The M240 has been a staple of U.S. firepower for nearly 50 years. Heavy, rugged, and combat-proven, the belt-fed 7.62x51mm machine gun has been carried by generations of American troops in conflicts from the Gulf War to Afghanistan. Now, after decades of service, the Army is laying the groundwork to replace it.

This effort is still in its earliest stages, and there’s no official program of record yet. But buried in the Army’s fiscal year 2026 budget request is a clear signal: the service is preparing for what it’s calling the Future Medium Machine Gun, or FMMG.

Why replace the M240?

The M240 remains reliable and effective, but it comes with tradeoffs. The infantry M240B variant weighs over 27 pounds unloaded, and fully kitted out, it can approach 35 pounds, and that isn’t including ammo

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