08-23-2012, 11:16 AM
It is interesting to see that the UK and other armies are looking for the compactness and performance that the Grendel provides in an interim system between a battle rifle and an assault rifle, largely driven by the combination of losing the terminal effects of 7.62 NATO at distance after ditching the FAL/G3, with renewed demand due to the geography in Afghanistan.
I suspect that a certain country in the Eurasian region is going to adopt the Grendel, and then it will be a catch-up game after that. I was disappointed to hear from the Czechs that they were seriously looking at the 6.8 for the Bren 805, but it is a quick barrel change system, so it is easy to change if they see the light, and they can make magazines specific to the Grendel when the time comes.
Again, when someone finally makes a Grendel LMG, that will get the ball rolling, but the logistics inventory currently supports 11 years of 5.56 NATO and 7.62 NATO, and it becomes an issue of letting "great" becoming the enemy of "good enough" to the big picture planners.
In the economic discussion, the argument could be made that a universal caliber system will have long-term cost-savings for a nation not in the NATO system, or looking to carve out their own logistics and weapons programs as NATO continues to ignore their national interests in the face of a resurging Russia, who is a very likely candidate to adopt the Grendel themselves, especially when you look at the benefits it would offer them over the 7.62x54R belt-fed and DMR weapons (SVD).
I suspect that a certain country in the Eurasian region is going to adopt the Grendel, and then it will be a catch-up game after that. I was disappointed to hear from the Czechs that they were seriously looking at the 6.8 for the Bren 805, but it is a quick barrel change system, so it is easy to change if they see the light, and they can make magazines specific to the Grendel when the time comes.
Again, when someone finally makes a Grendel LMG, that will get the ball rolling, but the logistics inventory currently supports 11 years of 5.56 NATO and 7.62 NATO, and it becomes an issue of letting "great" becoming the enemy of "good enough" to the big picture planners.
In the economic discussion, the argument could be made that a universal caliber system will have long-term cost-savings for a nation not in the NATO system, or looking to carve out their own logistics and weapons programs as NATO continues to ignore their national interests in the face of a resurging Russia, who is a very likely candidate to adopt the Grendel themselves, especially when you look at the benefits it would offer them over the 7.62x54R belt-fed and DMR weapons (SVD).