新英格兰州纽因顿——在枪械制造商西格-绍尔总部的厂房内，成批崭新的M8下一代班组武器步枪被塑料膜包裹后整齐码放在货架上，随时准备发往部队。
NEWINGTON, N.H. – On the factory floor at gun maker Sig Sauer’s headquarters, giant shipping pallets of the brand-new M8 Next Generation Squad Weapon rifle sit shrink-wrapped on shelves, ready for dispatch to soldiers.
据该公司高管周一向《军事时报》透露，M8卡宾枪的列装工作将于12月启动，首批装备部队的将是北卡罗来纳州布拉格堡的一些部队。据悉，M8有望在M7步枪开始列装不到三年后便取代其成为美军的标准制式步枪。
Fielding of the M8 carbine, which appears set to replace Sig Sauer’s M7 as the Army’s standard rifle less than three years after the M7’s initial fielding began, will begin in December with some units at Fort Bragg, N.C., company executives confirmed to Military Times Monday.
该公司制造副总裁戴夫·布勒介绍称，此次下一代班组武器项目的推出还包括西格-绍尔研发的M250机枪，该机枪将取代老旧的M249班组自动武器，预计明年上半年配发至部队。
The NGSW new weapons rollout also includes Sig’s M250 machine gun, which will replace the aging M249 Squad Automatic Weapon and is expected to reach troops in the first half of next year, said Dave Buehler, the company’s vice president of manufacturing.
这两种武器均使用同一种弹药：由西格-绍尔研发的6.8×51毫米通用弹药，该弹药采用混合设计结构，能够承受较高的膛压。
Both weapons share an ammunition caliber: the 6.8×51mm Common Cartridge developed by Sig Sauer with a hybrid design intended to withstand high chamber pressure.
M7步枪在初期列装阶段便问题频出，士兵们纷纷抱怨其重量与长度都难以掌控，还称高压弹药对枪管、消音器等部件造成了过度损耗。
The M7 stumbled out of the gate, generating complaints from soldiers about its unwieldy weight and length and undue wear they said the high-pressure rounds were putting on components, including barrels and suppressors.
虽然西格-绍尔当时对诸多较为激烈的负面反馈予以了反驳，但如今该公司将从M7向M8（此前称作XM8）的过渡视为成功范例，以此彰显其能够迅速响应士兵需求的能力。
While Sig Sauer pushed back at the time on a number of the most strident complaints, the company is now casting the transition from the M7 to the M8, also previously called the XM8, as a success story that highlights its ability to act quickly on soldier inputs.
“从我们的角度来看，M8是一款远优于M7的步枪，”布勒说道。“在研发M7时，我们受到合同规定的设计标准与特性限制——即便我们并不认同这些要求，也不得不予以满足。而如今的M8则充分采纳了我们以及士兵们的反馈意见。我们迫不及待地希望它能早日投入使用。”这款新步枪的重量比M7轻了1磅有余，枪管长度也缩短了3.5英寸。
“From our perspective [the M8 is] a far superior rifle to the M7,” Buehler said. “On the M7, our hands were kind of tied [with what] the design criteria or characteristics of the contract required – even if we didn’t like them, we had to meet them. So now, the M8 considers our feedback, the soldiers’ feedback. And we can’t wait to get it out there.”The new rifle is more than a pound lighter than the M7 and sports a barrel that’s 3.5 inches shorter.
它用固定式枪托取代了原本不太受欢迎的可折叠枪托，还根据反馈对护木的刚性等细节做了优化调整。西格绍尔公司的国防产品经理乔希·舒梅克表示，对于此前使用过M7步枪的士兵而言，转用M8应该会十分顺手。
It replaces a less-popular folding stock with a fixed stock and includes feedback-based adjustments like added rigidity for the handguard. For soldiers who previously received the M7 rifle, the M8 should be a smooth transition, said Josh Shoemaker, Sig Sauer’s product manager for defense.
