It will be the first time for Israel firearms manufacturer, IWI, to make is move into the U.S. Military market.  Already selling its products such as the famous Tavor bullpup series to military organisations and security forces around the world, IWI mainly sells its products to the U.S. civilian market. Now, Breaking Defense reports that the company will be attempting to sell its Negev Light Machine Gun to the U.S. SOCOM.

Available in 5.56mm and 7.62mm variants, the Negev LMG is comparable to the FN Herstal M249 LMG, which is in use in the U.S. Military. The U.S. SOCOM is interested in the LMG as it provides heavier firepower for small units and already uses the 5.56mm MK6 and the 7.62mm MK48.  With the U.S. Army’s ongoing New Generation Squad Weapons (NGSW) Program which will be adopting a 6.50mm ammo or better (Sig Sauer’s NGSW offering is 6.80mm), the U.S. SOCOM is interested in a 6.50mm SAW as well.

The Negev can be fired at semi or full-auto depending on the need for accuracy or suppression and according to IWI, the weapons platform is flexible enough to be configured to use other calibers. This means that it can also be easily converted to fire the NGSW 6.50mm or the 6.80mm depending on the SAW requirements of the US SOCOM.

Breaking Defense quotes Ronen Hamudot, VP Marketing and Sales at SK Group that special operators are “evaluating different calibers for the light-weight [machinegun] replacement, and we are offering our Negev squad automatic weapon,”. There is no mention of the size of the potential purchase for evaluation purposes. He said that if they win, the Negev will be manufactured state-side via their U.S. subsidiary. He further said that there working an ultra light version of the LMG.

The IWI Negev is a gas-operated selective fire light machine gun that was adopted by the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) in 1997.  The 5.56×45mm NATO round was the original ammo used with the 7.62×51mm NATO Negev NG-7 introduced in 2012 as a GPMG.