When the US Militarys M-16A2 rifle is eventually replace what will its replacement be?
It seems that while there are better designs (in the opinion of some) the M 16 rifle will simply evolve and adapt to changing conditions and battlefield environments as it has over 40 odd years. We have seen many incarnations of the basic Stoner design over time for varied reasons, as well as many contenders attempting to replace it, but nothing has been adopted except for modifications to the existing design. I see this trend likely to continue for some time yet to come, simply because of magazine availability, parts commonality and training standards, weapon familiarity concerns and most importantly ammunition availability. Complete change is a difficult process and while we are engaged in active combat we might see a few new special needs tools on the battlefield, but overall nothing much will change.
