That's hardly close to what I'm asking. Foot and mechanized infantry have very different roles and operating doctrines.

If go by your answer it would like be asking why people still drive cars when we already have airplanes.

yeaps.. but with the dawn of mechanized units the role of MG/GPMG and role of foot infantry has changed too... that's why you have SAW with smaller caliber

wrong analogy, should use cars vs trains rather than planes...

ROK Army new AH-64E Guardian first live firing drill.

u not looking hard enuf

usmc is already working on saw replacement, the IAR while the army is doing their best to waste public money on some convoluted mg design.

china oso had its take on IAR. HK is working on its take on machine gun that can fulfill both lmg and gpmg role while russia have already started deveopment for pk mg replacement

Not to mention other countries like czech, polen, south africa and even pakistan who each had either started new mg development or already come up with new design to replace their old ones

pic is china new lmg

This post has been edited by ayanami_tard: Dec 31 2016, 04:46 PM


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I think it is pretty hard to replace m60, m240 can't even fully replace it.
Mk48 is introduced for more than 10 years it still yet to be widely use.

take example of of M2 browning 50 cal heavy machine gun.... it has little changes since intro in 1933.. it's such a perfect designed heavy machine gun... involved in all major wars since WW2....

Not many countries use M60 anymore. Even in us military it is only used as secondary weapon mounted on vehicle. better example is MG3 or FN-MAG/M240

While it is true, the reason is more to do with logistics. if it is a solid weapon, people has not many reason to replace them

I could see to trends of future mg ;ether people use heavy barreled version of assault rifle as LMG (like IAR) or GPMG that weigh about as much as today's LMG like MG5

I'm beginning to think the IAR is some kind of scam HK is running on the US Marines.

It is, essentially, a HK416 rifle. It is lighter than the heavier weapons it is supposed to be replacing, but in terms of volume of fire and destructive capabilities, it's far, far below SAW level, let alone a GPMG. The combat load of a gunner (no assistant) is also ridiculous, as he is expected to carry 22 30-round magazines to be equal to the belted ammo load of an M249 gunner. Imagine a Marine festooned with 22 magazines. Also the need for constant magazine reloading will render its possible use for sustained suppressive fire a non-starter.

So to avoid getting the gunner overloaded, say we reduce the ammo he is carrying. What is he then? A normal rifleman.

What are the Marines expecting to get out of this deal anyway? A rifle that can fire on full-auto? That's it?

first it heavy even the light weight variant is not something you can carry whole day

this is also why it general usage is either on a tripod or vehicle mounted.. accuracy wise good enough to get plenty of 50cal lead on the ground

the reason why it stayed is because the 50cal everyone using it, why bother changing it when hardly any complain.

this pipu have fought 2 wars and numerous armed conflict for the last 15 yrs. so i believe they know exactly what they need on the field compared to other militaries

IAR, despite the apparent shortcoming, actually has solid reasoning with it. From the past experience in afghanistan and iraq, they learned that
>they dun really need m249 interchangeable barrel and other overbuilt feature during routine combat patrol, reducing weight
>it might be better to spread the ammo load to entire squad than 2 pipu carrying the mg and ammo belt
>the marines are never too far from support elements, so if they need something bigger ,they just call for fire suport
>surefire mag is a thing now

Besides the concept itself is never new. RPD and HK-21 are mgs that adapted the design from a service rifle while nowadays that polen new rifle and CZ805 oso have lmg variant

while that point is indeed valid, u also need to factor in what type of wars and armed conflict they have experienced in the last 15 years: thrashing 3rd world militaries and a long counterinsugency campaign. Unless they are planning to go to a conventional war with a peer or near peer adversary in the near future with COIN tactics I don't know what is going on with their acquisition policy.

While it is quite known that you can't fight a COIN tactics with conventional tactics, the same is on the flip side: you can't fight a conventional war with COIN tactics. Preparing for a conventional war would always be the priority of an armed force, no matter what the current geopolitical climate is.

I believe since they are so used to fighting lightly armed untrained militants that don't always need high volumes of firepower, they have been lulled into a sense of complacency and think all future wars would be the same type of fighting they have been using against the Taliban or other militants. Lighter, less capable equipment is acceptable and are always welcome when you are constantly going on long COIN patrols or on 'pacification' campaigns against small bands of lightly armed untrained militants that can be overcome by light weapons but how would they fare against a peer or near peer army with heavy conventional weapons?

What happens when the next time they face China or Russia in a conventional war, for example, with their own advanced capabilities? Nowadays they always can expect a UAV or attack plane will always be on point to assist with airstrikes or recon. Artillery fire support is just a radio call away.

What happens when they face an enemy that can shoot back and air/artillery support is not a 100% given fact?

dol,tobat2 la.....

choi.. kalo part ni aku post laju je ko hahaha

China navy confirms carrier conducted drills in South China Sea



SHANGHAI: China's sole aircraft carrier conducted drills in the South China Sea, the navy said, days after neighbouring Taiwan said the carrier and accompanying ships had passed 90 nautical miles south of the island amid renewed tension between the two sides.

The Soviet-built Liaoning aircraft carrier and accompanying warships sailed round the east coast of Taiwan in what China called a routine exercise complying with international law.

The carrier's J-15 fighters conducted flight exercises in "complex sea conditions" on Monday, the People's Liberation Army Navy said on its official microblog late the same day.

The carrier group also ran helicopter exercises, it said, but did not give details on the exact location.



China claims most of the South China Sea through which about US$5 trillion in ship-borne trade passes every year. Neighbours Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam also have claims.

The drills also come at a time of heightened strain with self-ruled Taiwan, which Beijing claims as its own, following U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's telephone call with the island's president that upset Beijing.

Last month China conducted its first ever live-fire drills using an aircraft carrier close to Korea and announced on Dec. 25 that the Liaoning and its accompanying fleet would carry out what it called routine exercises in the Western Pacific.



Taiwan's Defence Ministry said on Dec. 26 that the Liaoning and five accompanying ships had entered the top half of the South China Sea after passing south of Taiwan, and later docked at a base on China's Hainan island.

The flotilla raised alarm in Japan when it steamed between the Japanese islands of Miyako and Okinawa.

Japan said one of its Maritime Self Defense Force ships and a P3C patrol aircraft had spotted six Chinese naval vessels including the Liaoning travelling through the passage, and they also scrambled jets after a helicopter that took off from a Chinese frigate flew near Miyako Island.

China has been angered recently by U.S. naval patrols near islands that China claims in the South China Sea. This month, a Chinese navy ship seized a U.S. underwater drone in the South China Sea. China later returned it.

China's air force conducted long-range drills this month above the East and South China Seas that rattled Japan and Taiwan. China said those exercises were also routine.

(Reporting by John Ruwitch; Editing by Ben Blanchard and Nick Macfie)

- Reuters

looks more like an assault rifle....

the mag capacity looks small... enuf for sustained fire ?

If u study the pic, the MG pictured has a belt-feed system. See the side of the receiver where's a bit of shiny metal peeks through? This is from the rub of the belted ammo on the metal as it feed into the MG.

The box mag is probably used as some kind of secondary feed system, like the one the M249 has. It can use both belted and boxed ammo feed.

ya.... now only i saw it...thanks for the englightenment....

Forced landing of Tunisian military helicopter in Sfax: two soldiers wounded





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