British Army plans to replace its L85A3 5.56mm assault rifle from 2025. The US Army’s NGSW (Next Generation Squad Weapons) is likely to influence British army choice in terms of weapon type and calibre.
The U.S. Army Next Generation Squad Weapons (NGSW) Program is an iterative, prototyping effort, using Middle Tier Acquisition Authority, to develop operationally relevant, squad-level lethality to combat proliferating threats, informed by U.S. soldier’s feedback.
The NGSW prototyping effort consists of the Rifle (NGSW-R) and Automatic Rifle (NGSW-AR) with a common 6.8mm cartridge and Fire Control (NGSW-FC) between the two systems. The effort aims to field to the Close Combat Force (CCF) with the NGSW-R as the planned replacement for the M4A1 assault rifle and the NGSW-AR as the planned replacement for the M249 Squad Automatic Weapon, gas-operated light machine gun.