FN America announced on October 8, 2025 that it has delivered test and evaluation kits of its Lightweight Intermediate Caliber Cartridge (LICC) family to the Department of Defense’s Irregular Warfare Technical Support Directorate (IWTSD). The shipment includes the Improved Performance Carbine (IPC), the belt-fed LICC-AMG, ammunition, suppressors, unit maintenance training, and newly assigned National Stock Numbers (NSNs), signaling a move from concept toward operational assessment.
The LICC concept centers on a purpose-built 6.5×43 mm cartridge with lightweight stainless-case construction that FN says reduces carried weight by roughly 20% versus brass while increasing effective range and accuracy relative to legacy 5.56 loads. The IPC carbine features a robust long-stroke gas piston with multiple buffers, a self-regulating gas system with a suppressor-optimized on/off setting, full ambidexterity, a unique takedown method and an adjustable folding stock. FN fields three barrel lengths — 12.5-inch for CQB, 14.5-inch for general carbine use, and 18-inch for designated-marksman roles — all fed from 25-round polymer magazines and paired with a proprietary suppressor. Early firing data cited by FN and Army Marksmanship Unit shooters indicate significant accuracy gains over the M4A1 while retaining familiar handling.
The belt-fed LICC-AMG adapts Evolys-family design traits to the same 6.5×43 round to maintain logistics commonality. It incorporates a continuous monolithic top rail, an innovative side-feed with lightweight metallic links, and a dedicated suppressor as standard. Prototype testing reportedly showed the AMG outperformed the MK 48 in full-auto accuracy and offered measurable improvements in lethality, durability, balance and controllability versus legacy SAWs such as the M249 and MK 46/48. With NSNs already assigned for multiple IWS variants and suppressors, evaluation pathways for Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force and SOCOM units are simplified.
LICC aims to deliver squad-level overmatch without the weight and recoil tradeoffs of full-power 7.62 systems. The lighter cartridge, reduced recoil impulse and suppressor-tuned gas system should boost hit probability in rapid strings, improve control in confined urban fights, and lower signatures for partner-force advising or counterinsurgency missions. The three-barrel IPC line enables unit armorers to tailor platforms from room-clearing to mid-range interdiction, while the AMG offers a more controllable, shoulder-fired belt-fed option. As the Army fields the 6.8 mm M7/M250 family under NGSW, LICC represents a parallel, force-specific path — one that could find early adoption in irregular-warfare and coalition experimentation driven by IWTSD.
