Photo By Staff Sgt. Kevin McCulley | Soldiers of 3rd Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 1st Armored Division, learn the new M2A1...... read more read more
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FORT BLISS, Texas – Soldiers of 3rd Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 1st Armored Division, have received the Army’s newest version of the .50-caliber machine gun, the M2A1.
The most notable new feature is that gunners no longer have to adjust the weapon’s head space and timing. This is a time-consuming process of ensuring the barrel is seated properly and setting when the weapon fires after it recoils. This process was required each time the barrel of the weapon was changed.
With the M2A1, that step is eliminated. The new weapon system also has a quick-change barrel, allowing gunners on average to pause only 12 to 15 seconds for the change. The weapon also has a new flash suppressor that reduces muzzle flash by 40 percent.
With the simpler requirements on the gunner, some soldiers feel it less daunting to learn how to operate.
“I definitely think with the preset headspace and timing, it’s going to make it easier for the more inexperienced soldiers to learn the weapon and more open to being comfortable firing it,” said Spc. Don Lamendola of 3rd IBCT.
On the previous versions of the M2, personnel could be seriously wounded and the weapon seriously damaged if the headspace and timing procedure was not followed properly. Combat soldiers no longer have to worry about this safety issue. This is the first major upgrade since the Korean War to what soldiers affectionately refer to as the Ma-deuce.
“We made the weapon with the same reliability, same lethality and made it simpler and better for the soldier,” said Maj. Ken Bernier, assistant product manager with Program Executive Office-Soldier.
PEO-Soldier, the organization responsible for the upgrades, also gave classes on operation and maintenance to soldiers receiving the weapons. The brigade is the first unit in the Army to receive the upgraded M2A1. They will take it with them when they deploy to Afghanistan this month.
These upgrades have given American ground forces a significantly safer, more lethal, and more reliable weapon system.
| Date Taken: | 08.19.2011 |
| Date Posted: | 09.09.2011 13:44 |
| Story ID: | 76764 |
| Location: | FORT BLISS, TX, US |
| Web Views: | 248 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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