• Will the inclusion of the AR in the infantry squad and the consolidation of the SAW at the squad level enhance the effectiveness of the platoon?

• Will the inclusion of the AR in the infantry squad and the consolidation of the SAW at the platoon level enhance the effectiveness of the company?

In attempting to answer the two questions above, several other questions were generated that created more debate on the utility of the SAW and its role in the battalion and the role of the AR in the fire team. The debate centered on the following:

• Should the M249 be replaced outright or have its role tailored to meet its capabilities (light machinegun or AR)?

• Can the historical progression of increased lethality be forwarded and, if so, how?

• How or should the Marine Corps rifle squad and platoon be organized to maximize strengths and minimize weaknesses of the SAW, increase dispersion in the face of the new lethality that might be developed with more automatic weapons in the rifle squads, and take advantage of new technologies?

Before the assessment began the following generally held weapons definitions were adopted. A machinegun is a weapon possessing interchangeable barrels in order to allow continuous high-volume fires. The high volumes are achieved by using belt-fed ammunition. The machinegun will have an effective range beyond that of rifles as impacts of rounds can be directed onto targets by other members of the machinegun team.


An AR will be designed around the battle rifle of the infantry (currently the M16A2) but may come with a heavy barrel to retard heat buildup. It will be magazine fed and possess the capacity to be employed in a fully automatic role. The effective range of the AR should be comparable to the rifle. According to Chuck Taylor, author of The Fighting Rifle:

The automatic rifle is a small arm intended for short-term automatic fire missions against point targets. It is incapable of sustained automatic fire due to the lack of a quick-change barrel, which in turn, causes overheating, and the removal of the weapon from serviceable status. The AR is also fed from a detachable box magazine, not a belt, as is a true machine gun. Automatic rifles are NOT machine guns!13

An AR should be employed by an individual shooter and used in close combat. The AR, with its lower rate of fire, buffer spring, and greatly reduced recoil, gives added advantage of accuracy and shooter endurance. Unlike a light machinegun, an AR is designed to engage point or small area targets. It is intended to be a “mobile base of fire” around which the fire team maneuvers. The AR provides the maneuver element itself with an organic, moving volume of fire in the attack.

Only infantry could gain ground. To make possible the advance of infantry in such circumstances required that some weapon, dominant in its firepower, readily mobile, extremely accurate at short range, capable of being handled by one man and easily concealed, should be available to fill in the gap between the lifting of the artillery barrage and the moment at which the arme blanche could be used.14

Based on the generally held weapons definitions adopted, three ARs were acquired off-the-shelf to participate in the assessment with the M249 SAW. These three weapons were the Colt AR, the Ultimax 100 (manufactured by Singapore Arms), and the Heckler & Koch (HK) G36.

The Weapons
The Colt is a variant of the current M16A2 with the exact same sights and commonality of parts. The Colt AR weighs 15 pounds—8 more pounds than the M16A2. The additional weight is due primarily to a heavy barrel intended to retard heat buildup. Other alterations include a pistol grip attached to the fore end, a hydraulic buffer to retard recoil and rise, and a design change enabling the automatic variant to fire from the open bolt, reducing the possibility of cookoffs from excessive heat buildup. The Colt has a rate of fire of 650 rounds per minute.

The Ultimax 100 is similar in look to the M249 SAW. Like the SAW it fires from the open bolt but does not possess a spare barrel and is fed by magazine only. Because it weighs only 9 pounds, s******* can easily employ the Ultimax in a variety of methods. An adjustable gas regulator with 3 settings allows for a rate of fire varying from 450 to 600 rounds per minute.

The HK is a lightweight rifle capable of being fired in a fully automatic role from the closed bolt. The version tested had optical sights with an over/under system. The lower sight system has a 3.5 magnified scope with multiple crosshairs. The upper system was an aim point dot variation for limited visibility shooting. Total weight of the weapons system tested was 7 pounds. The rate of fire is 650 rounds per minute.

