[captain_dave]

This is foolish. The military needs to stop thinking of one rifle and start thinking about using weapons appropriate to the battlefield. One theater might call for a carbine, another might be more suitable for a longer range 7.62 rifle.

[tumblindice]

That’s right, conditions should dictate the choice.
I read in a Patrick Sweeney book on the Automat Kalashnakov that the Soviets had their own fairly new AK74 `poodle shooter’ for the Afghanistan fighting, but troops favored the old 7.62 caliber. Spetsnatz liked the 40 round mags, cheap Chinese chest canvas bandoliers and sneakers on their feet.
Due to long distances they also liked the Dragunov 7.62X54, some fitted with membrane silencers.
Of course they got bounced out because they were vodka swilling communist swine.

[PapaBear3625]

The military needs to stop thinking of one rifle and start thinking about using weapons appropriate to the battlefield. One theater might call for a carbine, another might be more suitable for a longer range 7.62 rifle.

I agree. One possibility is an improved AR-10 in .308, as a companion to the M4.

At one point, the US Army was evaluating a pair of rifles: the Heckler & Koch HK417 rifle in .308, and the very-similar HK416 in 5.56.