Previous: Appendix F: Machine Gun Employment
F-1. Leaders must know the technical characteristics of their assigned weapon systems and associated ammunition to maximize their killing and suppressive fires while minimizing the risk to friendly forces. This section discusses machine gun technical data and considerations of the Infantry platoon and squad.
F-2. Machine gun fire has different effects on enemy targets depending on the type system, ammunition used, range to target, and nature of the target. It is important gunners and leaders understand technical aspects of each system and different ammunition available to ensure the machine guns are employed in accordance with their capabilities. Machine guns use several different types of standard military ammunition. Soldiers should use only authorized ammunition manufactured to U.S. and North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) specifications.
F-3. The following paragraphs discuss weapons specification of the tactical employment of M249, M240-series, M2/M2A1, and MK19 machine guns. Refer to the specific FM of the machine guns listed in table F-1 (page F-2) for complete information regarding their technical specifications.
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Go Back To: U.S. Army FM 3-21.8: The Infantry Rifle Platoon and Squad