POTD: Poland Testing The New UKM 2020 Machine Gun
Photo Of The Day: Above you can see some left-handed shooting with the UKM 2020 machine gun. As Poland changed teams and joined the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) in 1999, the challenge to adapt their firearms to common NATO ammunition arose. The PKM machine gun was already being produced in Poland under licence, but it needed a serious redesign to be able to accept the new ammunition (7.62x51mm NATO) as well as the links and belt that hold them.
UKM stands for Uniwersalny Karabin Maszynowy which translates into Universal Machine Gun.
For a 7.62x51mm machine gun, it looks light and versatile. East meets West.
Caption from 21 Brygada Strzelców Podhalańskich, machine-translated:
21 Brygada Strzelców Podhalańskich
Testing the new UKM 2020S in Polygonie in Nowej Debie.
Prototype – the UKM 2000P modernization tool is lightweight, with an ergonomic design
All pictures from 21 Brygada Strzelców Podhalańskich. You can find their website here: https://www.wojsko-polskie.pl/21bsp/
Check TFB’s previous article on the UKM here: Hands on with the Polish ZMT UKM 2000.
Ex-Arctic Ranger. Competitive practical shooter and hunter with a European focus. Always ready to increase my collection of modern semi-automatics, optics, thermals and suppressors. TCCC Certified. Occasionaly seen in a 6x6 Bug Out Vehicle, always with a big smile.
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PKM? The machine gun, that enabled the Taliban to be not beaten from the battle fields of Afghanistan in skirmishes with the Marines. Good gun! And still winning, if I look at the overpowered OVERMATCH abominations, tha Americans came up with recently.
Just two points about this polish version: The optic sits a bit high and the caliber is not 6.5 creedmoore.
What I really want to know is why it's not used much more heavily outside of Poland. I mean, it's a proven platform in a NATO-standard caliber, and it has significant advantages in the weight department compared to what many countries are using.