Weapons

This Exotic Bullpup Rifle Is Competing To Replace The Army's M4 Carbines And M249 SAWs

Of the companies competing to build the U.S. Army's next standard infantry rifle and squad automatic rifle, both of which will use new 6.8mm ammunition, only one offering has a so-called bullpup configuration where the main action is positioned behind the pistol grip. There are benefits to this arrangement, namely the ability to maintain the accuracy that a longer barrel offers in a more compact package, but the U.S. military as a whole has rejected them in the past in favor of more traditional designs.

General Dynamics Ordnance and Tactical Systems (GD-OTS) first unveiled its RM277 small arms line at the Association of the U.S. Army's main annual convention in Washington, D.C., which opened on Oct. 14, 2019, and wrapped up today. The Firearms Blog was first to report the guns' designation, as well as other details about the particular features of the infantry rifle and automatic rifle variants that have emerged so far. However, GD-OTS has been relatively tight-lipped about the weapons, which are competing in the Army's Next Generation Squad Weapons (NGSW) program, which aims to replace the service's 5.56mm M4 carbines and M249 Squad Automatic Weapons (SAW).