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CORPS SET TO TEST M27 ON BATTLEFIELD
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http://www.military.com/news/a...saw-replacement.html

Corps Set to Field SAW Replacement
July 01, 2010
Military.com|by Matthew Cox

The Marine Corps will field its new, lightweight auto rifle this fall to five combat battalions preparing for war-zone deployments.
Commandant Gen. James T. Conway gave Corps officials the green light in April to issue approximately 450 M27 Infantry Automatic Rifles, enough to replace every M249 squad automatic weapon in four infantry battalions and one light armored reconnaissance battalion.
The limited fielding is a final test to find out if the Heckler & Koch-made weapon performs as well in an operational environment as it has in testing, said Charles Clark III, who oversees infantry weapons requirements at the Corps' Combat Development and Integration office at Quantico, Va.
"The battlefield test will be a verification of what we have already established through extensive operational testing," Clark said. "We want to get a user assessment prior to full-rate production."

Conway's decision comes despite his past concerns about replacing the M249 with a magazine-fed automatic rifle. His main worry is whether the M27's light weight and accuracy will be enough to make up for the loss of suppressive firepower Marine gunners will give up when they go into battle without the belt-fed M249.
Program officials acknowledge that a 30-round magazine cannot produce the high volume of fire the M249 is capable of when loaded with a 200-round belt. The Corps is considering high-capacity magazines that can hold 50 or 100 rounds of 5.56mm ammo, but Marines that deploy with this first batch of IARs will carry only 30-round magazines.
"The initial limited fielding will not include a high-capacity ammunition source, but that remains an option," Clark said, explaining that such magazines will have to undergo a separate round of testing.
The M27, a variant of the H&K 416, weighs just 7.9 pounds, unloaded. By comparison, the M249 weighs 17 pounds, unloaded.
Marines involved in operational testing at Twentynine Palms, Calif.; Fort McCoy, Wis.; and Camp Shelby, Miss., were "very comfortable with it because it's a lot like a M16A4 and it's far more maneuverable and portable" than the M249, Clark said. "The H&K gun has performed very well throughout operational testing."
Marine officials selected the H&K weapon in October over two prototypes from Colt Defense LLC and one made by FN Herstal. (Colt makes the M4 and FN makes the M249.) The M27 uses a short-stroke gas piston, which proved more reliable than the M16/M4's direct gas system in an Army dust test in late 2007.
The new IAR, which fires from the closed-bolt position, is most effective when employed as a point-target weapon, program officials maintain.
"The accuracy has been a real standout," Clark said. "The IAR has demonstrated to be a far more accurate gun" than the M249, which fires from the open-bolt position.
In the defensive role, the M27 used "far less" ammunition to drop the same number of targets compared to the M249, Clark said.
Program officials maintain that the increased accuracy will compensate for the M27's slower, sustained rate of fire. Unlike the M249, the new IAR doesn't have a spare barrel that can be switched out to prevent overheating. Marine gunners will have to keep their sustained rate of fire at 65 rounds per minute compared to the M249's 85 rounds per minute.
"It has a little bit lower sustained rate of fire, but it's far more accurate," Clark said.
The Corps hopes to begin fielding the M27s in November so Marine units have "four to six months" to train with their new weapons.
"We are not sending these guns straight to Afghanistan," Clark said. "The units that are participating will have the guns long before they go into theater."




quote:

http://world.guns.ru/assault/as109-e.htm

Heckler-Koch HK M27 IAR Infantry Automatic Rifle (USA / Germany)



M27 IAR Infantry Automatic Rifle, as made by HK USA for US Marine Corps
Caliber: 5.56x45mm NATO
Action: Gas operated, rotating bolt
Overall length: 838 - 937 mm / 33" - 36.9"
Barrel length: 420 mm / 16.5"
Weight: 3.6 kg / 7.9 lbs empty
Rate of fire: rounds per minute
Magazine capacity: 30 rounds standard

The IAR - Infantry Automatic Rifle program was originally initiated by US Marine Corps (USMC) in an apparent intent to replace aging M249 SAW light machine guns in their "automatic rifle" (squad automatic) role. USMC sought lighter and more maneuverable weapon, still capable of at least some sustained firepower. Original contenders included guns from FN, Colt and Heckler-Koch, as well as some other, lesser known names. After extensive trials in 2009 USMC finally selected the HK IAR rifle, which, in fact, is no more that heavy-barreled version of their HK 416 automatic carbine (assault rifle), and it hardly looks like adequate replacement for a dedicated squad automatic weapon with belt feed and quick-change barrel. By all accounts, it looks like USMC played the whole IAR trick to get the replacement for their M4 carbines without entering the political hassle and budgetary debates. In May 2010 the USMC representative officially anounced the adoption of the Heckler-Koch IAR as "M27 Infantry Automatic Rifle". It is not clear when HK will begin delivery of the M27 rifles, and how much rifles will be delivered to USMC.

The M27 Infantry Automatic Rifle is a gas-operated weapon which is based on the HK 416 assault rifle. It uses short-stroke gas piston that operates the 7-lug rotating bolt, and fires from closed bolt. Receiver is made from high grade aluminum alloy. Combination-type safety / fire selector allows for single shots and full automatic mode. M27 IAR retains all M16-style controls, including last round bolt hold-open device, rear-based charging handle and magazine release button on the right side of the magazine well. M27 IAR is fitted with four Picatinny rails as standard, and may accept any type of sighting devices on STANAG-1913 compliant mounts. Buttstock is of typical M4 design, multi-position telescoped. M27 Infantry Automatic Rifle can feed from standard M16-type 30 round magazines, and will also accept high-capacity double-drum magazines from Beta Co (100 rounds capacity) and Armatac (150 rounds capacity).

 
Posts: 56912 | Location: GUNSHINE STATE | Registered: 05 October 2003Reply With Quote
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By replacing M249 with M1919A4, and M27 with M1918A2 (BAR), the story sounds like deja-vu all over again!

Changes in bold.
quote:
Conway's decision comes despite his past concerns about replacing the M1919A4 machine-gun with a magazine-fed automatic rifle. His main worry is whether the M1918A2's light weight and accuracy will be enough to make up for the loss of suppressive firepower Marine gunners will give up when they go into battle without the belt-fed M1919A4 machine-gun.
Program officials acknowledge that a 20-round magazine cannot produce the high volume of fire the M1919A4 is capable of when loaded with a 100-round belt. ... The M1918A2, a variant of the M1918 Browning Automatic Rifle (BAR), weighs just 18.5 pounds, unloaded. By comparison, the M1919A4 machine-gun weighs 31 pounds, unloaded.




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Posts: 10900 | Location: North of the Columbia | Registered: 28 April 2008Reply With Quote
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