Weapons: Quiet Magazines Save Lives

Archives

April 1, 2009: The U.S. M249 5.56mm light machine-gun produces most of the firepower for a squad (10-11 troops). One of the major complaints about this weapon is the standard box magazine. A new (soft) fabric, camouflage colored, reusable magazine solves the problems.

This original plastic container is black, and stands out. Worse, when most of the ammo has been fired, the remaining rounds rattle around in the box magazine, giving away the position of the user, especially at night.

Each fire team of five troops has an M249 and troops have long complained about the magazine. Army technicians worked with a commercial firm to develop the new magazine, and field tests showed that the new design worked.

 

 

X

ad

Help Keep Us From Drying Up

We need your help! Our subscription base has slowly been dwindling.

Each month we count on your contribute. You can support us in the following ways:

  1. Make sure you spread the word about us. Two ways to do that are to like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.
  2. Subscribe to our daily newsletter. We’ll send the news to your email box, and you don’t have to come to the site unless you want to read columns or see photos.
  3. You can contribute to the health of StrategyPage.
Subscribe   contribute   Close