Infantry Automatic Rifle

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A detailed look at the Marine Corps M27 Infantry Automatic Rifle

By Dan Lamothe on October 27, 2011 Weapons

In this week’s print edition of Marine Corps Times, there’s a story about the full rollout of M27 Infantry Automatic Rifles to the fleet beginning early next year. I won’t give it all away here, it’s fair to say dozens of battalions will receive the weapon in coming months following Commandant Gen. Jim Amos’ decision last summer to approve full fielding. With that in mind, we invited a representative from Heckler and Koch, the maker of the IAR, to Marine Corps Times last week. Along with Rob Curtis of the Military Times Gear Scout blog, I got a look at…

With IAR in hand, 1/3 Marines set to deploy

By Dan Lamothe on April 13, 2011 Afghanistan, Gear, Infantry, Weapons

The debate rages on, but the infantry automatic rifle will soon join the war in Afghanistan. Marine officials announced last night that 1st Battalion, 3rd Marines, out of Marine Corps Base Hawaii, will deploy to Helmand province beginning today. They’ll eventually take over in country for 2nd Battalion, 1st Marines, out of Camp Pendleton, Calif., which has patrolled Garmser district since the fall. The deployment by 1/3’s Lava Dogs will serve as the first war-zone test for the 5.56mm M27 IAR, which could eventually replace the M249 squad automatic weapon on many infantry patrols. For now, it’s expected the unit will…

Browsing: Infantry Automatic Rifle