Armaments Research Company's IoT to be introduced in the Next Generation Squad Weapon with Sig Sauer.

According to a PR published by Armaments Research Company, Inc. (ARC) on August 10, 2022, the technology and data company serving national security and public safety customers, announced their Internet-of-Things (IoT) full-stack technology will be introduced in the Next Generation Squad Weapon (NGSW) program of record, in partnership with Sig Sauer.
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Artist rendering of Armaments Research Company's technology platform (Picture source: ARC)

For the first time in 65 years, the U.S. Army’s initiative will replace its individual rifles, squad machine guns, fire control system, and ammunition, helping to modernize and better equip the warfighters of tomorrow.

ARC’s technology platform will provide data on individual weapons at scale. The resulting insights will enable units to regularly assess weapons’ health, reduce failure rates, extend the lifetime of a weapon and optimize maintenance plans, enhancing performance and reducing costs. The data can also improve a unit’s understanding of its readiness, which measures the unit’s fundamental ability to deploy quickly.

The first production delivery of NGSW weapons will include ARC’s round count and inventory management system, gathering weapons usage data on the units over the next several years.

The NGSW program’s intention to revolutionize the Army’s tactical weapons comes in response to findings that current weapons systems threaten conflict overmatch. More than 1,000 soldiers provided hands-on feedback during weapon testing and selection.

ARC’s weapons intelligence platform works with tactical tools and frontline AI to ensure mission readiness and improve small-unit performance. The platform enables the U.S. Army to capture mission-critical data from individual- and tactical-level weapons at scale, helping leaders at all levels make informed decisions during and after training to improve readiness, performance and operational efficiency.

The Next Generation Squad Weapon (NGSW) program is a United States military program created in 2017 to replace the M4 carbine and M249 SAW light machine gun (both 5.56mm ammunition) and the 7.62mm M240 machine gun, with a common system with 6.8mm cartridges; and to develop small arms fire control systems for the new weapons.

Seven defense manufacturers competed in the program, with five attempting to design and produce the weapons; two attempting to create and supply fire control optics.

The U.S. Army officially announced the winners in early 2022; SIG Sauer to produce the XM5 rifle and XM250 automatic rifle, Vortex Optics to produce the XM157 fire control system, and Winchester produce the custom 6.8mm ammunition cartridges designed by SIG Sauer. The program was expected to cost $10 million in the first year of production, and $150 million the next.