Out of curiosity, what were the ideas tested and rejected, and what were the ones ignored?

Hmm.  Did I miss something?  When did the US Army conclude that you don't need a full-power rifle for battlefield marksmen?

Afghanistan, 2003

Iraq, 2004

Afghanistan, 2013

Djibouti, 2022

mpopenker said:

In fact, as the US and NATO found out in the Afghanistan, the Soviet concept of the squad-level full power semi-automatic marksman rifle to complement the SCHV assault rifle was the right one

Absolutely. A number of countries are now copying the SVD Soviet swag and introduced a 7.62 DMR at squad level:

-New Zealand 

-UK

-US

-France 

New Zealand and I believe another country has also sort of copied the PKM concept, adding a 7.62 LMG to the squad alongside the 7.62 DMR. 

In general I'm very in favor of a 2 caliber Soviet/Russian configuration vs the US attempt / GPC attempt at having 1x caliber at the squad level. 

Gr1ff1th said:

Out of curiosity, what were the ideas tested and rejected, and what were the ones ignored?

Flechette type projectiles for small arms was one such idea. It was rather extensively tested, but eventually abandoned in the favor of a less-risky 6mm conventional cartridge

American idea of the full-power standard issue "battle" rifle of 1950s was quite obviously ignored as counter-productive

gatnerd said:

A number of countries are now copying the SVD Soviet swag and introduced a 7.62 DMR at squad level...

New Zealand and I believe another country has also sort of copied the PKM concept, adding a 7.62 LMG to the squad alongside the 7.62 DMR.

When did the Russians field a 7.62 DMR (or the PKM) at squad level?

I’m actually not sure what level the SVD was employed. Perhaps Max can tell us.

I just know the SVD is widely credited as being the originator of the Designated Marksman Rifle concept.

In terms of PKM, I tend to use that interchangeably with PKP. But for awhile now Russia has fielded a 7.62 class LMG as their ‘SAW’. A concept, like the 7.62 DMR, western forces are now embracing.

gatnerd said:

I’m actually not sure what level the SVD was employed. Perhaps Max can tell us.

Max said in Msg 3152 that the SVD is employed at the squad level. 

However, the Battle Order folks show the SVD at the platoon level.

gatnerd said:

In terms of PKM, I tend to use that interchangeably with PKP. But for awhile now Russia has fielded a 7.62 class LMG as their ‘SAW’.

Battle Order shows the Aussies were two decades ahead of the Russkis in fielding a 7.62 SAW.

stancrist said:

Max said in Msg 3152 that the SVD is employed at the squad level. However, the Battle Order folks show the SVD at the platoon level.

platoon / squad TOE changed with the time and theater

In the Afghanistan marksmen with SVD were assigned to the squad level.

Another NGSW meme out in the wild:

gatnerd said:

A number of countries are now copying the SVD Soviet swag and introduced a 7.62 DMR at squad level...

Which is somewhat ironic, since employment of the SVD at squad level was unique to the Afghanistan theatre (see Msg 3160).

Since then, having a DMR in each squad apparently was deemed no longer necessary.  Now there is only one DMR at platoon.

gatnerd said:

In general I'm very in favor of a 2 caliber Soviet/Russian configuration vs the US attempt / GPC attempt at having 1x caliber at the squad level.

I dunno.  Even disregarding the Level IV armor question, there is still the matter of the short effective range incurred by the majority of squad members in any two-caliber system.

I can't help but wonder if it may be possible to have one caliber that combines the advantages of both SCHV and full-power ammo into a single "have your cake and eat it" round.