https://www.armytimes.com/news/your-army/2023/12/20/army-to-field-new-rifle-machine-gun-and-optic-in-2024
I was able to play with the new army rifle a bit. It's heavier, proposed combat load is less rounds then with M4. Unit cost is range of 4k per rifle without optic vs around 600 for m4. Designed to defeat body armor that are relatively non existent with our current enemies. Impressive range that most our troops will never be able to take advantage of for lack of training. Handguard is so thin it will flex and move point of impact of lasers attached. Side cocking lever gets hung up on your kit when slung. If you leave the side cocker back and hit the slide release your thumb will hate you. Winner over all is Sig. Another cash cow government contract. I'm too old to have to carry more weight.
I believe it's only for want of training and physical conditioning that this new system is not among the clearest embodiments of URGENCY.
(I am skeptical that the training deficiencies will last very long, barring environments where the fancy optic is likely to encounter electronic warfare. It's basically a KD expert in a box, until it breaks. Add a little bit of fundamentals, stir in a bipod or similar supported position, and serve hot. And the decades-old trend towards mechanization of infantry will at least attempt to counteract any mobility deficiencies from the rifle's weight.)
Consider the new cartridge. 80kpsi and it's smaller than a .308. I figure some of the rifle's added weight buys an unusually skookum lockup with which to safely contain that. Reminds me a lot of the newish M855A1 cartridge (which also has a bimetallic case). You or I would never even think of trying that because it's a barrel-burner, a waste of money.
Only a gigantic highly-centralized economy-of-scale can eat that cost with purpose and effect.
(Yes, there are some benchrest competition folks who have spawned an entire genre of cartridges who put too much powder behind too thin a bullet, whose barrels last maybe a thousand rounds. My wallet and I find that scene unfathomable.)
Except for the details, all of the above is also readily applicable to the M855A1 cartridge, which burns barrels in order to largely neutralize the infamous effective-range limitations of shooting M855 through the M4 carbine. Its 62gr projectile gets 2900fps out of the M4's 14.5" barrel, which is probably enough to travel the Rifleman's Quarter-Mile before crossing the sound barrier.