The Infantry Automatic Rifle was suppose to solve...
1. SAW Gunners were having difficulty keeping up with the Squad in the attack, necessitating a lighter weapon.
2. Because the lighter weapon was able to put fewer rounds down range, it was to be more accurate to make up for this deficiency.
Well it looks like the engineers at the Joint Service Small Arms Program were working on the issue and have come up with a solution that will not trash the volume of fire found in our small unit.
Hey Gunners...read this article and this one too...Great work Kit-Up! But will someone answer this for me?
Why didn't the Marine Corps have visibility on this project. All the headache, angst and internal bickering could have been avoided if we simply waited for the results of this test. Now we are facing a "test" with a weapon that will more than likely not be procured.
What an amazing amount of waste. What an amazing amount of lost man hours. What a complete cluster.
Lets save the Gouchy gear for SOCOM and just buy stuff that works!
Ahh! LSAT = LMAG. Now I remember. I had completely forgotten about it. One of those things making quiet progress out of the limelight?
ReplyDeleteCaseless/cased telescoping ammo has had serious problems in the past, or didn't provide enough benefit over it's own drawbacks to replace standard ammo.
You're right though, why isn't the Marine Corp hip deep in this?
http://www.dtic.mil/ndia/2005smallarms/wednesday/spiegel.pdf
And "Gucci" would be the gear.
Off topic
ReplyDeleteI couldn't resist to show this to you
http://io9.com/5591304/the-goon-gets-a-gorgeously-gruesome-and-epically-absurd-trailer
If you need a lighter more agile SAW, FN have the perfect solution it's called the PARA-SAW (or Para-Minimi in Australian parlance) and can be fitted with accessories to enhance CQB performance, if needed. Australian Specwarrie operators and 3RAR (Parachute Battalion) love the weapon. It's inter-operability with the existing SAW (Minimi) design is useful from a training and logistical perspective too.
ReplyDeleteHere they are, "standard" Para-Minimi:
http://www.guns.co.il/images/stories/miklaim/fn%20mini/fn_minimi_para.jpg
CQB variant of Para-Minimi:
http://www.machinegunarmory.com/images/MK46SAW_LG.jpg
Cheers,
AD