Optimized Caliber

[stanc]

Trying to replace 5.56 and 7.62 at the same time is probably too much of an adjustment for the entire NATO system to digest...

I'm not talking about replacing both 5.56 and 7.62 in the inventory, just 5.56.

...and since there are more 5.56 NATO individual service weapons, therein lies the logistical quagmire.

What quagmire? They managed to transition from the .30 M1 rifle to 7.62 M14, and from there to 5.56 M16, at a time when the armed forces were a lot bigger than now, so I think a switch could be handled now.

Using the Upgraded SAW and Mk48 platforms as transitional frames for the Grendel upgrade, while developing the DMR system, and replacing M240's with the .338 MMG is what I'm talking about.

Yes, I understood that. AFAIK, the .338 MMG is only a GD proposal, not something the Army is actively seeking to replace the M240.

The Grendel LMG & .338 MMG support the lip service we've been hearing about a lighter, leaner, more efficient force for a long time, with actual platforms to execute it.

That's what all of the alternative cartridges aim to do. But, none have yet demonstrated they can achieve it.