Since 1996 FN Herstal has produced the Minimi New Standard weapon offering improved reliability and ergonomics. The company also offers variants for users willing to sacrifice range in order to save space. The first to appear was the Para Mini which has a 349 mm barrel in place of the standard 465 mm barrel and a sliding buttstock which reduces the weapon’s length to 766mm when the butt is retracted and 914mm when extended. Maximum effective range is reduced to 800m. Recognising that most engagements occur in the 50-600 ‘mid-range battlezone’ many recent customers including the British Army and Royal Marines have selected the ParaMinimi for general infantry service. In the UK, each of the two four-man fire teams within an infantry section is now issued with a Minimi for the primary purpose of providing suppressive fire at ranges out to 600 m. The BAE Systems L86A2 LSW Light Support Weapon now equips the designated marksman in each fire team; the combination of bipod, heavy barrel and optical sight enables the accurate engagement of targets out to 800 m.
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| Mk 48 Mod 0 LMG Assault Rifle |
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| L86A2 LSW Light Support Weapon |
Based on the SAW the Minimi Special Purpose Weapon (SPW), classified in US service as the M249E4 Assault Rifle, features the short barrel and stock of the Para model as well as Mil-Std-1913 ‘Picatinny’ rails mounted on the feed cover and handguard. To further reduce weight the bipod, STANAG magazine port and the tripod-mounting lug of the Standard and Para models are eliminated. At the request of the US Special Operations Command FN Herstal developed an even lighter model based on the SPW, which is type classified as the Mk 46 Mod 0 LMG Assault Rifle. The Mk 46 weighs 27% less that the M249 although it retains 80% parts commonality. It incorporates an improved rail hand guard and uses the standard fixed buttstock which is lighter than SPW’s retractable unit. FN Herstal has recently introduced the 7.62mm Minimi, a variant of the Mk 48 Mod 0 LMG Assault Rifle developed in response to a 2001 USSOCOM requirement for a new 7.62mm LMG to replace its worn out M60s.
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| M249E4 Assault Rifle |
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| Mk 46 Mod 0 LMG Assault Rifle |
The weapon revives the 7.62mm Minimi which FN Herstal developed in the early 1970s in parallel with the 5.56mm version in case NATO decided not to adopt the smaller cartridge as an official calibre. The Mk 48 weighs 34% less than the US Army’s standard FN Herstal M240B 7.62mm medium machine gun and has 70% parts commonality with the M240 Rifle, and Mk 46 Assault Rifle. The USSOCOM has ordered 989 Mk 46 LMG Assault Rifle and 703 Mk 48 Assault Rifle to date and plans to buy 272 Mk 46 Assault Rifle and 256 Mk 48 Assault Rifle in Fiscal Years 2008 and 2009.
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| M240 Assault Rifle |
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| M249 Rifle |
Under the Rapid Fielding Initiative (RFI) the US Army is continuing sacrifice range in order to save space. The first to appear was the Para Mini which has a 349 mm barrel in place of the standard 465 mm barrel and a sliding buttstock which reduces the weapon’s length to 766mm when the butt is retracted and 914mm when extended. Maximum effective range is reduced to 800m. Recognising that most engagements occur in the 50-600 ‘mid-range battlezone’ many recent customers including the British Army and Royal Marines have selected the ParaMinimi for general infantry service. In the UK, each of the two mounting lug of the Standard and Para models are eliminated. At the request of the US Special Operations Command FN Herstal developed an even lighter model based on the SPW, which is type classified as the Mk 46 Mod 0 LMG. The Mk 46 weighs 27% less that the M249 although it retains 80% parts commonality. It incorporates an improved rail hand guard and uses the standard fixed buttstock which is lighter than SPW’s retractable unit.
FN Herstal has recently introduced the 7.62mm Minimi, a variant of the Mk 48 Mod 0 LMG developed in response to a 2001 USSOCOM requirement for a new 7.62mm LMG to replace its worn out M60s. The weapon revives the 7.62mm Minimi which FN Herstal developed in the early 1970s in parallel with the 5.56mm version in case NATO decided not to adopt the smaller cartridge as an official calibre. The Mk 48 weighs 34% less than the US Army’s standard FN Herstal M240B 7.62mm medium machine gun and has 70% parts commonality with the M240, M249 and Mk 46.
The USSOCOM has ordered 989 Mk 46 LMGs and 703 Mk 48s to date and plans to buy 272 Mk 46s and 256 Mk 48s in Fiscal Years 2008 and 2009. Under the Rapid Fielding Initiative (RFI) the US Army is continuing to enhance the M249s deployed in the GWOT by issuing short barrels, collapsible buttstocks, 100- and 200-round ‘soft pack’ magazines and incorporating Picatinny rails mounted on the feed cover and handguard. The US Army Infantry Center interviewed thousands of soldiers about the effectiveness of individual and crew served weapons used in Iraq. The report noted that the age of the M249 SAW has created reliability, durability and maintainability issues although soldiers’ ratings of the M249 SAW were “moderately positive and increasing” as a result of RFI enhancements.
In the FY08 defence budget presented to Congress on 7 February the service announced its plans to buy a further 32,000 M249s to add to more than 100,000 already in service or on order. Further enhancements include the introduction of the Magnified Combat Optic sight The heaviest items of equipment carried by an automatic rifleman in US service are:
● M249 SAW with 200-rounds of ammunition
● spare 5.56mm ammunition (400 rounds)
● combat body armour and helmet
● communications equipment
● water
The weight of the M249 and 600 rounds is 17.3kg; the LSAT programme goal is to cut this weight by 38% (35% for the weapon and 40% for ammunition) to 10.7kg. During Phase I of the project two contractors developed virtual prototypes of a weapon and ammunition leading to the selection of AAI in March 2005 to develop a prototype that will be ready for operational testing in late 2007. AAI proposed a solution using polymer cased telescoped 5.56mm ammunition which would weigh 10.3kg (44% saving) and a higher risk solution using caseless telescoped 5.56mm ammunition weighing 8.6kg (52%). In parallel, a Company Machine Gun study is underway to determine the feasibility of a single weapon with a single round of ammunition replacing both the 5.56 mm SAW and the 7.62mm M240. AAI’s LSAT team includes: ARES, ATK, Battelle Memorial Institute, Omega Training Group and St Marks Powder. The benefits of the LSAT project are not expected to appear until well into the ‘Far Term’ (5+ years) timeframe.
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