According to this article, perhaps as early as '05 by the XM-8 a upgraded HK G-36: http://www.armytimes.com/story.php?f=0-ARMYPAPER-2002475.php
Interesting little tid-bit..For special-operations forces, the weapon can be converted to fire 7.62-by-39mm, the same round as the AK47.
Did not know that. Of course, it would require a HK plant in the US...possibly within that two year time period.And Congress directed the Secretary of the Army’s office in its fiscal 2003 appropriations report last October to complete a cost-and-benefits analysis of the XM8 as possibly “worthy of fielding on an expedited basis.†That report was completed in early June and is on its way back to both the House and Senate appropriations committees.
IMHO, the DOD would save a boatload of money if they just adopted the G36 family of guns.. All they'd need to do is slap better optics on it, as well as a magwell that used M16 mags
As far as that '05 service date. Someone may want to tell the boys in Oberndorf that time's a wastin'. They need to build a plant here in the U.S. and they haven't even announced a site for the plant yet.
That sucks!And goodbye to burst.
The XM8, weapons experts maintain, is a true family of weapons with different barrel lengths designed to address all the needs of an infantry squad.
The need for sharpshooter weapons at the squad level became evident in Afghanistan. Elements of the 82nd Airborne Division requested M1As, a version of the old 7.62mm M14, for its long-range capability.
Soldiers testing the first 200 XM8s this fall will not be able to fire a three-round burst like they can on M16s and M4s. The rifles will have only a safe and a full-automatic setting.
Your tax dollars at work folks.“[Heckler & Koch], the Europeans, they love blocky style weapons. Americans are all about curves,†Clarke said, describing how they brought in engineers from Porsche and Audi to come up with more streamlined designs.