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US Marine Corps experimenting with silencing every single gun in an infantry battalion – Business Insider

In a series of experiments this year, units from 2nd Marine Division will be silencing every element of an infantry battalion — from M4 rifles to .50 caliber machine guns. The commanding general of 2nd Marine Division, Maj. Gen. John Love, described these plans during a speech to Marines at the Marine Corps Association Ground…

In a series of experiments this year, units from 2nd Marine
Division will be silencing every element of an infantry battalion
— from M4 rifles to .50 caliber machine guns.

The commanding general of 2nd Marine Division, Maj. Gen. John
Love, described these plans during a speech to Marines at the Marine Corps Association Ground
Dinner this month near Washington, D.C.

The proof-of-concept tests, he said, included Bravo Company, 1st
Battalion, 2nd Marines, which began an Integrated Training
Exercise pre-deployment last month at Marine Corps Air-Ground Combat
Center Twentynine Palms.

via www.businessinsider.com

Suppressing a .50cal sounds like a bit of a challenge, but the rest makes a fair bit of sense.

There's a very slight penalty in weight, but the ability for small unit leaders to control their elements will be greatly increased.

Further, it will make it somewhat more difficult for the enemy to precisely locate friendly forces.

And at an estimated cost of about $700,000 to equip one battalion, well, that's pretty damn cheap.

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Responses to “US Marine Corps experimenting with silencing every single gun in an infantry battalion – Business Insider”

  1. Quartermaster

    Happy Thanksgiving all!

    Like

  2. ultimaratioregis

    I will wait to see the impact on accuracy at combat ranges.

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  3. Bill

    Happy Thanksgiving!

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  4. SFC Dunlap 173d RVN

    Hope there is huge thankfulness in all who read this.

    Like

  5. timactual

    “There’s a very slight penalty in weight”
    Yeah, Right. After a mile or three, particularly where the countour lines get close, all those “slight penalties” add up. Straw, camel, etc.

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  6. Jaedo Drax

    Does anyone know off hand the OAL with the suppressor installed?
    Also, I don’t know about anyone else, but if you are firing the .50 cal MG, I’m pretty sure you want everyone to know it.

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  7. Quartermaster

    And what, exactly, will be done about the supersonic “crack?”

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  8. LT Rusty

    This is going to be interesting from a technical standpoint in a variety of ways.
    First off, I don’t think it has as much to do with tactical advantage as it does with safety and risk mitigation for the Marines using the weapons themselves. In other words, it’s a hearing protection device, more than an attempt to be stealthy. As such, the supersonic crack probably isn’t much of a concern.
    Second, the effects on accuracy will be rather intriguing. At the heart of it, a suppressor is really just a super-effective muzzle brake, which has the added benefit of also reducing sound and muzzle flash.
    Third, the impact on function. Reduced recoil impulse could have some very negative implications for timing and reliability on Ma Deuce, and the ROF on LMGs will likely drop substantially as well. Suppressive fire may suffer, in that available volumes will drop. However, since ROF drops, the supply of ammunition for MGs should last a (fractionally, and possibly insignificant) bit longer.
    Overall length shouldn’t be impacted that much on production variants of weapons, except for pistols. There have been numerous production weapons with integral silencers over the decades, including variants of standard types (MP5-SD comes to mind) and with clever planning they don’t get much–if any–longer.
    The biggest hassle is going to be maintenance. Baffles need cleaning, and the kind of buildup of lead and carbon deposits that you get over sustained operations could result in baffle strikes and structural damage to the weapon that could result in significant injury to the Marine holding the weapon. (This could be mitigated by the use of non-integral suppressors, but that gets back to the OAL issue, and also extra weight penalty on top of the rest of the shitload of stuff that a Marine already has to carry.)
    I’ll keep an eye on this one. I’m curious to see if it gets anywhere beyond the pipe dream stage.

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  9. Krag

    RE: “Suppressive fire may suffer, in that available volumes will drop.”
    Apparently suppressive fire is too old school. Remember this is the same USMC that ditched fireteam LMGs for a full auto rifle…magazine fed.
    The stupid grows stronger and stronger in my beloved Corps.

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  10. timactual

    “And what, exactly, will be done about the supersonic “crack?” ”
    Not a thing. That only occurs downrange, and you want the folks downrange to be a little uncomfortable. And not know where that discomfort comes from.

    Like

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