XM8 rifle: Encyclopedia II - XM8 rifle - Adoption status

XM8 rifle - Adoption status

On April 13, 2005 Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and General Barno were asked about the XM8 at a news conference (townhall meeting in Kandahar, Afghanistan). An excerpt from the transcript from an official Department of Defense website reads [1]:

QUESTION:  My name is Sergeant Lief from Honolulu, Hawaii. 
           My question to you sir, is, is XM8 going to replace M16 or the M4?  If so, when?
RUMSFELD:  Is what?
QUESTION:  The XM8, the new assault rifle I've been seeing in Army Times, sir.
RUMSFELD:  General Barno, what's the answer?
BARNO:     The answer is we don't know yet.  It's a good question.  
           We're looking at different rifles for the infantry.  That decision has not yet been made.

According to a Jane's Defense news article in 2005:

In budget documents released at the beginning of this year, the army set aside US$32.5 million to buy 10,400 XM8 carbines in Fiscal Year 2006. That procurement is now on hold pending the competition.

The competition is Objective Individual Combat Weapon (OICW) Increment One, which is similar to the previous goals of the XM8: a family of weapons with high parts commonality that can be configured for various functions.

The text of the request for proposals from the Army reads:

Non-Developmental multi- configurable 5.56mm modular weapon system. The system shall consist of four variants to include: Special Compact (SC), Carbine, Designated Marksman (DM), and Light Machine Gun (LMG) (or Auto Rifle). All variants need to function in both semi-automatic and automatic firing modes, with the LMG primary firing mode being full auto. The SC variant will provide Soldiers an enhanced close quarter battle capability providing effective lethality through 150 m. The Carbine is slated to be the standard issue individual combat weapon with an effective range through 500 m. The DM variant will provide accurate fire at longer ranges as well as offering an automatic rifle capability. The LMG variant will offer the role of suppressive fire through 600 m.

The XM8 system may have faced competition from weapons such as from the FN SCAR, Robinson Arms XCR, H&K 416, or Steyr AUG, which can also be re-configured to various roles.

The XM8 program was cancelled in fall 2005 after being suspended earlier in the year.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Adoption status", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki