#M7

Photo Of The Day, and we find ourselves on the wrong side of the M7 Next Generation Squad Weapon. Transition to a new service rifle means more than issue and familiarization, particularly for units committed to near-peer readiness. Soldiers from 2nd Battalion, 21st Infantry Regiment "Battle" are putting the M7 through its paces at Schofield Barracks, moving through the deliberate progression required for operational confidence.

We’ve been following the US Army’s Next Generation Squad Weapons program here at TFB from the very beginning and we recently reported that the US Army had received the first batch of the new and improved version of the NGSW-Rifle - the XM8. The XM8 Carbine is a shorter and lighter variant of the M7 rifle and it looks set to supplant the longer weapon.

I’ve never been to Hawaii, but it looks like paradise. I’m sure it isn't always. Heat, humidity, torrential rainfall, salt air, dense vegetation, the environment around Schofield Barracks is about as demanding as it gets for weapons and optics, which makes the 25th Infantry Division's backyard exactly the right place to find out whether the Army's next-generation small arms family can hack the jungle.

This is a fascinating Photo Of The Day (POTD) set showcasing some of the U.S. Army's current small arms family, with the XM8 Carbine, the M7 rifle, the M250 and the M4A1. It’s not often we get to see studio-quality images, but here’s the new XM8 Carbine in a perfect side-view. Here's what's going on with each weapon pictured.

Meet the M7 Rifle and M250 Automatic Rifle, the US Army’s newly type classified infantry small arms. The transition from the XM to fully fledged ‘M’ designations represents “a major program milestone” according to the US Army’s Project Manager Soldier Lethality team who have overseen the selection, refinement and roll-out of the new weapons.