New Army "Caliber Configuration Study"

[Guardsman26]

I understand that the US Army's Caliber Configuration Study is now proceeding with all guns blazing if you'll forgive the metaphor. Better news is that the US Army leadership and key influencers are all behind it with the US AMU is leading from the front by providing its own new ammo proposals. Common sense has prevailed meaning that the CLAWS and LDAM programs won't materialise until the US Army has decided which calibers it wants to use in future. I sense that there is now a shared belief that 5.56mm has reached the omit of its development potential. The UK has signed a MoU with the USA and will participate in the CCS. Meanwhile, the performance of the existing Grendel round is serving as a benchmark. Exactly which calibers are being looked at is not publicly available, but you don't need the brains of an archbishop to realise that it will likely include: .250, .260, .270 and .280 (with .308 above and .223 below serving as reference calibers). Meanwhile, as H&K melts down in the wake of the G36 scandal, FNH seems to be refining both SCAR-H and Minimi Mk 3 platforms. If I were a betting man, I might lay odds on the next US Army AR being the SCAR-H in something very close to a 6.5mm Grendel. Of course, there's many a slip between cup and lip, but I tend to think that the overall configuration of the SCAR-H has created a new AR benchmark.