Читать книгу Practical Guide to the Operational Use of the MAG58/M240 Machine Gun - Erik Lawrence - Страница 7

Figure 1-4 M240B Machine Gun

•M240B: The M240B is the standard infantry medium machine gun of the U.S. Army and is the version in use by the U.S. Air Force. It comes configured for ground combat. It is almost always referred to as an "M240 Bravo" or even a "240 Bravo" verbally, but always written as M240B, refer to Figure 1-4.

The M60E4 (Mk 43 as designated by the U.S. Navy) was pitted against the (then-called) M240E4 in Army trials during the 1990s for a new infantry medium machine gun in a competition to replace the decades-old M60s. The M240E4 won and was then classified as the M240B, which led to 1000 existing M240s being sent to FN for an overhaul and a special kit that modified them for use on ground (such as a stock, a rail, etc). This step led to procurement contracts in the late 1990s for the all-new M240B. However, a new feature was added, a hydraulic buffer system to reduce the felt recoil as incorporated in the M60. While the M240B had been more reliable in the tests, it was a few pounds heavier than the M60E4, and there is a program underway for a new lightweight medium machine gun in the early 2000s. The Army M240 conversion of the M240B configuration should not be confused with the large numbers of M240/E1s converted to the M240G configuration for the Marine Corps.