U.S. Army Had To Change The Name Of Its New Rifle From M5 To M7

Soldiers of the 4th Ranger Training Battalion, Airborne and Ranger Training Brigade, demonstrate the U.S. Army’s newest weapon during a Rangers in Action Ceremony September 16, 2022, at Victory Pond, Fort Benning, Georgia. (Patrick A. Albright/U.S. Army) 

Military.com: The Army Forced to Change the Name of Its New Rifle 

The Army is changing the name of its new rifle after accidentally taking a name from an unrelated existing weapon, the service announced Wednesday. 

The service's upcoming M5 from Sig Sauer will now be called the M7 after it was discovered Colt Industries also makes a weapon called the M5. The light machine gun set to replace the M249 Squad Automatic Weapon, or SAW, the M250, will not change. 

"The Army originally chose the designation XM5 as the name of the new rifle in March," a service spokesperson said in a statement. "Since then, the service learned that the M5 name is used by Colt Industries for one of its 5.56mm carbines."  

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Update: New name selected for Army’s Next Generation Squad Weapon (Army Times)  

WNU Editor: This is something that I did not know. This new rifle is currently called the XM7. The “X” used in the weapon nomenclature is to distinguish it as a weapon not yet fielded. Once fielded the firearm will drop the “X.”

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