U.S. Army Tests Prototype .50-Cal. Gun
The U.S. Army Soldier Weapons Center at Picatinny Arsenal, N.J., has ordered three prototypes of a first-of-its-kind lightweight .50-cal. machine gun that fires with less recoil force and can be carried more easily in rough terrain than the Army's current .50-caliber weapon, service officials said.
Made by General Dynamics Armament and Technical Products, the 38-pound gun weighs less than half as much as the 82-pound M2 and incorporates a host of technologies designed to improve accuracy. (General Dynamics)
Dubbed LW for lightweight and made by General Dynamics Armament and Technical Products (ATP), the 38-pound gun weighs less than half as much as the 82-pound M2 and incorporates a host of technologies designed to improve accuracy.
"The gun uses what is called impulse averaging, so it doesn't come to a hard stop. With an M2 today, you would have to take your eye away from the sight because it would shake," said U.S. Army Col. Carl Lipsit, program manager for soldier weapons at Picatinny.
For several years now, the Army has been working with industry in an effort to develop lightweight .50-caliber weapons. The LW .50-cal. is intended to be mounted quickly on light vehicles' Common Remote Weapons Station, a turret controlled remotely by soldiers with a joystick and video screen. The M2, a combat fixture for 70 years, will not be replaced, just added to, said Lt. Col. Mike Ascura, product manager for crew-served weapons at Picatinny.
"We've done a market survey of the arms manufacturers to look and see what is available. It will still be a crew-served weapon with a tripod. It will be man-portable," he said.
The Army has ordered three prototypes from GD ATP for testing, which could lead to orders for thousands of the weapons.
The LW 50 has 250 pounds of recoil force, one-quarter that of the M2; has fixed head space and timing; and fires 200 to 300 rounds per minute up to 2,000 meters, Army and GD ATP officials said.
The gun was recently test-fired by Special Operations Forces (SOCom).
"We conducted a 10,000-round early user assessment with SOCom forces at a test center in Yakima, Wash.," said Bob Cavoretto, GD ATP's senior program manager for advanced crew-served weapons.
In coming months, SOCom and Army evaluators will test the three prototype LW 50s at a GD ATP facility. The company will refine the design to incorporate lessons and customer input.
"This contract gets us started to develop a weapon design. The intent is to submit a follow-on proposal which would go in during the early quarter of next year to support government development," he said.
More prototype testing is slated for Aberdeen Proving Ground, Md., by 2010.
Low-rate initial production is scheduled for 2011, Ascura said.
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