Search For New 5.56mm “Flyweight” Special Operations Machine Gun To Kick Off Soon

The Flyweight Assault Machine Gun will provide a replacement for a lightweight special operations-specific version of the M249 SAW.

by Joseph Trevithick, Howard Altman
Published May 28, 2026 8:31 AM EDT

US. Special Operations Command (SOCOM) is about to kick off the search for what it is calling a Flyweight Assault Machine Gun (FAMG). This will be a new 5.56x45mm caliber belt-fed machine gun to succeed the Mk 46, a lightweight special operations-specific cousin of the M249 Squad Automatic Weapon (SAW).

Lt. Col. Alan Wood, SOCOM’s Program Manager for Special Operations Forces (SOF) Lethality, touched on the FAMG briefly in an exclusive interview with TWZ‘s Howard Altman during the annual SOF Week conference last week. Readers can find the bulk of the interview here.

There are “three separate machine gun programs within SOCOM: Lightweight Machine Gun-Medium, Light Machine Gun-Assault, and soon to be FAMG, which is the Flyweight Assault Machine Gun,” Wood explained. “The Medium is your .338 [Norma Magnum], the Assault is your 7.62 NATO [7.62x51mm], and then the FAMG is a 5.56[mm]. All belt-fed machine guns...”

Complete article with photos:

https://www.twz.com/land/searc...gun-to-kick-off-soon

I'd be interested to see what weight they're shooting for.

The KAC LAMG only weigh ~8.5-11.5 pounds, depending on configuration, and is already in use by some SOCOM units. Are they wanting even lighter than that? Or is this just standardizing on the LAMG?

So, I’m guess Sig is working an a new POS gun for the contract as we speak?

If only they'd put a little R&D into the M96 (Stoner's family of weapons) there would be no need to keep looking for other weapons. It could be configured as a SBR, carbine, rifle, mag fed MG & a lightweight belt fed MG.
It could be argued that it was a better design than the AR-15.

quote:

Originally posted by Dwill104:
So, I’m guess Sig is working an a new POS gun for the contract as we speak?

quote:

Originally posted by Dwill104:
So, I’m guess Sig is working an a new POS gun for the contract as we speak?

Tagged for the update nine months from now announcing the new Sig contract award.

quote:

Originally posted by Delta-3:
If only they'd put a little R&D into the M96 (Stoner's family of weapons) there would be no need to keep looking for other weapons.

That's exactly what the aforementioned KAC LAMG in my initial post is... the latest development of the Stoner 63/86/96 LMG designs.

And it's currently in use by US special operations units.

Hope this turns out better than the USMC M27 boondoggle.