KUALA LUMPUR: Just when Malaysian Defence thought that he had ran out of materials from the New Arms for the Malaysian Armed Forces’, he stumbled across this news item entitled “Soldier Wants A Bigger Bang“.
Initially Malaysian Defence thought the story was just to justify the issuance of the M4 Carbine to US troops in Iraq and Afghanistan, in the face of field reports that the weapon was prone to jamming (which was true but it is easily fixed by fitting a plastic cap on the muzzle and religious cleaning) but the news story when further.
You can get the full story here. One can also download the full survey on the web page. Its about a survey “commissioned by the US Army’s Project Manager for Soldier Weapons to address concerns raised by soldiers returning from combat about the dependability and effectiveness of their small arms” in Iraq and Afghanistan.
As the study will be used by the US Army to “assess Soldier perspectives on the reliability and durability of their weapons systems in combat to aid in decisions regarding current and future small arms needs of the Army” perhaps the Malaysian Armed Forces officers involved in the tender exercise should also use it as a guideline when selecting the weapons to be selected for our soldier usage.
The study also becomes more pertinent to the Malaysian Armed Forces as the survey also touched on the effectiveness of accessories.
“Soldiers who attach accessories to their weapons experienced a disproportionate number of malfunctions, with M249 users nine times more likely to experience a stoppage “if accessories were attached via zip cord, four times more likely if attached with duct tape and three times more likely if attached with dummy cords or rails.”
“Accessory attachments had a significant impact on reported stoppages,” the report said. “Those who attached accessories to their weapon were more likely to experience stoppages, regardless of how the accessories were attached.”
Malaysian Defence on several occasions stated that we must learn from the experiences of US and NATO forces in Iraq and Afghanistan. Learning from them does not mean that we are supporting their operations in both countries. Definitely not.
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But as another imperialist use to say before “Learning from the enemy is a virtue”
By the way click on the You Tube below to have see a Japanese made video on the Minimi, FN Mag and the HK G9C machine guns. The Minimi, already in service with the Malaysian Army would also be tendered for the Light Machine Gun segment.
As for the other two? The mag is already in service in Malaysia but the HK gun was never used here, it is already been replaced the newer MG4. Just enjoy the show! If the YouTube link is slow go here
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