The U.S. Army has confirmed that this fall began trials of the new Squad Designated Marksman Rifle or SDM-R.

According to an Army’s statement, a limited-user test of the new 7.62x51mm SDM-R is also underway now at Fort Bliss in Texas.

The new 7.62x51mm rifle is based on the Heckler and Koch G28E-110 / M110A1 Compact Semi-Automatic Sniper System, or CSASS, and provides infantry, scout, and engineer squads the capability to engage with accurate rifle fire at longer ranges. 

The new rifle will be equipped with a different buttstock and barrel twist than the CSASS model and carries a base weight of about 9.9 pounds.

In June, Captain Weston Goodrich, PEO Soldier’s assistant program manager for Soldier Weapons, said: “The Army’s current rifle technology is most effective below the 300-meter range; however, Soldiers are fully capable of fighting beyond that threshold”.

“The new rifle addresses the 300 to 600 meters range gap outlined in the 2015 U.S. Army Small Arms Capabilities-Based Assessment,” Goodrich said.

“The Army is working to equip each squad with a predetermined amount of marksman rifles,” he added. The rifle is capable of firing either M80A1 Enhanced Performance Rounds or XM1158 Advanced Armor Piercing Rounds.  

The U.S. Army has initiated many changes to help modernize the service, bolster readiness, and increase lethality.