Textron Systems' Cased Telescoped Light Machine Gun Performs Well During U.S. Army Military Utility Assessment.
Weapon System's Weight, Ergonomics and Handling Advantages Showcased during Three-Week Evaluation at Fort Benning.
HUNT VALLEY, Md. - October 10, 2011 -Textron Systems Advanced Systems, an operating unit of Textron Systems, a Textron Inc. (NYSE: TXT) company, announced today that its U.S. Army Lightweight Small Arms Technologies (LSAT) program team has successfully completed a critical Military Utility Assessment (MUA) of its cased telescoped light machine gun (CT LMG).
The evaluation took place at the Maneuver Battle Lab at Fort Benning, Ga. during a three-week period in September. The MUA, employing soldiers from military police and infantry battalions and a Ranger regiment, fired 25,000 rounds using eight CT LMGs. Evaluators assessed the weapon's performance in numerous categories-in a side by side comparison to the Army's M249 Squad Automatic Weapon-to determine if the LSAT weapon system is suitable for the full spectrum of automatic rifleman tasks.
"Initial feedback from the MUA was extremely positive," said Kori Phillips, the LSAT Project Officer from the U.S. Army Armament Research, Development and Engineering Center (ARDEC). "The cased telescoped ammunition and weapon together are 40 percent lighter than the M249 when carrying 1,000 linked rounds, which equates to more than 20 lbs. That makes a big difference to the warfighter-in terms of mobility, weapon ergonomics and logistics."
LSAT is a technology based program managed through the Joint Service Small Arms Program Office (JSSAP), located at ARDEC at Picatinny Arsenal in New Jersey. Textron Systems' AAI Corporation is the prime contractor and systems integrator for a team of six additional companies who contribute to the LSAT program.
The cased telescoped light machine gun is a gas-operated, air-cooled, belt feed selectable semi-automatic and fully automatic weapon that fires from the open-bolt position. Its rate of fire is approximately 650 rounds per minute.
Soldiers at Fort Benning tested the CT LMG's performance across a variety of automatic rifleman tasks and operational scenarios to assess whether it affects their ability to effectively engage targets. The weapon also was evaluated on its suitability in other areas including portability, safety, compatibility with soldier equipment, durability in challenging operational environments, ease of use, and its impact on soldier mobility.
"Our Cased Telescoped Light Machine Gun really proved itself in the variety of environments and live-fire situations during the MUA," said Textron Systems Program Manager Paul Shipley. "Soldiers experienced firsthand the benefits of this weapon and the significant advances our project team has made in weight reduction, handling, controllability and other factors during the past seven years."
Additional CT LMG tests are in the planning stage with U.S. Army Special Operations Command while the Army determines a written requirement for lightweight weapons.
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Textron Systems ASV Family of Vehicles - Short Versionby TextronTAPV746 views
The problem with 6.5 and 6.8spc is the army still has billions of arounds of 556
JohneyAmerica 1 week ago
@sniprzkitty They were thinking about a GPMG with a round which would perform similarly to the 6.5 Grendel from what I heard.
To quote Wikipedia "An intermediate round with characteristics similar to the 6.5 mm Grendel is being considered...".
Carbide195 1 week ago
Make it a 6.5 caliber and your done.
sniprzkitty 1 week ago
indeed!
TheSpazoflondon 2 months ago
Interesting.
pedrojin09 2 months ago