Mounting Solutions Plus is a Florida-based company that is announcing the release for export of an innovative M240 belt pouch system that is designed to supersede currently issued 50 round belt pouches designed for the 7,62x51mm NATO M240 general purpose machine gun in efficiency. The company also has a similar design specifically for the Rheinmetall MG3 as well. What differentiates this pouch from existing 50 round “contact” pouches is that it curves underneath the machine gun to the right, whereas with the current 50 round pouch, it simply drops off the left side of an M240 and hangs on the left side, thus off-centering the machine gun. The reason why a pouch like this wasn’t designed in the first place was that the 240 ejects spent cases directly down and would thus be ejecting cartridges into the ammunition feeding device. How the Balanced Ammunition Delivery System (B.A.D.S) surmounts this task is through incorporating a ramp where spent cartridges hit the ramp at an angle and then bounce to the 3 o’clock position of the M240. In addition, because of the extra space underneath the machine gun, the entire fixture now allows a 240 gunner to hold 100-125 rounds instead of 50 in a contact belt.

From the press release-

The new Balanced Ammunition Delivery System (B.A.D.S.) revolutionizes the M240 weapon system. The B.A.D.S. system replaces the current ammo box under the weapon and produces a balanced center of gravity for this weapon. It also allows 125 rounds of ammo to be easily loaded by the gunner within ten seconds while in a standing or sitting position. The increased ammo capacity of the B.A.D.S enables the gunner to engage the target for up to 150% more time on target while on assault, on patrol, or in a hasty defensive position without a need to change the ammo box.

Because the B.A.D.S is balanced, it puts less stress on the operator and the M240 system. Unlike current ammo box designs, the B.A.D.S. ammunition deflection plate ensures spent cartridges are ejected away from the gunner.

Is it innovative? Of course. Does it solve a problem? It does. But does it create more problems than it solves and is it field worthy? Those are the questions that need to be answered about this device. But on the one hand we now have a very nifty and smart solution to a decades-old problem, but on the other, can we now not get in the prone? Also is there no easier way to access the inside of the belt pouch than from the feedway? These are various issues to look at before those going in harm’s way stake their lives on the device.