U.S. Military's 'New' 6.8 Caliber Round ?

[Mrgunsngear]

No one is addressing the weight/bulk issue.

Any combination that is better on paper but decreases rounds carried for the same weight loadout is a non-starter.

Or increased weight for the same loadout.

Until a breakthru happens this is a non-starter. Caseless, new powder, etc.

I think it's a good idea to keep pushing the state of the possible, I just don't see this particular implementation as a practical solution yet. But interesting idea.

They have to address, weight, recoil, and bulk. Otherwise as mentioned they could just pick 270 WSM now, that's not what they're trying to do.

Agreed 100%. Especially with the load out most combat arms Soldiers/Marines carry today that doesn't even include their rifle/ammo.

[noonesshowmonkey]

...The entire premise of the program is based on the idea that dismounted US Infantry soldiers will be engaged in intermediate and long range combat with body armor-clad Russians and Chinese.

Dismounted Infantry in the US are not used in that capacity and have not been involved in anything close to it since 1953, well before we had air superiority, and now air dominance.
...

I think that the Pentagon may be considering sources such as this article from the Modern War Institute at West Point by Dr. Phillip Karber, The Russian Way of War. It's long, but very interesting, and apropos to understanding why the Army, and the DoD generally, are shifting their priorities away from low-intensity Counter-Insurgency warfare and back towards near-peer warfare. The problems faced by actual 4GW against near-peer will include EW and SAM/AAA threats that will render our current reality of air dominance far more anemic than most people are comfortable admitting. There has not been combat of this type, or on this scale, since the Iran/Iraq war, the Six Days War, or to a more limited extent, Operation Desert Storm.

6.8 / .270 cartridges are, given the scale of these problems, a somewhat minor consideration.

Distributing anti-drone capability down to an organic level in forward deployed units would be a better start, but there's no reason to believe that such capability is not currently being worked on, if on a much quieter level.

[Firefly]

Why does everyone think we are gonna have this epic, anime World War 3 showdown with the Russians and the Chinese?

This smacks of pointless kickback.

[Firefly]

I see this going the way of the OICW.

Same. The RoK or some Oil Farming country might bite but this is just a pointless waste of time and money.

.338 NM Belt Feds? Cool.
6.5 CMR SASS? Yes please.

A pointless barrel burning gun in a wildcat chambering? Naw

[Arik]

I'm all for it even if it's ultimately doesn't go anywhere.

Innovation is always good. This may not go anywhere but it may lead to something else. Not long ago 300BLK was a wildcat cartridge. 222 spawned 223 and why do we need 223 when 308 already did everything..... which came from 3006 ...from 3003...etc..

Everything we have today was at one point in time pointless because we already had other stuff. People using the atlatl were probably looking at the guy building the first bow as a waste of time and energy

Like concept cars. They may never be built for sale but their tech eventually bleeds into cars that are.

[BoringGuy45]

I'm all for it even if it's ultimately doesn't go anywhere.

Innovation is always good. This may not go anywhere but it may lead to something else. Not long ago 300BLK was a wildcat cartridge. 222 spawned 223 and why do we need 223 when 308 already did everything..... which came from 3006 ...from 3003...etc..

Everything we have today was at one point in time pointless because we already had other stuff. People using the atlatl were probably looking at the guy building the first bow as a waste of time and energy

Like concept cars. They may never be built for sale but their tech eventually bleeds into cars that are.

I agree, I'm all for innovation too. And one of my pet peeves is that the gun community declares anything new to be a solution in search of a problem. If that mentality were followed the way the gun community wanted, we'd still be using muzzle loaders. Even if we were getting our asses kicked by bad guys with AKs, the sticks in the mud would STILL insist that the problem is a training issue, we shouldn't waste money on some new assault rifle, and that money should go towards more ball and powder.

HOWEVER, this still reeks of the government trying not to get their budget cut, or some government insider getting kickbacks. Reason being, whenever a relatively cheap and incremental change is brought up, such as upgrading from 5.56 to 6.8 SPC or 6.5 Grendel, suddenly, logistics, cost, supply lines, and worry about upgrading barrels, bolts, and magazines makes such an idea unfeasible. But suggest something like this or the OICW, that's going to require a complete retooling of all our small arms equipment and cost a few hundred billion dollars, and suddenly, they Army is drooling. It makes no sense.

[turnburglar]

Same. The RoK or some Oil Farming country might bite but this is just a pointless waste of time and money.

.338 NM Belt Feds? Cool.
6.5 CMR SASS? Yes please.

A pointless barrel burning gun in a wildcat chambering? Naw

Who doesnt want a 270 WSM coming out of a bullpup?

Making it a bullpup is the only way an O type would go for something like this.

But on a serisous note: can ANYONE explain to me the intended purpose of this caliber? It is WAYYY to spicy to be a general issued carbine.

[Ned Christiansen]

80-100K PSI chamber pressure. Ouch, my ears.

I'm not poopooing anything 6.8 and we all know that some day, the 5.56 will be phased out. Maybe even for something in 6.8. But it's interesting how headlines of "amazing new 6.X caliber round is about to take over" headlines are on such a cycle that it's almost predictable. What would it be, like every 30 months or so?

And I'm not a regular reader of Army Times but what I have seen kinda reminds me of Popular Mechanics or how it used to be when I was a kid. Seemed like ever issue was promising flying cars and robotic houses were just around the corner.

[BoringGuy45]

80-100K PSI chamber pressure. Ouch, my ears.

I'm not poopooing anything 6.8 and we all know that some day, the 5.56 will be phased out. Maybe even for something in 6.8. But it's interesting how headlines of "amazing new 6.X caliber round is about to take over" headlines are on such a cycle that it's almost predictable. What would it be, like every 30 months or so?

And I'm not a regular reader of Army Times but what I have seen kinda reminds me of Popular Mechanics or how it used to be when I was a kid. Seemed like ever issue was promising flying cars and robotic houses were just around the corner.

I remember reading a PM article about 20 years ago. They were showing the military technology that they predicted would be standard issue by the 2010s. It was a full body uniform that had some kind of technology that could change color like a chameleon. So you just had one combat uniform and you would program it to be color of your environment. The weapon was a small, wrist mounted thing that had mini heat-seeking missiles, as well as a small chain gun (with the ammo on a backpack). There was a helmet with a heads up display that would allow you to lock your missiles on a target and aim the gun, and of course it was Bio/chem/nuclear proof. If I remember correctly, I think the suit also had some kind of strength enhancement and flying technology as well. Essentially, it was like the suit the Martian Marine Corps wears in The Expanse. And we were only ten or so years away from adopting it.

[NWPilgrim]

Do they even remember the main objective of the program? Was it to lighten the infantryman’s load? Or better ballistic performance? Or cheaper logistics?

Because it looks like they are trying to accomplish conflicting goals and likely will not achieve any of them. Instead compromising until they have a heavier weapon, bulky ammo that while also lighter on the pallet now takes up more space on the pallet and still cannot lift anymore than before, heavy ass weapons that shoot a 135 gr bullet at 3,200 from 13” bbl reduced to 120 gr bullet at 2,900 FPS from 15” bbl, and too expensive to replace across the board so it will be parceled out and then airlift will have to deliver two pallets for every unit one of 6.8 polymer and another of 5.56 brass.

I love innovation but govt rarely innovates efficiently or reliably. With enough billions and decades they can squeak something out. But an un-repressed commercial market could innovate circles given realistic objectives.