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New Minimi Gun is ’Beast’
By NICK PARKERin Kuwait BRITISH troops have been given new machine guns to boost their firepower in Iraq. The Minimi I love it's name!! can shoot at a rate equivalent to 1,000 bullets a minute. It uses 200-round ammo belts whereas the Armyâs existing Light Support Weapon â LSW â has 30-bullet magazines. Soldiers, although firing only short bursts, will therefore be able to provide a more sustained volley before reloading. It will also be better for protecting advancing infantry and in close combat. And the facility to use ammo from other guns adds to its versatility. The Belgian-built Minimi has been given to all eight infantry units attached to the 7th Armoured Brigade â the Desert Rats. They tested it in the Kuwaiti desert over the weekend. Second Lieut Matt Helsby, 25, from Hampshire, said: âThe Minimi brings a lot more firepower to the party. âBecause itâs so light the gun can be carried by us on foot easily, giving far superior support to front line troops. It allows us to move more quickly as we are not lugging around a heavy machine gun any more. I think I can speak for all of us who are using it, the Minimi is a welcome asset to the troops.Weâre really chuffed that weâve got it. Itâs going to give us a lot of extra firepower.â And Guardsman Craig Marshall,19,of the same regiment, said: âIt gets a lot of fire down very quickly so itâs better for close quarters combat and trench clearing. Itâs also ideal if you are the first man out because itâs got so much firepower to protect everyone else whoâs getting out after you. Itâs a very good weapon.â The Minimis are standard issue in the US Army and UK soldiers were due to get them soon but that step was brought forward. Major Joe Carnegie,a spokesman for the British Army in Kuwait,said: âWe are supplementing the firepower of our infantry sections with the Minimi, but it is not replacing the LSW. âThe Minimi guns have been acquired under our urgent operational requirements, which we use if there is any shortfall of equipment.â The current LSW â a larger version of the much-criticised SA-80 rifle â is more accurate than the Minimi. But senior officers have called repeatedly for it to be scrapped,claiming it requires constant reloading and cannot provide sustained fire. Some of the strongest criticism came in a internal report by Brigadier Seymour Monro, the Armyâs former director of infantry, which was leaked last year. He warned that the LSW was unlikely ever to be capable âof meeting the requirements of the infantry engaged in close combatâ. The Royal Marines and the Paras are already using the Minimi in the Gulf. They were equipped with the weapon while operating in Afghanistan last year after shunning the LSW. Each eight-man infantry section will now receive one Minimi to use in addition to â or instead of â the two LSWs which they carry. The infantry also use the general purpose machine gun, although this is heavier than both the LSW and the Minimi and more difficult to use in certain circumstances. Posted by: Yosemite Sam 2003-03-17 |
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