[GarySpFc]

Today, troops ride to the fight, and carrying 450 rounds on their persons is not as important as it was in VN. Also, enemy are fighting from behind mud or block walls, and soldiers need a round which will punch through. 5.56 won't. 7.62 NATO will.

If you are Special Ops or Airborne, then long range patrols are still the norm, and will be into the distant future. The ability to hump with lots of amno and the resupply issues are not going to change.

[verity]

A very astute observation. In fact, I believe that the M4A1 which has full auto instead of the 3-round burst option, was developed for SOF. That requires a lot of feeding.

[Travis McGee]

That's true, but today's troops in Iraq need the power of 7.62 more than they need to carry 450 rounds (of 5.56).