Infantry Article Index : Current 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012
 Latest
 News 		  Most
 Read 		  Most
 Commented		  Hot
 Topics

October 30, 2000

The Australian Army is conducting an evaluation on the possible return of 7.62mm machineguns to its infantry units. The Australian Army gave up its 7.62mm machineguns a decade ago to use the 5.56mm F89 Light Support Weapon. The weapon has proven unpopular with the troops, who regard it as inadequate. The Light Support Weapon cannot fire bursts of more than 3-4 rounds; the troops want to use bursts of up to 20 rounds on some targets. The 5.56mm round has an effective range of only 750m; the 7.62mm round can reach over 1,000m. The 7.62mm rounds proved able to penetrate targets (bricks, logs, sandbags) at 800m that stopped 5.56mm rounds at 400m.--Stephen V Cole