Army and Wars Related Directory

A light machine gun (LMG) is a machine gun designed to be employed by an individual soldier, with or without an assistant, and as a front-line infantry support. Light machine guns are often used as squad automatic weapons.

A light machine gun may be identified either by the weapon or by its tactical role. It is used to fire in short 8 -10 round bursts, usually from a bipod; a sustained-fire mount such as a tripod is a characteristic of a medium machine gun. Some machine guns - notably General purpose machine guns - may be deployed as either a light machine gun or a medium machine gun. As a general rule, if a machine gun is deployed with a bipod it is a light machine gun; if deployed on a tripod it is a medium machine gun - unless it has a caliber of about 10mm or larger, making it a heavy machine gun. Modern light machine guns often fire smaller-caliber cartridges than medium machine guns, and are usually lighter and more compact.

Light machine guns, such as the British Lewis, were first introduced in World War One to boost the firepower of the infantry. By the end of World War II, light machine guns were usually being issued on a scale of one per section or squad, and the modern infantry squad had emerged with tactics that were built around the use of LMGs.

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An assault rifle is defined as a selective fire rifle that uses an intermediate cartridge and a detachable magazine.^[1][2][3][4] Assault rifles are the standard infantry weapons in most modern armies. Assault rifles are categorized in betweenlight machine guns, which are intended more for sustained automatic fire in a light support role, and submachine guns, which fire a pistol cartridge rather than a rifle cartridge.

Examples of assault rifles include the Kalashnikov family (by far the most prolific)^[5], M16 rifle, G36, FN F2000, and the Steyr AUG.

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The Dragon Fire 120 mm heavy mortar is a program under development (as of 2006) for the US Marine Corps. It is a fully automated mortar capable of using rifled or smoothbore 120 mm ammunition. Like all mortars it is a high-angle-of-fire weapon used for indirect fire support. Dragon Fire is also expected to be effective in a counter-battery role.

History

The Dragon Fire program began in 1997 as a concept demonstrator, intended to experiment with automating medium-caliber, medium range artillery. The Dragon Fire combines digital fire control, power-operated traverse, elevation, and loading, and an advanced aiming system with a 120mm rifled mortar system to give much faster and more precise direct support. Program lead is the Marine Corps Warfighting Laboratory with design by Army Armament Research, Development, and Engineering Command (ARDEC), and fabrication by Rock Island Arsenal IL, and General Dynamics Ordnance and Tactical Systems (GD-OTS).

The first prototype was constructed partly from components of a French 120 mm rifled mortar and was completed in 1998. The system was successfully tested and then used in operational experiments from 1998 to 2002, including firings from a modified Light Armored Vehicle.

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The AGM-124 Wasp is a missile developed by the United States of America. The Wasp grew out of the 1975 WAAM (Wide-Area Anti-Armour Munitions) program initiated by the US Air Force in order to develop a series of new air-to-ground anti-armour weapons for close-support aircraft. The three-pronged program led to the CBU-92/B ERAM (Extended Range Anti-Armour Munition), the CBU-90/B ACM (Anti-Armour Cluster Munition), and the Wasp anti-armour missile. The Wasp is regarded as the most advanced of these weapons.

Development began in 1979, with Boeing and Hughes Aircraft as the primary contractors. The specification called for a small missile which could be carried in large numbers by attack aircraft in multiple dispensers - the A-10 was able to carry several 12 round launcher pods. The Boeing design was unsuccessful, and the USAF selected the Hughes Wasp missile.

The AGM-124A was a small weapon with folding wings and fins to reduce storage space within the launcher. It was intended to be launched in large numbers - 10 or more missiles launched nearly simultaneously was envisaged for a typical attack; indeed the name Wasp derived from this “swarm” tactic. The missiles would follow a pre-programmed path to the target area before activating a millimetric-wave radar to identify and home on a specific target. This high resolution radar was able to distinguish targets even against enemy jamming and high background clutter from the ground.

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AK Series Weapons

American Arms

AK-Y 39

AK-F 39

AK-C 47

AK-F 47

Arsenal

SLR (all)

SLG (all)

B-West

AK-47 (all)

Hesse Arms

Model 47 (all)

Wieger STG 940 Rifle

Inter Ordnance - Monroe, NC

RPK

M-97

AK-47 (all)

Kalashnikov USA

Hunter Rifle / Saiga

MAADI CO

* AK 47

* ARM

MISR (all)

MISTR (all)

Made in China

* 84S

* AKM

* 86S

* AKS

* 56

* AK

* 56S

* AK47

MARS

Pistol

Mitchell Arms, Inc.

M-90

AK-47 (all)

AK-47 Cal .308 (all)

M-76

RPK

Monday, October 02, 2000

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* Specifically named in the Robert-Roos Assault Weapons Control Act of 1989

and required to be registered by March 31, 1992

Norinco

* 86 S

86 (all)

* 84 S

81 S (all)

* 56

RPK Rifle

NHM 90, 90-2, 91 Sport

AK-47 (all)

MAK 90

* 56 S

Hunter Rifle

Ohio Ordnance Works (o.o.w.)

ROMAK 991

AK-74

Poly technologies

* AKS

* AK47

Valmet

Hunter Rifle

76 S

WUM

WUM (all)

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