why the army and marine corps love the m249 machine gun
in the early 1990s the us army and marine corps
introduced a new weapon designed to radically boost the firepower of infantry squads
the m249 squad automatic weapon or saw fire the same ammunition as the m16 a2 rifle at a
rapid rate of fire and was more compact than the gun it replaced although controversial the m249
still serves today in the us army and u.s special operations forces worldwide
since world war ii a fast-firing automatic weapon was the cornerstone of a u.s infantry squad be it
u.s army or marine corps directed by the squad leader the automatic weapon is critical in
providing suppressive fire either in the attack or defense the first squad automatic gun was at first
the m1918 browning automatic rifle replaced in the 1950s by the m60 general purpose machine gun
by the 1980s u.s ground forces started shopping around for a new light machine gun to replace
the m60 at the lowest unit levels this was not the first time the services had shopped around for lmg
for instance a previous effort in 1974 went nowhere but one outcome was the development
of the minime light machine gun for the requirement by fabric nationale of herstal belgium
the minime was a 13-pound squad automatic weapon that fired the 5.56 millimeter round
the same as the m16 series of assault rifles it used a gas operating system utilizing a
rotating bulkhead and was just over three feet long the minimum was fed from 100 or
200 roundabouts of ammunition and could in a pinch use nava's standard m16 magazines
the minime was lighter shorter and fired faster than the m60 machine
gun essential considerations for infantryman riding in the cramped passenger compartment
of an armored personnel carrier or amphibious assault vehicle the m60
was typically served by a gunner and one or two assistant gunners or ammunition bearers
but the m249 and ammunition were light enough that required only one soldier to operate
and additional ammo could be distributed through the squad to ordinary rifleman
one of the significant tradeoffs in replacing the m60 with the m249 was power and range
the m60 warts and all fired the heavier two millimeter round each round had 2593 square foot
pounds of muzzle energy and the maximum effective range was 1 200 yards as a result the more massive
7.6 to round could penetrate cover and way's 5.56 based weapons could not the smaller caliber m249
generated 1093 square foot pounds of muzzle energy and had a maximum effective range of 1094 yards
the m249 was type classified the m249 for u.s military service in 1982 the
acquisition schedule called for the u.s army to purchase 49 979 m249s and the marines 9974
however in 1985 the pentagon halted deliveries to incorporate many modifications to make the weapon
more ergonomic including heat shields to protect the user from hot barrels and a reduction of sharp
edges after the improvements were implemented resulting in modified guns known as m249 product
improvement program deliveries resumed the m249 became the foundation of infantry squad fire call
in the u.s army a nine soldier infantry squad consisted of a squad leader leading two fire teams
each of which included a squad automatic weapon gunner armed with an m-249 in the u.s marine corps
a 13-man infantry squad consisted of a squad leader and three fire teams each
of which had one m249 gunner the m249s first conflict was the 1991 gulf war
followed by the 1992 u.s intervention in somalia after 9 11 m249 went to war with the u.s
army's green to race 10th mountain division 101st airborne division and u.s marines
the m249 fought throughout the iraq war and today is in the fight against the islamic state in iraq
and syria the m249 has evolved over the years to aid in target identification and acquisition saul
were fitted with tragic and advanced combat optical gun sight and elk inspector optics
a paratrooper version has a 13.7 inch barrel as opposed to the standard 18-inch barrel and
a collapsible stock the paratrooper version has an overall length less than 3 feet in ways just
16 pounds a model for special operations forces is even lighter but with a longer barrel for greater
range however that has been mostly replaced by the mk-46 and 48 lightweight machine guns
also based on the m249 the mk 46 and mk 48 both have an emphasis on light weight and flexibility
with the ability to mount pistol foregrips laser aiming devices and other accessories as needed
the m249 has always had detractors even after fabric nationale made several modifications to
the weapon a 2006 report by the cna corporation soldier perspectives on small arms combat
hold combat veterans on their views of u.s infantry weapons of the m9 pistol m4 carbine
m16 assault rifle and m249 squad automatic weapon the m249 came in third in soldier satisfaction
it also received low marks in weapon handling maintainability cleaning equipment and corrosion
resistance for example 30 percent of m249 handlers reported experiencing an ammunition stoppage in
combat and more than a third of them to 49 gunners stated they were not confident in their rabbit
another issue with the m249 is accuracy the m249 is not a particularly accurate weapon accurate to
only 12 minutes of angle in other words at 100 yards a burst from an m249 could be expected
to place rounds with 12 inches of the designated aiming point at 500 yards that increases to 5 feet
machine guns are meant to deliver suppressive fire and not point or destructive fire
so to some extent dispersion is a good thing while the us army accepts this as part of its
philosophy of firepower the us marines have placed their m249s in storage and replaced them with the
m27 infantry automatic weapon the marines with a history of marksmanship and well placed fire
believe the lighter more accurate m27 can perform the mission with fewer rounds expended
the m249s time is coming to a close each marine rifle company retains 10 weapons in storage
just in case the company commander needs them the army is researching its next generation
squad automatic rifle which promises a lighter gun ammunition while remaining highly lethal
unless the army fails to procure the ngsar m249 which is a distinct possibility
the m249 will likely fade into history by the 2030s
that's all friends press like if you like this video
and press no if you don't like it thanks for watching and have a nice day
you