Firepower
HEAVY MACHINE GUNS AND AUTOMATIC GRENADE LAUNCHERS PUT FIREPOWER AT THE FINGERTIP.
As an aging population consoles itself with platitudes like “50 is the new 30” and “70 is the new 50,” there is at least one numerical coincidence emerging in the world of crew-served weapons. In fact, when it comes to crew-served weapons, “73 is the new 50,” or more correctly, “The new .50 is 73.”
“The .50 caliber machine gun has been in the inventory since 1933,” observed Rich Audette, deputy project manager for soldier weapons under the Program Executive Officer Soldier. “But it’s still a great weapon. It’s amazing.”
M2 .50 CALIBER MACHINE GUN
According to Colonel Carl A. Lipsit, project manager for soldier weapons, located at Picatinny Arsenal, N.J., the Army is currently coordinating within the joint service arena on a number of activities surrounding the “amazing” M2 series .50 caliber weapon. “We’ve got a couple things working on the .50,” Lipsit noted. “In terms of the basic M2, there is a warm production line and we may actually end up buying some new M2s this fiscal year—not for the U.S. Army but we may end up buying some.”In addition to the possibility of buying new weapons, the M2 is currently in sustainment status with sustainment activities executed on behalf of the project manager by the U.S. Army Tank-automotive and Armaments Command (TACOM) at Rock Island Arsenal, Ill.
In early August of this year, General Dynamics Armament and Technical Products (ATP) announced receipt of a $5.5 million TACOM contract “for the production of receiver assemblies for the M2HB machine gun. Deliveries on this contract will commence in January and extend through October 2007. These receiver assemblies, which form the body of the weapon, will be used to refurbish M2HB machine guns at Anniston Army Depot, Ala.”
“Anniston Army Depot does most of our small arms rebuild,” Lipsit acknowledged. “But we’ve got some .50 cals that have been rebuilt five times. And when you start getting five ‘X’s across the serial numbers you know that you’ve got a pretty old weapon.”
He pointed to the M2E2 program as “a stop gap type of thing” to bring some modernization features to the M2 system.
“The M2E2 is still basically built upon the M2,” he explained. “It’s made of several different components. One of the big things is that it has a fixed headspace and timing so when soldiers are out there—either regular training or in a firefight—this adds a lot to it because now it’s fixed. Setting headspace and timing is a very perishable skill. So this tries to eliminate it from the equation all together “
He continued, “The quick-change barrel on the E2 has a slot system—you pull back a little bit on the charging handle—it slides right in and clicks in place. And that’s it. You don’t have to screw it in and back off clicks. It just pushes right in real quick. It has a built-in handle so you don’t have to worry about gloves or something else to handle that hot barrel. “Think of it like the bayonet lug on your camera lens,” Audette added. “You just put it in, twist it, and it snaps into place.”
“The M2E2 will also have a safety because most M2s don’t,” Lipsit added. “So instead of sticking a .50 cal round behind the butterflies this actually gives you a mechanical safe on the weapon. It adds quite a bit to the soldier, not only in the combat environment but also a good level of safety just in terms of everyday use.”
“We’ve been testing a particular design [from General Dynamics ATP] to see how well it works and how long it lasts, etc. But it is not type-classified. We’re still looking at bringing that out. If we produce any new 50s in the immediate future—like this year—it probably won’t be M2E2s, although that’s where we would like to go. If we’re going to buy any new 50s we would like to have the M2E2, just because it adds so much to the soldiers,” he said.
In terms of new .50 caliber ammunition development, PM Soldier Weapons identified some recent development work on an XM1022 round. “It’s a .50 cal—but kind of more of a ‘match cartridge’ for our longer range sniper rifles like our Mk107 [semiautomatic long-range sniper rifle],” Lipsit said.
MK19 40 MM
Another crew-served weapon program that is witnessing significant activity is the MK19 40 mm grenade machine gun. “The MK19 was actually out of production, and we just signed a contract not long ago for production, again, of MK19s.”
On September 27, 2006, General Dynamics ATP announced receipt of the $44.5 million contract by U.S. Army TACOM-ARDEC [Armament Research Development and Engineering Center] for the production of MK19 grenade launchers. Deliveries under the new contract, which will be used to satisfy new requirements, will commence in January 2007 and extend through December 2008.
Lipsit noted that there are “no significant changes” between the MK19s that will be delivered under the new contract and earlier models of the weapon.
In terms of supporting hardware, one recent development has been the MK19 Tactical Engagement System (TES). Initially provided to military police units, TES, from Advanced Countermeasure Systems, is a simulation player unit that allows the conduct of realistic combat training exercises without the use of live ammunition.
But when it comes to live 40 mm ammunition, both Audette and Lipsit pointed to ongoing ammunition fuzing investigations in support of new 40 mm capabilities. Although primarily designed for near-term application in man-portable 40 mm systems like the M203 grenade launcher and XM320 grenade launcher module, the enhanced fuzing could have potential future applications in systems like the MK19.
