M27 trial: USMC adopted M27 IAR to have a bit more commonality between guns and lighter 5.56 machine gun. The new news is that 3rd Battalion, 5th Marines have been training with these as a part of pre-deployment excercise.
Some of draw backs mentioned in the article is the tendency to expend more ammunition and the cost of the rifle itself.
http://www.military.com/daily-news/2016/11/18/marine-corps-experimenting-new-service-rifle.html
Silencers for whole Battalion: 2nd Division is running a trial where they will put silencer on every rifle, from M4 to M2 .50 cal. This is to see if silencers can help with better communication with lower sound signature.
http://www.military.com/daily-news/2016/11/22/corps-put-silencers-whole-infantry-battalion.html
From: Military.com
