The solicitation, still currently active, was tendered by Naval Surface Warfare Center Crane in mid-January for a Crew Served Weapons Optic that can be mounted on and effectively operated with SOCOM’s vast arsenal of mounted machine guns, including the M2A1 (.50 caliber heavy machine gun), the M240 (the 7.62 NATO mainstay general-purpose machine gun), and the Mk44 minigun (also chambered for 7.62 NATO).

Mounting optics to crew-served weaponry isn’t anything new or groundbreaking, with a history tracing back beyond the Vietnam War. Legendary sniper Carlos Hathcock was known to generate confirmed kills using an M2 “Ma Deuce” with scope mated to a custom-built mount. Indeed even miniguns have been occasionally spotted over the years with EOTech holographic sights.

Regardless, it’s interesting to see SOCOM pursue what appears to be a one-size-fits-all solution that can work with a wide variety of mounted weapons instead of an optic that works well with just one or two platforms in particular.

Though the solicitation does not include any public information on the exact specifications of the CSWO that SOCOM intends to pick up in the coming months, it wouldn’t be unreasonable to assume from the above that the optic would be of fixed magnification. Not a whole lot more can be inferred, however.

As with most solicitations posted by Crane to the federal contracts site, the end-user (i.e. one or more of SOCOM’s various special operations forces) of the CSWO has not been specified.

The contract’s stipulations mandate that bidders need to provide a soft case for the optic, a commercial battery, user manual, lens cloth, a lanyard, and mounting hardware — all fairly standard equipment and accessories.

The Firearms Blog reports that at the very least, SOCOM will buy 200 optics, though the order could potentially rise up to over 1,500 optics depending on the needs of the units that will field the CSWO.

The M110, chambered for 7.62×51 mm (7.62 NATO) developed and first produced by Knights Armament Company just over 11 years ago, serves in designated marksman and sniper roles with the US military, partially replacing the older M24 Sniper Weapon System.

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In comparison to .308 Winchester and 7.62 NATO (which was derived from the Winchester cartridge), 6.5 Creedmoor is a relative newcomer to the intermediate caliber game. It was first introduced in 2007 by Hornady as a development of the .30 Thompson Center cartridge — which in turn was the result of an effort to build a .308 Winchester length round with ballistics rivaling that of the .30-06 Springfield round.

The gradual adoption of the Creedmoor began in 2017 when SOCOM explored procuring and fielding Precision Intermediate Caliber Ammunition, designed to first serve in a sniper role before eventually seeing wider adoption in a variety of other applications.

In testing at the Aberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland, officials discovered that the 6.5 CM was considerably more shooter-friendly.

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Using retooled FN SCAR-Hs and M110s, SOCOM personnel found that their hit probability more than doubled at a range of 1,000 meters with the Creedmoor round, while offering shooters a cartridge with considerable stopping power and lesser recoil.

Moving forward to spring 2018, SOCOM went ahead with adopting 6.5CM over .260 Remington, which was also entered into the mix as a potential PICA cartridge.

According to a solicitation on the federal government’s official business opportunities site, the sole source contract will be handled directly between Naval Surface Warfare Center Crane, SOCOM’s de facto small arms procurement house, and will be fulfilled over a period of four years, ending in February 2023.

While the adoption of 6.5 CM is not, however, a full-on replacement for 7.62 NATO with America’s special operations apparatus, it’s unclear just how many M110K1s SOCOM intends on converting to the new caliber just yet, or if a portion of the new Knights uppers will be available based on end-user preference to SOCOM snipers.

NGSW is the Army’s highly ambitious small arms project which could very well see the Army finally move on from 5.56 NATO for a new standard rifle cartridge in 6.8 mm, as well as a replacement for the M4 carbine and the M249 light machine gun.

Textron’s booth at the conference included both the NGWS-R and the NGSW-AR prototypes for the program, ahead of an official debut and product reveal scheduled by the company for the upcoming Association of the US Army Annual Meeting & Exposition next month.

At first glance, Textron’s prototypes seem to precisely fit the requirements that the Army put forward in the program’s Prototype Project Opportunity Notice. The PPON calls for a rifle and an automatic rifle (i.e. a light machine gun) chambered for 6.8 mm that can be rigged up with a removable suppressor or a flash hider as needed.

The layout of Textron’s NGSW-R (rifle) — which will ultimately compete to supersede the M4/M4A1 carbine — appears to be very similar to the AR-15 platform and bears some visual resemblance to an earlier prototype from Textron — the company’s 6.5mm Cased Telescoped Carbine . A bolt catch, a topside charging handle, and a thumb-accessible fire selector all sit mostly where one would expect to find them on the AR.

A Picatinny rail for optics and lasers runs the length of the handguard, which features a number of M-LOK attachment points and the receiver to the charging handle. It’s currently unclear what purpose the bump in front of the magazine well serves, but that will likely be revealed at the AUSA expo.

The NGSW-AR (automatic rifle) is the successor to the now-defunct Lightweight Small Arms Technologies machine gun program. Textron’s submission for the NGSW-AR appears to be a reworking of its LSAT prototype, albeit chambered for a new caliber with a few visual differences, including a new stock.

Textron’s NGSW-AR uses a full-length upper rail, only sectioned in two portions due to the placement of the gun’s feed tray. Both the extendable stock and the bipod the automatic rifle prototype comes with appear to maintain compatibility with the NGSW-R, as per the picture.

The Army will be pitting Textron’s NGSW prototypes against competing models from Sig Sauer and General Dynamics Ordnance and Tactical Systems.