In military terms: Short for Squad Automatic Weapon|weapon, the standard squad-level light machine gun in the United States Military. Also known as the .
December 31, 2020 One of these three prototypes could be the Army s replacement for the M4/M16 among close combat forces. (Jacqueline Belker) The Army in 2021 will select from among the three companies vying to build the Army’s replacement for both the M4 carbine and Squad Automatic Weapon. The Next Generation Squad Automatic Weapon project has been in the works for the past three years and, if completed and implemented, would mark the first substantial change in conventional small arms that the U.S. military has seen since the mid-20th century when it adopted the M16 service rifle in 5.56mm.