Testing
Phase I began 21 July 2001 with the receipt of the test bed of ARs. Forty-eight Marines en route to the battalion from their recent graduation at the School of Infantry were selected as the test bed s******* in order to eliminate as much preexisting bias concerning the SAW as possible. The tradeoff for using new Marines was a lack of marksmanship understanding and a failure to grasp open-bolt firing concepts. The 48 Marines were divided into four 12-man squads labeled A, B, C, and D. Marines in each squad were then numbered 1 through 12. Each squad was armed with one of the four weapons systems (Colt, HK, Ultimax, and SAW). Each weapon was then zeroed to the individual shooter. Once a weapon was zeroed to a specific Marine, the other three Marines in his number series would shoot for an offset aim point; i.e., shooter A1 zeroed the SAW and then s******* B1, C1, and D1 used offset aim points for the SAW. All number one s******* would shoot all four of the number one weapons on each test. This allowed a much quicker transition from weapon to weapon throughout the test.

Class SAW Colt Ultimax HK
1st 2 7 1 2
2d 8 19 10 6
3d 19 12 12 7
4th 19 10 25 33

Table 1. Test 1 results.
Eight separate tests were designed to assess the accuracy of the three AR candidates and the SAW in various operational situations. The main focus of these tests was to determine if the ARs were more accurate than the SAW in various attitudes, ranges, and conditions.

Test 1 was the M249 SAW paper qualification course fired from 36 yards. The purpose of this test was to use the M249’s strongest event to establish a baseline for comparison. The other weapons would compete against the SAW in its most favored environment. The most accurate weapon for this event was the Colt and the least accurate the HK. Table 1 shows that s******* using the Colt qualified in the first or second class two and a half times higher than s******* using the other weapons.

Test 2 was a quick-kill course established at Range 105A. S******* engaged three targets from the standing, kneeling, and prone positions with nine rounds in a time frame of 20 seconds. A target hit was valued at 1; a miss was valued at 0. The quick-kill targets were established at ranges of 25, 50, and 100 yards. The purpose of Test 2 was to determine the accuracy of the weapons in the critical, last 100 yards of an assault. The Marines used all of the field firing positions to duplicate the firing methods of combat Marines in urban or jungle warfare. Table 2 shows the results of Test 2.


25 Yards 50 Yards 100 Yards
Weapon Hits Rounds Accuracy Weapon Hits Rounds Accuracy Weapon Hits Rounds Accuracy
SAW 130 432 30.09% SAW 119 432 27.55% SAW 100 432 23.15%
Colt 161 432 37.27% Colt 161 432 29.86% Colt 176 432 40.74%
Ultimax 130 432 30.09% Ultimax 130 432 24.54% Ultimax 131 432 30.32%
HK 139 432 32.18% HK 139 432 28.94% HK 120 432 27.77%


Table 2. Test 2 results.
Figure 1. Extracted Table I from FM 23–9.
RD Range (M) Time (Sec) RD Range (M) Time (Sec)
1 50 3 11 100 8
2 200 6 12 200
3 100 4 13 150 10
4 150 5 14 300
5 300 6 15 100 9
6 250 7 16 250
7 50 3 17 200 6
8 200 6 18 150 5
9 150 5 19 50 6
10 250 7 20 100

Weapon Hits Rounds Saved Rounds Accuracy
SAW 231 1920 1 12.04%
Colt 427 1920 64 23.00%
Ultimax 368 1920 69 19.88%
HK 386 1920 173 22.10%

Table 3. Test 3 results.

Figure 2.
Task Range (M) Time (Sec) Rounds
1 200 5 6
2 300 10 6
3 100 10 6
4 300 15 6
5 100, 300 20 12
6 200, 300 20 12
7 100, 200, 300 25 18

Weapon Hits Rounds Saved Rounds Accuracy
SAW 279 3168 327 09.82%
Colt 384 3168 580 14.84%
Ultimax 323 3168 642 12.79%
HK 330 3168 338 11.66%

Table 4. Test 4 results.

Figure 3.
RD Range (M) Time (Sec) RD Range (M) Time (Sec)
1 250 10 11 400 10
2 400 10 12 500
3 800 15 13 700 20
4 300 10 14 300
5 500 10 15 800 20
6 700 15 16 400
7 300 10 17 600 20
8 400 10 18 800
9 600 15 17 300 10
10 800 15 20 500 10
Weapons Hits Rounds Saved Rounds Accuracy
SAW 148 4800 0 3.08%
Colt 219 4800 290 4.86%
Ultimax 216 4800 280 4.78%
HK 151 4800 243 3.31%