The U.S. Army has been talking about the need of an ammo that will be able to defeat the body armor of potential enemies and they see that the 7.62mm is the bullet that should be the solution. Thus, they issued out an Interim Service Combat Rifle (ISCR) Competition to bridge the gap as they start the search for the replacement of the M4 rifle.
In a post at The Firearm Blog (TFB), they report that the ISCR is “dead in the water” according to multiple sources “as part of the massive review of the U.S. Army’s small weapons program.” One reason TFB wrote is that “sources cited the lack of a pressing threat necessitating the change, poorly written requirements, little or no support from the ranks, and no backing holistic DOTMLPF assessment.”
It is a bit surprising why there is no support from the ranks when the plan is to have a rifle that will be able to fire a round that ensure that it penetrates the body armor of the enemy, thus negating that advantage. Still, the search for the 7.62mm rifle is said to be continuing, it is only the ISCR that is being cancelled.
However, according to Military.com’s Kit-Up! Blog, the Army’s senior leadership has not killed the ISCR as decision has not been made, quoting Brig. Gen. Brian Cummings. However, other sources have informed Military.com that the ISCR is cancelled and that no official announcement has been made. The solicitation of the 7.62mm ISCR was issued out two months ago where they planned to whittle down the submissions to 8 rifles for evaluation.
Chances are the ISCR competition is already a dead horse and though it is best to know the reasons why the Army leadership are not pursuing it by officially announcing that the ISCR is cancelled. There seems to be no full backing to the 7.62mm rifle as the U.S. Marines are still sticking with the 5.56mm as they intend on getting more of the M27 IARS. As for NATO allies, there are also no plans for the 7.62mm rifle as the Germans are still looking for a 5.56mm replacement of the G36 rifle and the French just gave the contract to Heckler & Koch to supply them the HK416 which is a 5.56mm rifle.