re: Soldiers Hate the M4 and M16. The Pentagon Is Finally Doing Something about It.

Every platform has its flaws, but it really has seemed odd to me that for such a long time the preferred weapon of our enemy has been the AK47, with its nearly flawless chambering action, and we've stuck with the M16/M4.

Two cousins of mine (one Army, one USMC) served in Iraq during OIF. They had similar stories about having to keep their weapons extremely clean in the sandy environs of where most of our modern warfare has occured... while they both witnessed enemy combatants dig up shallowly buried AKs and immediately put them to use without issue.

I know H&K has been trying to produce some next gen military weapons for US forces for quite some time, but for whatever reason (cost is a strong factor if I hear correctly) we just haven't jumped on it.