The US Army and US Marines both currently employ the M4A1 as their primary combat service rifle and the M249 SAW as their Squad Automatic Weapon. Both use the 5.56mm caliber introduced in the 1970's in the AR-15 and standardized in the M16. Originally intended as a lighter individual weapon for the jungles of Vietnam it later fully replaced the 7.62mm in squad weapons. Each is now fielding new combat weapons for their infantry squads but with different approaches.
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