizens. Additionally, SIG SAUER is the premier provider of elite firearms instruction and tactical training at the SIG SAUER Academy. Headquartered in Newington, New Hampshire, SIG SAUER has over 3,400 employees across sixteen U.S. locations in three states, and four additional global facilities. SIG SAUER is certified a Great Place to Work™. For more information about the company and product line visit:
ILoveQatar.net
19-05-2025
- Entertainment
- ILoveQatar.net
VCUarts Qatar's year end show Art and Design Now 2025 officially opens
Virginia Commonwealth University School of the Arts in Qatar (VCUarts Qatar), a Qatar Foundation (QF) partner university, has officially opened its highly anticipated Year End Show: Art and Design Now 2025 to the public. The exhibition will run from 5 May to 5 July at M7 in Msheireb Downtown Doha. A special opening event was held on Sunday, 4 May, drawing a full house of over a thousand attendees. The evening welcomed key figures from Qatar's creative industries, industry partners, members of the joint advisory board, university leadership, faculty, and proud family and friends of the graduating students. The exhibition showcases the innovative and often boundary-pushing work of VCUarts Qatar's graduating students. It features projects from the undergraduate programs in Art History, Graphic Design, Interior Design, Painting + Printmaking, and Fashion Design, as well as the Master of Fine Arts in Design program. For the first time, the exhibition also includes contributions from Foundation Year students and the newly launched Bachelor of Fine Arts in Kinetic Imaging. Students have explored a wide range of media and techniques in their final projects, incorporating light, sound, video, animation, textile design, silk printing, fabrication technology, typography, coding, digital painting, screen printing, lithography, and photographic techniques. The result is a dynamic and diverse showcase of creativity and technical skill. 'Reflecting on the extraordinary range of themes and creative expressions presented by our students, I'm truly inspired by the depth and originality of their work,' said Amir Berbić, Dean of VCUarts Qatar. 'This year's cohort has produced an outstanding body of work that speaks to a wide array of ideas—from vibrant celebrations of Qatari culture to innovative designs that carry powerful messages of hope, sustainability, and social awareness. The M7 space provides a dynamic and fitting backdrop for this diverse showcase of emerging talent. I encourage the public to experience it firsthand—there's something meaningful and memorable for everyone.' The launch also coincided with 'Hayakom', VCUarts Qatar's traditional welcome event for newly admitted students for the Fall 2025 semester. After visiting the campus, incoming students and their families were invited to continue on to explore the Year End Show at M7, offering them a firsthand look at the creativity, energy, and achievement that define the school's dynamic academic and artistic culture. VCUarts Qatar offers undergraduate degrees in Kinetic Imaging, Graphic Design, Interior Design, Painting + Printmaking, and a BA in Art History, as well as a Master of Fine Arts in Design. To learn more about VCUarts Qatar and its programs, visit Source and cover image credit: Press release
