Raining Lead

Still master of the battlefield for well over a century, no infantry formation today would wish go into a conflict without the latest machine guns and squad automatic weapons.

- Stephen W. Miller

Skillful employment of the machine gun and the squad automatic rifle are keys to a successful defense and attack. Their positioning and direction is a primary concern of small unit leaders at the squad, platoon, and company level. Their accurate and sustained fires suppress enemy fires, neutralize opposing crew-served weapons and can disrupt and defeat even a determined dismounted assault. Although well-aimed shots by individual riflemen offer a valuable contribution by themselves they cannot replace the destructive power and physiological impact of the machine gun.

These weapons fall into two groups the medium or support machine guns and light machine guns (LMG) or squad automatic rifles (AR). The former are manned by a gun crew and are directed by the company commander. They support the maneuver and defense of the company or may be attached to a platoon where terrain dictates or a mission requires. LMGs/ARs are organic to the squad/small unit and are integral to its tactics.

Crew Served Machine Guns

Medium machine guns (MMG) are belt fed and manned by a crew of two. They use either a bipod or, more effectively, a tripod mount with a traverse and elevation (T&E) mechanism. The T&E allows precise adjustment of fires and even provide indirect ‘plunging’ fires against targets in defilade using advanced gunnery. The bipod is used deploying from the march and fires from a prone position. Generally, they use a mid caliber with 7.62mm most common. The crew served machine gun’s sustained fire capability makes it pivotal in both the defense and attack.