somebody previously had posted in a previous thread some months ago that this program was really about the machine gun.
the M249 shoots the 5.56 and is heavy as fuck. The enemy in the sandbox was using PKMs, which in 7.62x54r would out range our machine guns. M240, while on par, was too heavy to be humped up and down mountains. In order to get funding from Congress, they combined a bunch of programs together to "save money". Kind of like when your wife says "guess how much money I saved!" while holding credit card receipts. The M250 is dope. M7 might be a replacement for the M14, which was being broken out of the armories for use in Afghanistan.
https://www.thearmorylife.com/m14-and-the-war-on-terror-one-veterans-experience/
If we find ourselves in desert mountains again, the M7 will be useful. Until then, it will probably collect dust.
Personally, I think it has a place with Marines that are attached to aircraft carriers. When defending against small boats using swarm tactics, you will have 600-800 yard shots over open water and the weight isn't an issue because you are just carrying it from below decks to the flight deck. I know it will never happen.