Designed machine gun with plastic cartridges.

According cnews.ru. Every soldier knows how hard it is to carry a machine gun, and even with a full ammunition. American designers small weapons they plan to make life of their own soldiers much easier by supplying a new machine gun to the arsenal. A unique weapon developed using computer simulation for the sole purpose of minimizing weight. As ammunition in the new machine gun used telescopic cartridges with a plastic sleeve. The latest development of the US Army reduces the weight of ammunition intended for small arms by almost two times and represents a completely new machine gun, which on 4 kilogram is lighter than the modern machine gun M249.

A demonstration of a new weapon was recently held at the Marine Corps base in Quantico, Virginia. A small group of soldiers conducted a test of new items in combat shooting. The trained shooters did not notice absolutely any difference, both in accuracy and in the initial speed of the flight of new ammunition in comparison with traditional ones. At the same time, the reduction in the weight of the machine gun had a positive effect on the accuracy of firing, since the machine gunner gets tired much less when moving or when shooting with hands. The plastic sleeve also showed its advantages, because of the improved thermal insulation, the risk of spontaneous combustion of the powder charge in the chamber is reduced, and the probability of injury due to a prolonged shot is reduced, when after a misfire the cartridge is ejected and spontaneously explodes.

The effective weight reduction of the machine gun, which is the main light weapon of support, was achieved thanks to the creation of a completely new weapon and an unusual telescopic cartridge with a plastic sleeve. All work on the creation of unique weapons were carried out under the LSAT program.

The new system of small arms will seriously facilitate the execution of tasks for the machine gunner, who today has to carry a very large weight. Firstly, the machine gun M249, which, together with the cartridge box, designed for 200 shots, weighs more than 10 a kilogram, and additional ammunition with 10 weight and more kilograms. A simple mathematical calculation makes it possible to understand how large the weight of the machine gunner’s necessary combat equipment is, which adversely affects not only his health, but also his combat effectiveness. LSAT with ammunition in 1000 cartridges has the weight of the entire 20,4 kilogram, which is much lighter than a traditional machine gun with ordinary cartridges with a brass sleeve.

The new LSAT LMG machine gun is not only a new unique weapon designed for the machine gunner, but the world's first experience of using a unique type of ammunition that can be used in various types of small arms, reducing the weight of wearable ammunition more than doubled. At the current time, four light machine guns have successfully shot over 12 thousand rounds of ammunition; during the final tests by the Pentagon, more than 100 thousand rounds are planned.

Comments

[datur]

advertising nonsense.

[Vako]

And I see the future behind this.

[gmajor]

I would not be in a hurry to call such R&D nonsense. How would we not be in the tail again.

[svvaulsh]

Controversial decision.

[Superduck]

Like everything new. However, I remember when they showed the trophies captured by the RA in South Ossetia, a healthy paratrooper pointing to what seemed to be an Israeli machine gun said that he would gladly take it to the mountains instead of the "Pecheneg", which is several kilograms heavier. And this guy was clearly not a conscript, hefty as a bull.

[svvaulsh]

I was reminded of the Nagan cartridge with all the attendant + and -. A plastic sleeve must have the characteristics of a brass, otherwise a lot of BUT! Misalignment of the bullet, synchronization with the barrel, the strength of the liner itself when the charge ignites, thermal expansion, entailing a wedge. Solving everything in the complex is quite difficult, which leads to high technology, respectively, the cost of weapons. And if in highly intelligent systems this is justified, then in mass small arms it is doubtful.

[C0BA]

"Seems" this is the brand of the machine gun? Lighter than Pechenega by a few kilograms ??? !!! "several" is already at least three kilograms. We look among all the manual (times lighter than the Pecheneg) machine guns, starting with the Hotchkins (white sun of the desert) and ................. opachki, indeed, there is this: the Blume machine gun at 22 LR. Exactly, exactly, Blum is a Jewish surname

[figwam]

The direction is correct and they have been thinking about such cartridges for a long time, the system is very convenient when the sleeve will burn along with gunpowder.

[Superduck]

It seems that the Germans even put shellless cartridges into service.

[gmajor]

It did not work out with them, at least at that time. Here is a good article, http://army.armor.kiev.ua/hist/bezgilz.shtml

[Superduck]

Well, yes, I spoke about him, thanks. In general, the idea here is slightly different and, as for me, very original. The machine gun belt link itself is a sleeve. I think that the tape is disposable. However, another question arises - the unification of ammunition. It will be very difficult for me to adapt such a system to store loading, the ammunition dimensions will greatly interfere with this. And to keep a separate nomenclature of ammunition for machine guns, as for me, is very wasteful especially for a large army.

[gmajor]

Switch to a smaller caliber. Have you heard about the equipment of small arms ammunition? Something like SPELs in air bombs.

[Superduck]

I heard that an APS submarine (underwater), for example, could do this, but not far from it. However, NATO in the field of anti-tank submunitions of ammunition along this path have gone a long time and do not regret it like.

[zczczc]

By the way, the plastic sleeve has another plus - thermal insulation of gases from the weapon itself. It will be less likely to heat up.

[Honory]

As always, the bourgeois in the first place care for the soldier.

[C0BA]

Caseless cartridges have been tested many times and since "ancient" times. With all the advantages, one thing brings down - hygroscopicity, no matter how "wrapped". Everything is assembled in a metal sleeve very tightly, using varnishes. Caseless ones do not have the ability to ensure the guaranteed quality of the shot during long-term storage, which is not acceptable for modern armies. I am all for the caseless cartridge, but damn it, so far no one has managed to create a caseless cartridge that would pass military tests.