The Roles and Weapons with the Squad

[JMA]

So to me it would seem more prudent to first try to knock weight and size for GPMGs down as far as possible without loosing too much punch, although some loss would be unavoidable.

Why would one need to reduce the weigh and size of GPMGs?

I suggest that this point of departure is wrong. The current weigh factor is exacerbated primarily by the weigh of body armour. It is accepted that the use of body armour is non negotiable and as such the primary effort should be to reduce the weight of body armour "without loosing too much" protection.

The second weight factor is all the stuff soldiers take along in case they might need them. This can be fixed at subunit level and would be made easier if CAS reaction times were short enough to give confidence to soldiers who may get caught out in a contact.

The third weight factor is that of weapons and ammunition. Its fine (IMO) to have a special weapon for CQB or jungle COIN warfare which is more suited to the conditions of that war.

But with the utmost respect how can anyone discuss the weight reduction and calibre issues of a GPMG without consideration of the employment of such weapons in a conventional setting where interlocking and overlapping arcs of fire and mutual support are critical success factors? You see when the Brits switched to the SA-80 no one seemed to take into account the reduction in the effective section fire range.

I suggest that you qualify what you are recommending as a use for a lighter GPMG with an application you see it being used in. Light hearted comments about "loss of punch" in a trade off for weight savings need to be explained.

Why for example does one need to reduce the weight of a GPMG and its ammo?