New Army "Caliber Configuration Study"

[stanc]

One possibility I think we're completely overlooking is having a platform designed around 1 caliber and having multiple loads. This is already done with the 50 cal ammunition. You have ~a dozen different loadings.

Why can we not go with the 6.5 AR/LMG/DMR and .338 MMG/Sniper platforms with each having one or two loads (not counting tracers), with the production emphasis being whatever the MLCOA is at that time. For instance the 6.5mm could have a 95gr frangible round, a 115gr armor piercing round, and a 123gr HPBT DMR round. As long as all loads are relatively the same costs and can be adequately effective in all battlefields I don't see a problem with this.

It depends on what you have in mind. If a 6.5mm cartridge was adopted, you could count on many different loads being developed and adopted, just as with 7.62 NATO and every cartridge preceding it. At a minimum, there'd be:

- Ball
- Tracer
- AP
- HPBT
- Blank
- Dummy

If what you're getting at is issuing different loads for different areas -- for example, Frangible for house clearing, and HPBT for desert regions -- that is unlikely to happen. SOP is to issue one general purpose, standard ball round for rifles and machine guns, for use in all regions and operations.