Role of Machine Guns

Machine Guns in the Urban Environment Role of Machine Guns in Urban Battlespace Provide covering fire. Isolate an area. Provide high rate of fire on avenues of approach. Fire along streets and into windows Machine Gun Emplacement Secure all windows and doors in occupied building. Prepare to use loopholes. Put guns in building corners or sand bagged under building. To increase fields of fire. Locate gun for grazing fire may not always be possible. Machine Gun Employment Urban targets have hard, smooth, flat surfaces. Engagement ranges in MOUT are close 90% of targets w/i 50 meters Depression and elevation limits for some weapons create dead space. Eight Principles of MG Employment Mutual Support Employ in Pairs Coordination of Fire Position in Defilade Enfilade Fire Interlocking Fire Cover and Concealment Economy of Fire Penetration Power of MG Rounds At 50m, 7.62 can penetrate a layer of single layer of sandbags, but not a double. .50-Cal only slightly better 14 inches of sand 28 inches of packed earth Continued fire from both can penetrate most walls. Summary High rate of fire covers and isolates urban objectives. Employment affected by: Uniqueness of urban targets Short ranges Depression/elevation limits Penetration of rounds dictates types of targets to engage. Machine guns will play an important role in the urban environment. When employed with other combined arms its effects can be devastating. When employed properly the machine gun forms the backbone for successful maneuver against the enemy. 1. Machine guns can play an important role in the urban environment. Machine guns can be placed almost anywhere. This allows you to provide covering fire for advancing troops, isolate an area or building, and provide a high rate of fire on avenues of approach. Machine guns provide covering fire for troop movement and isolating an area or building by providing suppressive fire. Machine guns will fire along streets, into windows, doors, and down alleys. 1. On occupying a building, Marines secure all windows and doors. If possible, board them up. By leaving small gaps between the boards, Marines can use windows and doors as good alternate firing positions. 2. Loopholes should be used extensively in the defense. They should not be constructed in any logical pattern, nor should they all be at floor or tabletop level. Varying their height and location makes them hard to pinpoint and identify. Dummy loopholes, shingles knocked off, or holes, that are not intended to be used as firing positions, aid in the deception. 3. Increased fields of fire can be obtained by locating the machine gun in the corner of the building or sand bagged under a building. Available materials, such as desks, overstuffed chairs, couches, and other items of furniture, should be integrated into the construction of bunkers to add cover and concealment. Loopholes should be small in front, and wide in the back. 4. Although grazing fire is desirable when employing the machine gun, it may not always be practical or possible. Where destroyed vehicles, rubble, and other obstructions restrict the fields of grazing fire, the gun can be elevated to where it can fire over obstacles. 5. Generally elevated positions will provide more targets. Lower positions will offer fixed grazing fire. Commanders must determine which position will be most appropriate for their mission. Gunners should not fire from the same position for a prolonged period of time, as this will make them easy to be targeted by enemy forces. Prepared alternate positions should be utilized. 1. Hard, smooth, flat surfaces are characteristics of urban targets. Rounds rarely impact perpendicular to these flat surfaces, but rather tend to impact at some angle. This reduces the effect of a round and increases the threat of ricochets. The tendency of rounds to strike glancing blows against hard surfaces means that up to 25 percent of impact-fuzed explosive rounds may not detonate when fired into rubbled areas. 2. Engagement ranges in the urban environment are close. Studies and historical analyses have shown that only 5 percent of all targets are more than 100 meters away. About 90 percent of all targets are located 50 meters or less from the identifying Marine. Few personnel targets will be visible beyond 50 meters, and most occur at 35 meters or less. Depression and elevation limits for some weapons create dead space. Tall buildings form deep canyons that are often safe from indirect fires. Target engagement from oblique angles, both horizontal and vertical, demands superior marksmanship skills. 1. The ability of the 7.62mm and the .50 cal rounds to penetrate is affected by the range to the target and the type of material fired against. 2. At 50 meters, the 7.62 mm ball round can penetrate a single layer of sandbags at 200 meters, but it cannot penetrate a double layer. The .50 cal armor-piercing round penetrates only slightly better against sandbags. 3. The .50 cal round is also optimized for penetration at long ranges (800 meters). For hard targets, .50 cal penetrations are affected by obliquity and range. Both armor piercing and ball ammunition penetrate 14 inches of sand or 28 inches of packed earth at 200 meters, if the rounds impact perpendicular to the flat face of the target. 4. Barriers that offer protection against 5.56mm rounds are also effective against 7.62mm rounds with some exceptions. The 7.62mm round can penetrate a windowpane at a 45-degree obliquity, a hollow cinder block, or both sides of a car body. It can also easily penetrate wooden frame buildings. The .50 cal round can penetrate all of the commonly found urban barriers except a sand filled 55 gallon drum, engine block of a car, curbs, and sewer covers (Range Dependent). 5. Continued and concentrated machine gun fire can breach most typical walls. a. The M240G can be hard to hold steady and repeatedly hit the same point on a wall. The dust created by the bullet strikes also makes precise aiming difficult. Firing from a tripod is usually more effective than without, Especially if sandbags are used to steady the weapon. Short bursts of 6 to 8 rounds are fired in a U-type pattern are best.