U.S. Army Accepting Solicitations For New 7.62mm Combat Rifle

By Tom Knighton

Go on any gun board and you’re sure to find someone lamenting the venerable 5.56mm round NATO forces currently use. They argue that the 5.56 round just doesn’t have enough punch to take down the bad guys, among other things ranging from somewhat sensible to outright bizarre.

A new solicitation from the U.S. Army for the Interim Combat Service Rifle is bound to give all those guys something to talk about for a while.

The Army has identified a potential gap in the capability of ground forces and infantry to penetrate body armor using existing ammunition. To address this operational need, the Army is looking for an Interim Combat Service Rifle (ICSR) that is capable of defeating emerging threats. The Government has a requirement to acquire a commercial 7.62mm ICSR to field with the M80A1 Enhanced Performance Round (EPR) to engage and defeat protected and unprotected threats. The ultimate objective of the program is to acquire and field a 7.62mm ICSR that will increase Soldier lethality.

The Government intends to award a maximum of eight (8) Other Transaction Agreements (OTAs), procuring seven (7) weapons from each Offeror for test and evaluation purposes. The Government reserves the right to award less than eight …Read the Rest

Source:: Bearing Arms