page_title: M27 Infantry Automatic Rifle
section_title: Testing
hierarchical_section_title: M27 Infantry Automatic Rifle / Infantry Automatic Rifle (IAR) / Testing
caption_attribution_description: M27 Infantry Automatic Rifle shown at the SHOT SHOW
context_page_description: The M27 Infantry Automatic Rifle is a lightweight magazine-fed 5.56mm select-fire weapon based on the HK416 rifle designed and manufactured by the German company Heckler & Koch. It is used by the United States Marine Corps and is intended to enhance an automatic rifleman's maneuverability. The U.S. Marine Corps initially planned to purchase 6,500 M27s to replace a portion of the M249 light machine guns employed by automatic riflemen within Infantry and Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalions. Approximately 8,000–10,000 M249s will remain in service with the Marine Corps to be used at the discretion of company commanders. In December 2017, the Marine Corps announced that it would equip every member of an infantry squad with the M27.
context_section_description: In 2006, contracts were issued to several manufacturers for sample weapons. Fabrique Nationale d'Herstal submitted an IAR variant of the FN SCAR, Heckler & Koch (H&K) submitted an HK416 variant and Colt Defense submitted two designs. Companies that attempted to compete but were not accepted as finalists for testing included the Land Warfare Resources Corporation M6A4 IAR, Patriot Ordnance Factory, and General Dynamics Armament and Technical Products with the CIS Ultimax 100 MK5 (marketed as the GDATP IAR).
  In December 2009, the H&K weapon won the competition and entered into a five-month period of final testing. In the summer of 2010, it was formally designated as the: M27 Infantry Automatic Rifle, coincidentally sharing a designation with the 2nd Battalion, 7th Marines, who had been testing fully automatic rifles since 2001.
caption: An M27 IAR displayed at the NDIA Joint Armaments Conference in May 2010.
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