$7.7M for 17,433 M249 SAW Barrels
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FN Manufacturing Inc. in Columbia, SC received a $7.7 million firm-fixed price contract for 17,433 M249 Short Barrels. Work will be performed in Columbia, SC, and is expected to be complete by Oct 31/08. There was one bid solicited on Sept 24/03, and 1 bid was received. The U.S. Army TACOM LCMC, Rock Island, IL isued the contract (DAAE20-03-C-0100).
The M249 Squad Automatic Weapon (SAW, aka. “Minimi”) is a 5.56mm gas-operated, air-cooled, belt or magazine-fed light machine gun used in US Army and Marine Corps squads as a higher volume of fire complement to the M-16 rifle or M4 carbine. It weighs 16.41 pounds and can fire 100 rounds per minute in sustained fire, or 200 rounds at its practical rapid rate. Note that this contrasts with maximum theoretical “cyclic rate” of 650-850 rounds/ minute continuous fire, which is far less accurate and requires barrel replacement once per minute due to heating issues. While most SAW variants will accept M-16 or M4 magazines, the Army Field Manual instructs soldiers to “Use the 20- or 30-round magazine for emergency use only when linked ammunition is not available.” A 200 round drum or less-noisy 100 round soft pouch is frequently used instead, and the weapon is belt-fed [
good YouTube video shows loading]. A more compact variant known as the Mk46 is used by Special Forces, and by the US Navy.
The M249 has many positive characteristics, but has been the subject of some complaints from the field…
One recent complaint pertains to reliability, which is odd since the weapon has long been touted for that very characteristic. Many observers believe the age of the weapons in question is a factor. The other is the weapon’s weight and need for stabilization, which can make it difficult to provide fire-ready mobility at the pace of a rifle team.
April 2004 issue of Marine Corps Gazette had a very interesting set of tests that matched the M249 up against other SAW candidates, including the Colt AR variant, HK G36 LMG variant, and the highly touted and much lighter (9-10 pounds empty) Ultimax 100 from Singapore’s ST Kinetics (now up to Mk4), which the manufacturer claims can be fired “…accurately in full automative mode from the hip, or with
one arm… [or] even when fired with the butt detached” due to its patented “constant recoil” system [video].
The Marine Corps Gazette tests showed less accuracy difference than some had touted, but the order of preference finish among the shooters was interesting – as were the barriers that prevented the tests from recommending any of the candidates as a replacement:
“Infantrymen feel strongly about replacing the M249 SAW with a true AR inside the fire team but feel just as strongly about keeping the M249 SAW for its automatic fire suppressive capability. Given the results of this assessment, accuracy alone is not a strong enough reason to replace the M249 SAW. However, most would argue that accuracy was never the problem with the M249 SAW. The problem with the M249 SAW was the lack of mobility when manned by an individual while attempting to move at the pace of a rifle team… The M249 SAW provides the accuracy that fire teams and squads require. The quantitative tests of Phase I proved the variation in accuracy between the M249 SAW and its competitors small enough to not be worth the time, money, and effort to replace it. Despite the mitigation of the accuracy issue, the M249 SAW could not meet the requirements of mobility and semiautomatic fire accuracy. Unfortunately, the competitors tested during Phase I of the AR assessment do not appear to offer what the Marine Corps needs…”
Read “Automatic Rifle Concept: Part I – History and Empirical Testing.”
