New Army "Caliber Configuration Study"

[Tony Williams]

Well, .50 Browning is in a completely different class than the other rounds, so I sure wouldn't consider it when defining a "General Purpose Cartridge" for use in man-carried weapons.......

Now, the LDAM program seeks to replace 7.62 NATO for MMG use with a round that would necessarily be much bigger, heavier, and more powerful than the proposed GPC. That means infantry platoons would, as I said, still have two different calibers, just bigger and heavier than what they now use.....

Since what you call a GPC would, at most, only replace a mix of calibers in the rifle squad, not at platoon and higher, a more accurate name would be Squad Common Cartridge (SCC).

LDAM is apparently also supposed to replace the .50 BMG in infantry units, not just the 7.62mm, so I think it is relevant to include it. As I read it, it will not routinely be carried by dismounted infantry, but will be held back in the support role at platoon or company level, along with various other capabilities (which might include mortars, MANPADS, ATGW).

I suspect that your phrase "only replace a mix of calibers in the rifle squad" will probably include something like 90% of the rifles/MGs issued to infantry, so the "only" seems unjustified.