U.S. FN’s new 6.5mm carbine and belt-fed gun arrive for technical and support tests.

FN America on October 8, 2025 delivered test and evaluation samples of the LICC-IWS (with the IPC carbine) and LICC-AMG belt-fed gun to the DoD’s Irregular Warfare Technical Support Directorate, including ammunition, suppressors, training, and newly assigned NSNs.

FN America announced on October 8, 2025, in an official press release that it has delivered test and evaluation samples of two new small-arms families to the Department of Defense’s Irregular Warfare Technical Support Directorate: the Lightweight Intermediate Caliber Cartridge Individual Weapon System (LICC-IWS) and the LICC Assault Machine Gun (LICC-AMG). The submission includes ammunition, unit-level maintenance training, and newly assigned National Stock Numbers, signaling the programs’ maturation from concept to operational assessment. In short, FN is pitching a 6.5×43 mm ecosystem designed to outshoot legacy 5.56 platforms while remaining familiar in handling to today’s carbine users.
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LICC family (6.5×43) is a lightweight, suppressed carbine and belt-fed LMG offering extended range, improved accuracy, reduced recoil and common logistics for squad overmatch (Picture source: FN America).

The LICC-IWS revolves around a purpose-built 6.5×43 mm cartridge with lightweight stainless-steel cases that trim carried weight by roughly 20 percent compared to brass, while boosting accuracy and effective range over current 5.56 loads such as M855A1. The rifle at the center of the system, FN’s Improved Performance Carbine (IPC), uses a robust long-stroke gas piston with multiple buffers to tame recoil and a self-regulating gas system with an on-off setting to optimize suppressed fire. The platform is fully ambidextrous, features a unique takedown method, and carries a highly adjustable buttstock that can fold to either side. FN is fielding three barrel configurations to cover mission sets: 12.5 inches for CQB, 14.5 inches for general carbine duty, and 18 inches for designated marksman roles, all fed from a 25-round polymer magazine and paired with a signature suppressor. Early firing data cited by FN and Army Marksmanship Unit shooters indicates the IWS is delivering roughly twice the accuracy of an M4A1 while maintaining similar handling characteristics.

The belt-fed LICC-AMG is adapted from the Evolys lineage and chambered for the same 6.5×43 mm round to maintain logistical commonality. It carries a continuous monolithic top rail, an innovative side-feed arrangement with lightweight metallic links, and comes standard with a dedicated suppressor. In prototype testing, FN reports the AMG outshot the MK 48 in full-auto accuracy and showed measurable gains in lethality, durability, balance, and controllability over the M249 and MK 46/48 family. With NSNs already assigned for multiple IWS variants and two suppressors, requisition pathways for evaluation by Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, and SOCOM users are now simplified.

The LICC concept aims at squad-level overmatch without imposing the weight and recoil penalties associated with full-power 7.62 or hybrid-case 6.8 systems. The lighter cartridge, reduced recoil impulse, and suppressor-optimized gas system should translate into higher hit probability in rapid strings, better control in confined urban fights, and more discreet signature management in partner-force advising or counterinsurgency missions. The three-barrel IWS lineup lets a battalion armorer tailor roles from room-clearing to mid-range interdiction, while the AMG provides a shoulder-fired belt-fed that is easier to keep on target in automatic than legacy SAWs. For irregular warfare task forces that mix U.S. operators with allied units, the common 6.5×43 supply chain across carbine and LMG simplifies load planning and resupply.

FN’s move lands amid a broader U.S. push for small-arms overmatch. The Army’s Next Generation Squad Weapons program is concurrently fielding the 6.8 mm M7 rifle and M250 automatic rifle with the XM157 fire control, a pathway explicitly framed to deliver longer-range lethality, improved accuracy, and signature management to close-combat formations. While the LICC family is a separate trajectory with a different caliber, both efforts reflect the same imperative: out-range and out-penetrate near-peer body armor and sensors while preserving maneuverability at the squad level. For policymakers, the IWTSD’s mission to prototype and transition capabilities across the irregular conflict spectrum, and its bilateral mechanisms with close partners, position LICC as a candidate for coalition experimentation even as the Army standardizes around 6.8. That interplay between special-mission needs and service-wide modernization will shape how, and where, FN’s new systems find their first operational homes.