Why is the new US battle rifle being designed by Germany?

[TheHomelandSoldier]

I think they should just change the caliber, not the AR platform. The AR's only true weakness is it's cartridge. An AR in .308 is too heavy, so why not go with the 6.8 Rem SPC, or 6.5 Grendel? Because of all the surplus ammo out there. Solution: Sell off the surplus 5.56 ammo in the civilian market to all the people with AR15's, and adopt the new cartride. I think the AR15 platform is the best so far as balance, design, modularity, etc. go. Just change the stupid cartridge. It drives me nuts that they will go through hundreds of millions of dollars to change rifle platforms, when all they have to do is change the cartridge, bbl, bolt, and mags.

-THS

 

[Ivy Mike]

Just an FYI, Winchester is owned by the Herstal group...of Belgium.

They are not an American company anymore.
I don't understand why the US military doesn't just ask for an update of the AK pattern rifle. The damn things works well, yet has never been considered.

If you can't beat em, join em. I think an AK with Glock stamped on it woudl be cool...if it wouldn't explode.

 

[ny32182]

When has the AK ever beaten the AR? People with ARs always tend to kill large volumes of people with AKs. Its just a personal preference.

Sure, there are other (newer) platforms and cartridges out there other than the AR and 5.56.

None of them are nearly as battle proven as the AR, and never will be.

Whatever "huge" advantage people like to attribute to the other platforms is minor or non-existant.

I'm not saying that there will never be anything out there that will be better than the AR. It just won't be good enough, or a big enough improvement to justify a massive cost, massive wholesale switch to a new platform. There is nothing on the horizon right now that would justify a switch. IMHO.

 

[Ivy Mike]

People with AR's tend to be trained a lot better than those with AK's...at least as far as this country's military is concerned. How do you think the USA would have compared to the now-defunct USSR? I'll betcha the AR wouldn't have made as much difference.
A standard AK won't touch an AR's accuracy, however, the AK has proven itself in the nastiest environments possible. It takes abuse that has choked many an AR. Oh, the AK is cheaper in every single way shape and form. I can buy an excellent domestic AK for $650 with a milled reciever. $475 with a stamped. The military would get them for even less. Oh yeah, no royalties on that one either. There are already variants chambered in 5.56 and the action can take a variety of larger cartridges. If you want, use the RPK action which tolerates even larger cartridges.

Something cool about a rifle that can be cleaned in diesel fuel and lubed with old motor oil...and work flawlessly.

 

[jefnvk]

So is that the reason why it is being replaced, is it is unreliable? I thought those problems had been taken care of?

I guess, maybe we should know why a new rifle is being looked at. Is it unreliable? Obviously, it can't be the caliber, as first assumed, because they still want .223. Is it because this new weapon will be able to server muiltiple roles? What is it?

 

[The Rabbi]

People with AR's tend to be trained a lot better than those with AK's...at least as far as this country's military is concerned. How do you think the USA would have compared to the now-defunct USSR? I'll betcha the AR wouldn't have made as much difference.

The dreaded "AK vs AR" debate rears its ugly head

 

[Commissar Gribb]

+1. I can see standardization, to a point. Sniper/rifleman/smg role, OK, that can probably be built on the same platorm. But why do we need to require it to be a machine gun as well?

what people are missing here is that it's not standardization to single weapon- it's standardization to a single SYSTEM.

the XM8 system's strongest point is it's interchangeable components between sniper, SMG, rifle, LMG varients- much the way that the kalashnikov system (AKM, AKSU, RPK and to a lesser extent, the SVD) featured shared components or operating features.

And Unless I'm mistaken, the M16 has or is being used as a light machine gun by some countries.