The Marine Corps is experimenting with a new service rifle

[PHDNM]

The Marine Corps is experimenting with a new service rifle

On the heels of a widely praised 2015 decision to issue the more maneuverable M4 carbine in lieu of the M16A4 to Marines in infantry battalions, the Marine Corps may be on the cusp of another major weapons decision.

The Marine Corps' experimental battalion, the California-based 3rd Battalion, 5th Marines, has been conducting pre-deployment exercises with the M27 Infantry Automatic Rifle to evaluate it as the new service rifle for infantry battalions, the commander of 1st Marine Division, Maj. Gen. Daniel O'Donohue told Military.com Thursday.

http://www.businessinsider.com/marin...e-2016-11?IR=T

[Matty74]

I guess the Marines recently reorganized from a 13 man squad to a 12 man squad but heavily armed them all with the new M27 rifle and the M240B squad weapon. They've always been big on firepower being a force multiplier. By the end of WW2, the USMC rifle squad had up to 3 BAR's (today's squad automatic weapon) per 13 man squad. That was most likely due to experience fighting dug in Japanese troops in bunkers and caves in the Pacific.

In contrast, the U.S. Army was organized around a 12 man squad with a single BAR and the rest carrying rifles in WW2 and today it's a 9 man squad with rifles (2 with launchers) and 2 M249 or M240 squad weapons