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Marines to get new automatic rifles
Spider7115
Member, Moderator Posts: 29,714 ******
Marines Closer to Next-generation Rifle
Stars and Stripes | Kevin Baron | December 27, 2008
ARLINGTON, VA. - The Marine Corps has moved one step closer to selecting a next-generation light automatic rifle.
The Marine Corps Systems Command in Quantico, Va., announced contract awards for three competing weapons manufacturers to produce and deliver their final entries to the Corps by the middle of next year, in what signifies a final round of competition that began with ten candidates.
The lighter, magazine-fed Infantry Automatic Rifle - or IAR - is intended to replace the belt-fed M249 Squad Automatic Weapon - or SAW - in "the Marine Rifle Squad within infantry battalions and in the scout teams in Light Armored Reconnaissance battalions."
But the rifle will not be for all Marines, according to a statement by MARSYSCOM spokesman Bill Johnson-Miles.
The Pentagon requested up to 10 samples of a 5.56 mm IAR prototype from FN Herstal, which would be made in Belgium; Heckler and Koch Defense, which is based in Ashburn, Va., but whose samples would be made in Germany, the home country of the parent company; and two entries from Colt Defense, made in West Hartford, Conn.
The rifles will then undergo limited testing by infantry Marines.
Under the five-year contracts, the Pentagon could tap the winning entrant for an acquisition of 4,476 rifles, with an option to purchase up to 6,500 copies at a possible value of $28 million for FN Herstal or Heckler & Koch, or $24 million for Colt.
The SAW, which is manufactured by FN Manufacturing, the US subsidiary of Belgium's FN Herstal, weighs 16.5 pounds and fires 750 rounds per minute.
The lighter IAR candidate from FNH USA, for example, weighs in at 10.4 pounds and fires 650 rounds per minute.
Spokesmen from Heckler & Koch's Ashburn, Va., office and FNH USA, in McLean, Va., did not return calls to Stars and Stripes.
The rifles are scheduled for deployable use in December 2010.
Stars and Stripes | Kevin Baron | December 27, 2008
ARLINGTON, VA. - The Marine Corps has moved one step closer to selecting a next-generation light automatic rifle.
The Marine Corps Systems Command in Quantico, Va., announced contract awards for three competing weapons manufacturers to produce and deliver their final entries to the Corps by the middle of next year, in what signifies a final round of competition that began with ten candidates.
The lighter, magazine-fed Infantry Automatic Rifle - or IAR - is intended to replace the belt-fed M249 Squad Automatic Weapon - or SAW - in "the Marine Rifle Squad within infantry battalions and in the scout teams in Light Armored Reconnaissance battalions."
But the rifle will not be for all Marines, according to a statement by MARSYSCOM spokesman Bill Johnson-Miles.
The Pentagon requested up to 10 samples of a 5.56 mm IAR prototype from FN Herstal, which would be made in Belgium; Heckler and Koch Defense, which is based in Ashburn, Va., but whose samples would be made in Germany, the home country of the parent company; and two entries from Colt Defense, made in West Hartford, Conn.
The rifles will then undergo limited testing by infantry Marines.
Under the five-year contracts, the Pentagon could tap the winning entrant for an acquisition of 4,476 rifles, with an option to purchase up to 6,500 copies at a possible value of $28 million for FN Herstal or Heckler & Koch, or $24 million for Colt.
The SAW, which is manufactured by FN Manufacturing, the US subsidiary of Belgium's FN Herstal, weighs 16.5 pounds and fires 750 rounds per minute.
The lighter IAR candidate from FNH USA, for example, weighs in at 10.4 pounds and fires 650 rounds per minute.
Spokesmen from Heckler & Koch's Ashburn, Va., office and FNH USA, in McLean, Va., did not return calls to Stars and Stripes.
The rifles are scheduled for deployable use in December 2010.
Comments
I would be suspecting that we will see some piston retrofit for the AR system or at best the HK416.
I am pulling for FN or Colt though, just because HK and their stance of civilian ownership of firearms is less than enthusiastic.
Hopefully something like the Beta.
But a bit more user friendly.
CP
I wonder what magazine they use?
Hopefully something like the Beta.
But a bit more user friendly.
CP
Here's a link to FNH's site:
http://www.fnhusa.com/mil/products/firearms/model.asp?fid=FNF063&gid=FNG023&mid=FNM0157
I don't know why they wouldn't stick with belt-fed. It sucks to change mags every 30 rds with a cyclic rate of 650.
what do these new rifles replace? these are expensive,over 6 grand each
They'll replace the M-249 SAW. I'm going to miss it.
The Marine Corps has always been treated like Uncle Sam's step-child.What a bunch of BS Earl; we took them on Cruises with us where ever we went, gave them luxury quarters, provided shuttle services where ever they wanted to go, and put them in charge of our misfits. I can't help that the Army mistreated you, but the senior service looked out for your best interests! [:D]
If you can't feel the music; it's only pink noise!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LWRC_Infantry_Automatic_Rifle
There's nothing wrong with the SAW. It's dead-nuts accurate, it really doesn't weigh that much, and it spits out 860 rounds a minute. Even with the puny 5.56, it's more than enough to be lethal.
After reading the Soldier Perspectives of Small Arms in Combat report survey, (taken of 2600 combat veterans of the 48th ID, 2/140th Infantry Regiment, 3rd ID, 82nd Airborne, and the 10th Mountain), I would have to disagree. Only 60% of respondents reported being satisfied with the SAW's handling, only 70% satisfied with the maintainability of it, many voiced concerns over the corrosion resistance, and 30% reported weapons stoppages while in combat (M16/M4 stoppages were only 19% while the M9 was 29%). Only 64% had confidence in the SAW's durability. Many users have requested replacement of the gun all together. Failing that shortening and lightening of the gun and changes to the belt system and drums to make them more reliable.
...Hey eyeball...what Marines did you belong to...the Navy and the 'Dogs while shipboard eat DAMN GOOD...hell, the swabbies need to feed their protectors well I guess..[:D]
...I guess some things never change, still don't give much weight to the opinion of the troop in the field, 5.56 needs to be replaced, not the weapon.
So you are saying that you know better than a bunch of recent combat veterans who actually use the weapon in combat in Iraq and Afghanistan and disapprove of it? In the survey, very few had anything bad to say about the caliber, many had bad things to say about the weapon itself.
I doubt the Marines will be getting any new toys in a loooong while.[:(]
Well, we've seen where giving the military hunderds of billions of dollars got us...
Maybe it's time we forced them to tighten their belts and spend the money we give them smarter, not faster.
What you need to remember is that in a rifle company usually privates E1-E2 carry the saw, in most cases they lack the experiance needed to use it effectively. I was in a anti-tank company in the 82nd where the gunners were primaraly spc and a few pfc E4-E3, and for some reason during qualification our guns always worked, and the rifle companys usually had trouble with them.
I think it is a excelent weapon.
I think its reputation grately suffers from the Jesica Lynch convoy syndrome.
As for the c-mag that is a piece of junk. Never seen one work when it gets dirty. To me it is like having a CCO and no back up sight, putting everything in one basket is never a good idea, you never know when that Murphy guy is going to show up. But I guarente he will.