“实际上两者的基础设计理念完全一致，”舒梅克在接受《军事时报》采访时说道。“用过M7的士兵们对其特性本就十分熟悉，因此M8的引入想必也会受到他们的欢迎。”他指出，此次设计过程中最大的挑战便是减轻M7的重量——当时M7的空枪重量超过8磅，装上随附的消音器后更是接近10磅，这一数值与空枪重量仅为6.34磅的传统M4A1卡宾枪相比差距显著。
“The fundamentals are all the same, really,” Shoemaker told Military Times in an interview. “If guys that have had the M7 already are pretty familiar with that, the M8 will be a well-received transition.”The foremost design challenge, he said, was achieving weight reduction from the M7, which weighed more than eight pounds unloaded, and nearly 10 pounds with the included suppressor – a radical difference from the legacy M4A1 carbine, which weighs 6.34 pounds unloaded.
舒梅克称，目前西格绍尔公司已将M4与M8之间的重量差缩小至1磅以内，不过这一数值尚未计入M8自带的消音器重量。
Shoemaker said Sig Sauer had reduced the weight difference between the M4 and M8 to a little less than a pound, though that doesn’t include the M8’s suppressor.
“我们竭尽全力在必要部位减轻重量。因此，我们在枪机匣周围做了大量减重处理。我们也设法减轻了枪管的重量，但操作时必须格外谨慎——因为很多时候，减轻枪管重量会导致性能下降，比如缩短枪管使用寿命或增加自燃风险，”舒梅克说道。“我们对这一点极为重视，因此需要经过漫长的测试才能确定减重的合理范围，以及能减掉多少重量才不会产生负面影响。”舒梅克表示，缩小枪管尺寸并由此调整武器的重心，正是实现减重目标的关键手段。
“We worked really hard to reduce weight where we could and where it matters. So there’s lots of lightening cuts around the receiver. We pulled some weight out of the barrel, but we’re very careful to do that, because a lot of times when you pull weight out of the barrel, you have risks of some performance decreasing, whether that be barrel life or cook-off,” Shoemaker said. “We’re very sensitive to that, so it’s a long process to be able to figure out where your left and right limit is and how much weight [you can] kind of pull off of that before it’s too much.”Reducing barrel size and thus altering the weapon’s center of gravity helped in that effort, Shoemaker said.
“装上消音器后，拿起M8时就能感受到更好的平衡性，毕竟这是一款枪身更短的武器，”他补充道。
“When you pick up that M8, the balance of it feels a lot better, with that suppressor being on a shorter weapon system,” he added.
至于M7步枪，今年早些时候公布的预算文件显示，陆军正在缩减其采购计划：2027财年不再申请采购新订单，目前库存中仅剩约5万支M7步枪。
As for the M7, budget documents released earlier this year show the Army is curtailing its procurement, with none additional requested for Fiscal Year 2027 and about 50,000 previously delivered to the force.
目前陆军尚未说明对现有M7库存的处理方案，尤其尚未确定是否会让原先配备M7的士兵全部换装M8步枪。
The Army hasn’t said what it plans to do with the M7s already in inventory, particularly if it opts to put M8s in the hands of all troops who previously got the M7.
舒梅克称，陆军针对M7有多种处置方案，比如将这些步枪配发给新兵训练单位，或转交给国民警卫队及预备役部队使用。
Shoemaker said there were “tons of options” for the Army with regard to M7s, including sending the weapons to basic training units or reassigning them to Guard or Reserve units.
不过还有另一种选择：陆军可采购改装套件，将现有所有M7步枪改造成M8卡宾枪。
But there’s another option, he said: the Army could ask for conversion kits to turn all the M7s already in its inventory into M8 carbines.
“只需拧下两颗螺丝就能拆下枪管，再拧下两颗螺丝就能卸下护木……枪身底部的序列号标识也保持不变，”他说道，“整体而言，将一支M7改装成M8大概只需不到五分钟。”目前尚不清楚陆军高层是否在考虑这一方案。
“The barrel is two screws that come out, and the hand guard is two more screws … the lower-end serialized item is the same,” he said. “All in, you could probably convert [an M7 to an M8] in under five minutes.”If that’s an option Army leaders are considering, they have yet to address it publicly.
“陆军对各类可行方案都心知肚明，”舒梅克说道，“接下来就是要决定采取何种实施路径。”
“There’re lots of options that the Army is well aware of,” Shoemaker said, “and making decisions on what direction they’ll go with that.”