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The Army aims to buy thousands of prototype guns this year as it prepares to equip more troops with the successor to the M4 rifle and M249 Squad Automatic Weapon.

The annual budget plans unveiled by the Army on Monday come amid a high-stakes competition between companies that will be the force's main arms dealer. Congress will work up their own version of the service's annual budget over the coming months.

The Army has requested the purchase of 29,046 Next Generation Squad Weapons, an umbrella term for offerings from Sig Sauer and LoneStar Future Weapons. There were 12,000 new weapons purchased for this year and 3,000 bought in 2021.

The VA is asking for a 22% increase in spending on medical care.

The new rifle and machine gun for the Army will be tested by various units for feedback that will affect the decision of the Defense Department. The M4 is a smaller version of the M16 rifle. The SAW was issued to units in 1984 and is a much lighter alternative to the Army's M240 L machine gun. The weapon is not going to be replaced.

The Biden administration has proposed a $178 billion budget for the Army in the next fiscal year. The entire federal budget is just a slice of that budget.

In January, the Army chose a new advanced optical to be mounted on the Sig Sauer and Lonestar weapons. Over the next 10 years, the company was awarded a $2.7 billion contract.

The Next Generation Squad Weapons program was launched. The Army wanted weapons to use a 6.8mm round, over concerns that the current 5.56mm is too small, especially against an adversary with body armor. The new ammo is meant to be lighter than the brass used by troops.

The Army's active-duty component will be reduced from 485,000 to 473,000 as part of the budget proposal. The service currently has almost half a million active-duty soldiers.

The dramatic reduction comes amid concerns from Army leaders over recruiting struggles during the Pandemic, a multi-dimensional problem involving more stringent background checks on a potential recruit's history of prescription drug use, minor criminal charges, and failing the service's mandatory IQ test.

During the peak of the post-9/11 wars, the service made dramatic increases to recruiting bonuses, including a $50,000 incentive for those who sign up for the infantry.

The National Guard and Reserve will not be affected by the budget plans.

The service wants to fund 22 Combat Training Center, despite Army leaders growing concerned about the massive pre- deployment training events becoming a burden on the force. The Joint Readiness Training Center at Fort Polk, Louisiana and the National Training Center at Fort Irwin, California are some of the places where the CTCs are held.

The Army Chief of Staff, Sergeant Major of the Army, and then-Secretary of the Army decided to reexamine the rotation in 2020.

The one that will be funded will be in Alaska after a test in March. During the initial rotation, leaders were hoping to test out Army equipment, including vehicles, weapons and clothing. They did not push gear or tactics to their limits.

Army units in Alaska will be equipped with 13 Cold Weather All-Terrain Vehicles, or CATVs, according to the planned budget. The main combat vehicle is the Stryker, but it cannot be driven off-road into the snow.

Steve Beynon can be reached at military.com. You can follow him on social media.

The Army's Next-Generation Squad Weapon is a big hit with SOCOM.

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