Conway: SAW’s firepower hard to give up - Marine Corps News | News from Afghanistan & Iraq - Marine Corps Times

Conway: SAW’s firepower hard to give up

Despite a yearslong effort to field a lightweight automatic rifle that would replace the M249 squad automatic weapon in some Marine fire teams, the Corps’ top officer remains unconvinced that trading firepower for weight is a smart move.

The SAW — with its 200-round drum — may not be “terribly accurate shot-to-shot,” but it puts Marines on par with the enemy in a firefight, Commandant Gen. James Conway told reporters during a briefing Dec. 15 at the Pentagon. With only a 30-round magazine, its proposed replacement, the 5.56mm Infantry Automatic Rifle, could force a dangerous change to the way Marines fight, he said.

“Let’s … talk about suppression and the psychology of a small-unit fight, that says that the other guy’s got a light machine gun and I’ve got an automatic rifle,” Conway said. “I’m going to be hard-pressed to get fire superiority over him, you know, to keep his head down instead of him keeping mine down, because that 200-round magazine just keeps on giving.”

Marine Corps Systems Command has expressed interest in a high-capacity magazine that would fit the IAR and hold between 50 and 100 rounds. Although Conway did not address the higher-capacity magazine during his briefing, it might not make a difference, his spokesman, Maj. David Nevers, said.

“I’m not sure whether he believes that a marginally higher capacity would be enough,” Nevers said.

The Corps plans to reduce the number of SAWs in its inventory from 11,381 to about 8,000 while purchasing 4,100 auto-rifles, which could become the main fire support weapon in some fire teams as soon as October. Earlier this month, the Heckler and Koch IAR emerged as the front-runner over three other weapons, but Marine officials intend to continue testing.

Despite the contention that replacing the 17-pound SAW with the 12½-pound IAR would aid mobility, Conway still is not convinced — and he’s not sure Congress will be either. The Corps must persuade lawmakers that moving away from a “tried-and-true weapon system” that the Army will continue using is worth funding, he said.

“It’s a big deal when you start changing how a Marine infantry squad fights,” Conway said. “… I’m going to have to be convinced that we’re making the right move before we start to purchase another system and change that whole dynamic.”