Singapore Army to complete transition to new light machine gun by end-July

SINGAPORE: The Singapore Army will fully transition to a new light machine gun (LMG) by the end of July, the Ministry of Defence (MINDEF) said on Wednesday (Jul 17).

All active combat and combat support units will be equipped with and progressively trained on the Colt Infantry Automatic Rifle (IAR) 6940E-SG.

The army has progressively introduced the LMG to its soldiers since April, replacing the Singapore-made Section Automatic Weapon (SAW) Ultimax 100 which has been in use since 1982.

Made by United States-headquartered Colt’s Manufacturing, the LMG was evaluated and procured in partnership with the Defence Science and Technology Agency.

LMGs are infantry support weapons designed for soldiers to deliver suppressive firepower, enabling a squad to move or advance effectively.

The Colt IAR is also currently being used by Mexico’s Marine Corps. It was not selected by the US Marines after a trial back in 2010.

Compared to its predecessor, the LMG is shorter and lighter, and has a longer effective range.

“In recent years, we ... recognise the increasing prevalence of urban operations and the need to minimise collateral damage, especially when our soldiers operate in a complex urban environment,” Lieutenant-Colonel Chan Wen Kai, the head of plans at Headquarters 9th Singapore Division/Infantry, told the media on Wednesday.

“We thought it’s timely for our army to replace our SAW to meet these new challenges.”

Apart from close-quarter combat environments, the new LMG will also allow the army to operate more effectively in conventional terrain, he added.

He described the new LMG as providing “greater operational flexibility and improved ergonomics for our soldiers”.

TESTING THE LMG

Media were also given the opportunity on Wednesday to test out the LMG at the Multi-Mission Range Complex indoor firing centre.

As someone who has only fired the standard SAR 21 during National Service, the LMG at first glance appeared to be a much more complex weapon.

It has various features for soldiers to adjust to their preferences, such as a retractable buttstock to tweak the rifle’s length for greater manoeuvrability and a more personalised fit.

The foregrip position is also adjustable, and ambidextrous controls on both sides of the weapons allow left-handed soldiers to fire just as effectively.

Controls such as the fire mode and magazine release catch were easy enough to use.

The option of single-shot or automatic mode means that soldiers can switch from delivering suppressive firepower to close-quarter combat in urban environments. The SAW, on the other hand, only has an automatic mode.

But what stood out for me was the LMG’s new sighting system, featuring a red dot sight paired with a 3x magnifier scope.

The red dot sight is parallax error-free, which means it stays aligned with the target no matter the angle from which one looks through the sight.

This ensures accuracy even if one’s head or eye position changes slightly.

The settings can also be adjusted to make it brighter or dimmer depending on the terrain.

And the 3x magnifier scope – which can be switched to 1x – provides further accuracy at longer ranges.

In single-shot mode at the firing range, I hit all five targets, and my shots were quite close together. The recoil also felt less forceful compared to the SAR 21.

But as someone who has never fired a machine gun, I struggled with the automatic mode. Even with a laser pointed at my target, the quickly emptied rounds made me miss several shots, with some landing far above the target.

A more experienced soldier, of course, would likely be more on point.

I also tested the gun in a night-time setting, and it was as accurate as it was in day mode.

LMG VS THE SAW

In terms of specifications, the LMG is about 849mm to 933mm long, making it about 17 per cent shorter than the SAW Ultimax 100 at 1030mm.

It weighs 4.3kg, about 600g lighter than the SAW’s 4.9kg.

The LMG fires NATO standard 5.56x45mm ammunition, and comes with a 60-round drum magazine and a 30-round regular magazine.

The LMG also has an effective range of 600m, an improvement over the Ultimax’s 460m.

Longer, sustained firing is also supported by the LMG’s heat sink, which provides improved cooling.

The LMG allows fire rates of up to 1000 rpm compared to the SAW’s 600 rpm, enhancing suppressive fire capabilities.

Its red dot sighting system helps with faster and more accurate target acquisition, an upgrade over the iron sight system of the Ultimax 100.

There is also a Picatinny rail – a mounting platform – to easily add on accessories.

“The acquisition of the Colt IAR light machine gun is part of the Army’s modernisation and renewal of equipment to meet evolving operational contexts,” LTC Chan said.

“Over the years, regular evaluations had found that the SAW met our operational requirements.

“With the emergence of new threats, it was timely for the SAW to be replaced and future-proofed.”