M249 SAW
Sign in to saveAlso known as M249 Squad Automatic Weapon, M249 light machine gun, Light Machine Gun, 5.56 mm, M249, 5.56 mm Light Machine Gun M249
5.56 mm light machine gun
Key facts
- Type
- Light machine gun , Squad automatic weapon
- Place of origin
- Belgium / United States
- In service
- 1984–present
- Used by
- See Users
- Wars
- United States invasion of Panama Gulf War Somali Civil War Bosnian War Kosovo War War in Afghanistan (2001–2021) Iraq War Syrian Civil War Russo-Ukrainian War (2014–present) Yemeni Civil War (2014–present) Saudi-led intervention in Yemen Haitian gang war
- Manufacturer
- FN America
- Unit cost
- US$4,087
- Produced
- Late 1970s–present
- Variants
- See Variants
- Mass
- 7.5 kg (17 lb) empty 10 kg (22 lb) with 200-round soft pouch
- Length
- 40.75 in (1,035 mm)
- Barrel length
- 465 mm (18.3 in) 521 mm (20.5 in)
- Cartridge
- 5.56×45mm NATO
- Action
- Gas-operated long-stroke piston system , open bolt , rotating bolt
- Rate of fire
- 850 rounds/min
- Muzzle velocity
- 915 m/s (3,000 ft/s)
- Effective firing range
- 700 m (2,300 ft) (point target, 465 mm barrel) 800 m (2,600 ft) (point target, 521 mm barrel) 3,600 m (11,800 ft) (maximum range)
- Feed system
- M27 linked disintegrating belt in a 100- or 200-round soft pouch, STANAG magazine
via Wikipedia infobox
~31 min read
Encyclopedic overview
The M249 SAW, formally as the Light Machine Gun, 5.56 mm, M249 Squad Automatic Weapon, is the United States Armed Forces adaptation of the Belgian FN Minimi, a light machine gun designed and manufactured by FN Herstal.
The M249 SAW is manufactured in the United States by the subsidiary FN Manufacturing, LLC (FN America), a company in Columbia, South Carolina. It was adopted in 1982 by the U.S. Armed Forces to address the lack of sustained automatic fire capability at the squad level and has been widely used since. The M249 SAW combines the rate of fire of a machine gun with the accuracy and portability of an assault rifle.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “M249 SAW” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.