IAR What IAR: The USMC’s SAW Substitution

M27 IAR, Afghanistan

The US Marines have been using the M249 5.56mm light machine gun since 1984. Many were worn from use, and at 15-17 pounds empty, these belt-fed weapons are rather heavy. They can be more hindrance than help in some of the close-quarters urban warfare situations dominating current battlefields, especially since they have a reputation of jamming more often than standard rifles.

Their initial 2005 FedBizOps.com solicitation for an “Infantry Automatic Rifle” (IAR) wanted two big things. First, the gun had to fire from either the open or closed bolt position. This would give it the single-shot and “first through the door” capabilities that the M249 lacks, while allowing for more sustained fire than an M16 can handle without risking ammunition “cook off” in a heated barrel. It also had to be considerably lighter than the M249, at just 12.5 pounds maximum and 10.5 pounds desired weight. In exchange, the Marines decided they were willing to trade the SAW’s belt-fed design for switchable 30 round magazines, which are used up much more quickly but can be changed in battle much more quickly.

The result was not a true light machine gun, but something in between an LMG and an assault rifle. That shift in the 13-man Marine squad has its advocates and detractors. DID offers more background concerning the USMC’s IAR contenders, contracts… and controversy.

Rapid Fire Nov. 13, 2012: Post-Affair Leadership Shuffling

• Following the US presidential election and David Petraeus’ resignation last week because of an affair with his biographer, contenders for nomination in a new cabinet include Senator John Kerry (for Defense or State), UN Ambassador Susan Rice (State), and John O. Brennan to head the CIA. But the plot thickens, as emails sent by General John Allen are part of the FBI investigation that brought the affair to light. Somewhere in Hollywood someone must be working on a script right now. Washington Post | The Hill | Washington Times.

• Marillyn Hewson will head Lockheed Martin starting on January 1st. She has worked there for almost 3 decades and headed the Systems Integration then the Electronic Systems divisions. Christopher Kubasik was supposed to take over but was asked to resign because he, too, had an extramarital affair.

• “Fiscal cliff” is the new “sequestration”: the noise coming from political fights over how to deal with the fast-coming combination of expiring tax cuts and the sequester is going to drown everything else until the underlying issues are somehow resolved – or at least postponed. Politico describes some potential scenarios.

• Soon after firing his defense minister, Russian President Vladimir Putin also replaced the chief of the Armed Forces General Staff and let go the chief designer of the Glosnass GNSS.

• Lockheed Martin’s Chief Information Security Officer Chandra McMahon told reporters that the quantity and sophistication of network attacks were both rising. They see their suppliers being deliberately targeted.

• Japan released an overview [PDF] of its FY13 defense programs and budget. That includes the 1st of a new class of 5,000 ton multi-purpose destroyers, the 9th Soryu-class submarine, 2 P-1 patrol aicraft, modernization of its F-15s alongside the acquisition of initial F-35As, and a number of helicopters of various types.

• Canada and the Philippines have set up a Memorandum of Understanding that “will enable the Philippines to acquire Canadian defence- and security-related equipment, systems and services on a direct, sole-source basis through the Canadian Commercial Corporation (CCC)”. Prime Minister of Canada.

• Germany is ramping up sales of Fuchs armored personnel vehicles to Algeria, according to Der Spiegel.

• Spain wants to start catching up on 5 priority programs that have been hit by delayed payments in past years: A400M transport aircraft, S-80 submarines, Pizarro infantry vehicles, and NH-90 and Tigre helicopters. InfoDefensa [in Spanish].