NORTH ATLANTIC TREATY ORGANIZATION (NATO)

NATO nations were seeking a new smaller infantry cartridge that would be standard for all NATO nations.  America’s 7.62X51MM round was selected and adopted in 1954. It was used in the then new M14 rifle, and the M60 machine guns.  It replaced America’s 1906 cartridge and its derivatives the M1 and M2.  The 7.62MM NATO itself was relatively short lived as the standard NATO round being mostly replaced by the 5.56 X 45MM. However the 7.62MM continued in service well into the nineties.  In the early sixties Remington Arms developed the 5.56MM round for use in the Colt-Armalite AR 15 weapon.  The cartridge was adopted as the 5.56 X 45MM NATO, and the AR15 went to war as the M16 automatic rifle.

 America’s SALVO Project was series of government testing programs seeking to increase firepower in the field. The Squad Automatic Weapon Program (SAW) conducted at Frankford arsenal sought to develop a cartridge somewhat more powerful than the 5.56 X 45MM NATO, but still small enough to allow the infantryman to carry nearly as many rounds as he carried using the 5.56MM.  The 6MM SAW cartridge tested in the early seventies was nearly adopted.

 Testing of automatic weapons using Folded cartridges and Caseless ammunition has been conducted. Both types remain mostly experimental.