According to various press releases the Army has awarded Sig Sauer the contract for the replacement of the M4 carbine and M249 SAW.

Sig Sauer will develop and supply the XM5 rifle and the XM250 automatic rifle variants of the NGSW over 10 years. It will also produce the 6.8 Common Cartridge Family of Ammunition.

What I find interesting is that depictions for both the carbine and SAW have silencers attached. So, it looks like the military is going to put cans on all their small arms. Which makes sense.

I’ve also heard rumors that the new cartridge was going to be polymer-cased to save weight, but there was no mention of that in the article. I guess we’ll just have to wait and see.