Quote Originally Posted by coloccw View Post
http://www.defensereview.com/dr-excl...ry-forces-gif/



Interesting.... 1 lower, multiple uppers, multiple calibers. Ignore the Colt vs. LMT vs. whoever battle and look at the concept here. Going back & forth between Iraq & Afgan & other places, guys are having to have several weapon systems to accomidate for each AOR. Pain in the ASS, both operationally and logistically. Now, possibly use same lower & grab whatever upper config you need based upon misssion requirements. Does this mean the guys are carrying less gear...nope. It also doesn't mean they're carring more. Those of you picturing guys running around with 5 different uppers in a backpack are unrealistic. What it could mean is that units wouldn't need several guns for each shooter. 1 lower with several uppers (depending on unit needs). No need to buy or train with seperate weapon systems, just the necessary uppers. Switching uppers & entire gun (for caliber) has always been used, now we could use 1 lower for all these options. Means less items in armsrooms, less costs to transport, more money can go where needed (whole other conversation).

As I said...interesting.
This still doesn't solve the issue of money. This platform has the same drawbacks as the SCAR system. The army would have to replace its entire inventory of M4 and M16 lowers, i.e. cost prohibitive.
The reason the SCAR did not get picked up in 5.56 for USASOC is due to the overall cost being out of budget. The carbine and LR SCAR 17 was fielded to ODA's to replace the aging M14 - but with the continuing resolve in place for all armed forces budgets, any new weapon systems will not be fielded enmass for some time. A big reason the HK 416 contract fell through. Crane is the defense contractor that services all military weapons, the current inventory is full of perfectly good M4's, and only require rebarreling. So the military looks at it as why replace a perfectly good rifle that has all the support aspects in place. Perhaps over time we will see the platforms trickle in, but the SCAR is still under testing in SOCOM and I doubt the Colt will be able to catch up . It is unfortunate that the selection process is highly political as well. Its always good to know someone on the contracting committee!!