“We’re getting more into proximity fuzes, which are more of a breaching round. We’re trying to work on some fuze concepts on the 40 mm prox to be able to use it better for doing door breaches. Right now of course you still have 12 gauge shotguns to blow hinges and things like that,” Lipsit said, adding that the U.S. has already begun fielding small quantities of their new M100 Grenade Launched Entry Munition (GREM) into theater for breaching applications.
“The whole idea behind the prox fuze is to be able to use a round in the M203 with a proximity fuze to be able to blow a door down,” Audette said. “You’re still under cover. You’re still in concealment. And you can use your readily available weapon system that you normally have in the squad to do that, rather than having to carry something special.” “And it keeps the soldiers from having a stack outside the door waiting for a breach to be exposed either,” Lipsit added.
FUTURE CREW-SERVED WEAPONS
While near-term modernization of the .50 caliber focuses on the M2E2, an entirely new family of both 25 mm and .50 cal crew-served variants is being explored for applications further into the future. The cornerstone of the future modernization effort is the XM307 ground-mounted 25 mm advanced crew-served weapon (ACSW).
“Any work on the XM307 is currently being funded by the Future Combat Systems (FCS) program,” Lipsit said. “Because it’s considered to be the close-combat support weapon for FCS.”
In terms of its future contributions to the warfight, he added, “One of the things in the counter-defilade engagement with the XM307 is that it provides a capability to engage an enemy that you can’t engage today with small arms. Because with an XM307 you can ‘laze’ to that target if someone is behind a wall, the other side of a tank or the other side of a car, add in however many meters you want and then achieve an airburst over the target. Even if they’re laying in a ditch or something like that you can still engage the targets, whereas right now you may be able to suppress them but you’re not necessarily engaging them. So that’s one of the big capabilities that we’re working on in support of the Infantry Center.”
Participating XM307 contractors include: General Dynamics ATP (prime); General Dynamics Ordnance and Tactical Systems (ammunition); Raytheon (target acquisition and fire control); and Kaman Daytron, Inc. (high explosive airburst fuze).
While the U.S. Army Infantry Center is writing the documentary support for the XM307, materiel developers are also examining an undocumented variant of the ACSW, designated XM312. “There are only four part change outs between the 307 and the 312; to transition the weapon between being a 25 mm high explosive airburst or some of the other family of munitions that we had and making it a .50 cal,” Lipsit said. “And the 312 can use almost any of the current .50 cal ammunition. So you don’t have to develop any new type of rounds for it.”
As a potential future .50 caliber candidate, Lipsit noted that the XM312 offers major potential advantages in terms of both system weight and recoil effects. “What’s really good for the soldier is the fact that it’s very lightweight and the recoil on it is about 25 percent of the M2,” he said. In terms of weight, the XM312 with mount weighs just over 50 pounds, versus 127 pounds for the M2. Recoil force reduction is equally impressive; down to approximately 250 foot pounds from 1,000 foot pounds on the M2.
“So that brings a lot of things you can do,” Lipsit said. “For example, even when you’re using it you can keep your eye up against a night vision device, optical device, or fire control device, while you’re engaging. Because now with the M2 you have to really pull your eye away and then shoot. In addition, if you have a dismounted .50 cal M2 today and you take it up to a rooftop to use it, you have to sandbag the tripod otherwise the gun will walk as you’re trying to fire it. With the XM312 you don’t have to do that.”
The reduced recoil also expands potential vehicle/mount applications to platforms that cannot currently support the .50 cal.
“The XM312 is kind of a natural spin off of the work that is being done on the 307 but it’s not specifically being developed for FCS or anybody else,” cautioned Audette.
“There is no separate requirement for a new .50 cal from the Infantry Center,” Lipsit echoed. “There is no new requirement. This is just something that needs to be looked at in terms of whether we need it or whether we should have it. It brings a lot more to the table than just the .50 cal.”
“The big thing that the XM312 provides is that you still have those terminal .50 cal effects that people want,” he added. “Everybody likes the terminal effects of the .50 cal and the different rounds that they have: armor piercing, incendiary, etc. The XM312 brings all that.”
However, without a requirement from the Infantry Center, the XM312—and its cheaper ammunition—are merely being used to prove out the reliability and durability of common components for the XM307.
“We’re trying to continue to work—both with the Marine Corps and with SOCOM—in consolidating any requirements to make sure that we’re doing business smart and seeing what everybody else can use, so we don’t have three different systems being produced for one particular mission,” Lipsit noted.
In the meantime, he added, “The thing we’re trying to do is provide a little bit more lethality for the individual warfighter so that he can engage the enemy further out—make him more accurate and make him more lethal.” ♦