This is plain idiotic.
How the fuck do you shoot, move and communicate if you can't keep the bad guys heads down?
If you want precision fire then add a Designated Marksman to your Infantry Companies.
You don't reduce the number of SAWS that you deploy. This from Military.com.
Gunners shooting the M27 have been getting first-round hits on targets beyond 300 meters much more consistently than they have in the past with the M249, Clark said.and this....
"In the training, the Marines were employing it in the semi-auto mode until they closed within 100 meters or so of the enemy and then switch to full auto to provide very accurate high rates of fire," he added. "We don't lose the ability to gain fire superiority."
Read the whole story, but this is a STUPID. INSANE. POTENTIALLY TRAGIC STEP BACKWARDS.Marine weapons officials also maintain that the improved 30-round magazine that the Army developed for the M4 carbine and the M16 is working well in the M27.Some are concerned that M27 gunners are not being issued higher-capacity magazines. Program officials have not ruled this out as a possibility for the future, but for now, gunners will carry about 22 of the standard 30-round magazines for a basic load.
"We are looking at the potential for high-capacity magazines, but right now the new service magazine with the brown follower is working really well," Clark said. "We have had no issues."
Can anyone say Browning Automatic Rifle? Who put these bastards in charge????
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ReplyDeleteThe marines have a unique IAR doctrine that is distinct from the usual LMG-centric infantry doctrine. I tend to side with you, I just don't get it, but what they're doing makes sense within their new doctrine and IIRC they've done both weapon and tactical testing to back it up and it's based at least in part on combat experience in Iraq, especially house to house.
ReplyDeletewell i can tell you for a fact that suppressive fire is still essential in infantry combat.
ReplyDeleteyou can try and go precision but that will not allow you to move the way you want.
this experiment is going to get people killed. i'm not sure about Military.com's reporting on this.
I went back and looked over some of the old threads. There were a lot of people in "you need the firepower of LMGs" camp. The counter argument seemed to be that an LMG needed a two man team, or one very heavily loaded man, to generate its firepower advantage since it takes lots of ammo and spare barrels to maximize the firepower of an LMG, plus linked ammo can be a pain to screw with by yourself.
ReplyDeleteThis meant that in USMC fire teams, which are too small to provide an assistant gunner, you either have a heavily loaded man who can't keep up with the rest of the team or you have a gunner who's lack of ammunition and spare barrels makes him no more effective than an automatic rifleman, hence the IAR which, while it has no where near the firepower of a SAW, can generate a much higher amount of full auto fire than a rifleman.
Something tells me the USMC just wanted this new rifle, and in this harsh economic climate, they kind of had to get it in a round-about way, by claiming it as their new LMG. The IAR is nothing to sneeze at, especially with something like the new Armatac 150 round double drum, very impressive firepower and light!
ReplyDeletei've heard that theory and if thats the case then awesome, but as a LMG, this thing leaves a lot to be desired.
ReplyDeletea new service rifle! yes. LMG? no way.