These squads further divide into three fire teams led by a single squad leader, each of which has two riflemen, a grenadier, and an automatic rifleman. The Marine Corps, accustomed to heavy losses against strong enemy defenses and beach assaults, maintains robust, thirteen-man infantry squads. More accurate and capable of accomplishing its mission with fewer expended rounds, the M27 is now being considered as the front-line rifle not only for a handful of squad members but across the Corps’ front line units. The adoption of the M27 Infantry Automatic Rifle over the older M249 Squad Automatic Weapon marks a return to that ethos across the service at the small unit level. Marksmanship, the ability to shoot accurately and service targets with the minimum expenditure of ammunition, has always been part of the Marine Corps ethos. We're absolutely stoked the Marine Corps would like to move forward and get more of them, because it's a huge capability for them." "The stories, the confidence level - you just hear it over and over. "For me, it was like Christmas morning or something," said Reidsma, a retired Marine. Would it drive up that price point? Theoretically, it could."įrom field testing, Reidsma said it's clear Marine infantrymen have enjoyed testing out the M27, which boasts improved accuracy and reliability over the M4. "Would be able to change a whole lot of stuff? I don't know. of course, there's the acquisition process to go through, the requirements process, testing and validation," he said. "Higher magazine capacity, a shorter barreled system. While contract solicitations from the past year indicate the Marine Corps wants to purchase the IAR as-is, Reidsma said HK stands ready to modify the weapon if asked to do so.
The company is currently able to produce anywhere from 300 to 1,500 M27s a month to meet the service's requirements, Reidsma said. "I think it's one of the most affordable prices I've seen for the capability they're getting." "Obviously, they want a bigger quantity and the economies of scale have changed," he said. Reidsma declined to say what the estimated unit cost is expected to be, but said it represented a significant reduction. Other factors that will contribute to bringing the cost down include a better current Euro-to-dollar exchange rate (HK is headquartered in Germany) and the larger expected size of the Corps' order. "With all the other 416 programs going on right now, it helps to mitigate some of that cost," he said. Reidsma said the M27 never actually cost quite that much - contracts that included spares and services made the price seem higher - but added that the Corps is poised to get a much better deal this time around. Price had previously been a sticking point for the Marine Corps when it came to the M27 it's frequently quoted as costing roughly $3,000 per rifle, as opposed to the current M4 carbine, which costs closer to $1,000. "That helps us from a production standpoint." It's the same raw material, with little differences with what's going on it," Reidsma said. The German special forces are also picking up a variant of the rifle it was announced last October that Germany planned to buy some 1,745 of the HK 416 A7 model, which it will rename the G95. Robert Reidsma, who manages the infantry assault rifle (IAR) program for HK, told on Tuesday at SHOT Show that the French military had recently contracted with the company for 100,000 HK 416 variant rifles over the next 10 years, to replace its current infantry FAMAS rifle. While the Marine Corps has not yet inked a contract for the weapons or confirmed how many it plans to buy, it stands to benefit from the recent popularity of the HK 416 design.
OSS Aims to Woo Marines With One-Piece Baffleless Suppressor.The 5.56mm rifle, based on the HK 416, has been used by automatic rifle Marines since 2010.īut the recent move, designed to make the rifle squad more flexible and deadly, will see the M27 in the hands of a much larger proportion of the infantry community. Robert Neller confirmed to that the service plans to equip each member of the infantry squad, and possibly other infantry support elements, with the M27 infantry automatic rifle. But the sticker shock might not be as bad as some feared. LAS VEGAS - The Marine Corps is getting ready to place a big order for the Heckler & Koch M27 rifle.
0 kommentar(er)
