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The Squad Automatic Weapon program was designed to create an intermediate weapon between the M16 rifle and M60 machine gun. It would have to fire tracer ammunition out to a visible range of 800 meters or more, be capable of accurate high-volume sustained fire, and be lighter and more reliable than the M60.
The intent was to develop a cartridge that would replace all 5.56×45mm NATO weapons as well as most 7.62×51mm NATO rifles and machine guns in the U.S. military. Eventually, the 5.56mm was retained and only the machine gun portion of the SAW (Squad Automatic Weapon) competition was successful. That program led to the M249 light machine gun.
The standard squad automatic weapon in Afghanistan was the M249 with PIP kit, which served alongside its heavier counterpart, the M240 machine gun. Most M249s were given a collapsible buttstock immediately prior to the invasion to reduce its length and make the weapons more practical for parachuting and close-quarters combat. [ 46 ]
The M27 Infantry Automatic Rifle (IAR) is a 5.56mm, select-fire assault rifle / squad automatic weapon developed from the HK416 by Heckler & Koch.It is used by the United States Marine Corps (USMC) and was originally intended for automatic riflemen, [6] but now is issued to all infantry riflemen as a replacement for the M4 carbine.
The machine gun feeds from a proprietary 100-round synthetic drum magazine (early models also used 60-round drum magazines), or from a modified 20 or 30-round STANAG 4179 magazine (from the M16 rifle). [1] An unusual feature among modern machine guns is the fact the Ultimax was purposely designed to feed from magazines as opposed to belts.
Because semi-auto RPD variants are manufactured using de-milled parts kits from full-auto RPD machine guns, in order to comply with ATF regulations the full-auto parts must be modified such that the resulting semi-auto rifle cannot be readily converted into a machine gun. Numerous machining operations are necessary to modify the de-milled full ...
Typical of Soviet machine guns, the PK feeds from the right and ejects its spent cases via an ejection port on the left side of the weapon, contrary to the right side ejection port seen in most Western machine guns. For the light machine gun role, the PK is used as the standard squad automatic weapon of the Russian Army. The PK uses a 100-round ...
It can be used with a bipod for the Squad Automatic role, and fitted with a tripod for sustained fire support. [citation needed] The rear sight is adjustable for elevation and windage, and the foresight can be adjusted for elevation for zeroing. The barrel has a built-in carry handle for ease of changing the barrel.