Textron Systems, along with five other gunmakers have received a contract from the U.S. Army to develop a prototype weapon for the Next Generation Squad Automatic Rifle (NGSAR) program.
NGSAR is one of the army’s primary efforts under its soldier lethality modernization priority and the futuristic prototype is intended to replace the over 80,000, three-decade-old M249 Squad Automatic Weapons (SAW) in Brigade Combat Teams.
Under this contract, the prototype that Textron Systems develops will build on its current portfolio of Cased-Telescoped (CT) Weapons & Ammunition, and 14 years of research to develop and deliver a system demonstrator.
(Learn More. Courtesy of MILITARY TECHNOLOGY and YouTube. Posted on Jul 12, 2018.)
Textron Systems plans to develop a high-velocity, magazine-fed system of an intermediate caliber.
Based on program requirements, the prototype will weigh less than 12 pounds, with ammunition weighing 20 percent less than an equal brass case.
Additionally, the weapon must have a sustained rate of fire of 60 rounds per minute for 15 minutes without requiring a barrel change.
This builds upon two related awards that Textron Systems recently received from the U.S. Army for advanced weapons and fire control technologies, one for Next Generation Squad Weapon Technologies (NGSW-T), and another for fire control capability development.
Game-changing weight reduction
Textron Systems has a long, proven history as a designer and manufacturer of armament and ammunition technologies, having been involved in many Army small arms development programs over the past 50 years.
The LSAT has undergone Military Utility Assessment (MUA) with the U.S. Army Maneuver Battle Lab, evaluation with U.S. Special Operations Command, and completed the Dismounted Non-Network Enabled Limited Objective Experiment with the U.S. Army Capabilities Integration Center (ARCIC).
(Learn More. See Textron Systems LSAT (Lightweight Small Arms Technologies) in Action. Courtesy of Textron Systems and YouTube.)
