#M27Iar

We’re off to Japan in our Photo Of The Day, to take a look at M4 carbines and the newer M27 Infantry Automatic Rifle in an unknown distance live-fire range as part of Fuji Viper 23.3 at Combined Arms Training Center Camp Fuji, Japan, August 23, 2023.

Photo Of The Day – We’re actually on a mission to find the “new” M27 Infantry Automatic Rifle (and the M38 MDR) in various places around the world. We’ll even follow it into space if it ever goes there!

Photo Of The Day – The COVID19 Coronavirus certainly changed the world. Today we’re looking at an event from the beginning of this month, held at the Móron Air Base in Spain. Above you see a U.S. Marine with the Special Purpose Marine Air-Ground Task Force-Crisis Response-Africa 20.2, as he fires at his target during a combat marksmanship range.

Marine Corps Systems Command have confirmed the signing of a five year, ‘firm-fixed price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite quantity contract’ worth $30 million. In a USMC press release Corps officials confirmed that “the additional M27 IARs will partially replace the current M4 carbine semi-automatic rifle.”

In recent months the Corps has been increasingly open about its intentions to adopt the M27 as its standard issue rifle. Back in August 2017, the USMC released a sole source notice for the acquisition of as many as 50,000 M27 Infantry Automatic Rifles. It now seems the Corps will be acquiring the new rifles in smaller numbers initially.

We previously covered the Marine Corps M27 in last weeks episode and will be really getting into the weeds here in terms of some of the issues and benefits the weapon system afforded to Infantry Marines. Topics such as the choice of magazines for the automatic rifle, why it was so accurate and reliable, even dummy-cording the Squad Day Optic (SDO) to the rifle so it doesn’t fall off while in the field. The current version of the M27 took care of some of these problems but left others intact.

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The USMC has begun fielding an unspecified number of M38 Designated Marksman Rifles. Converting existing M27 Infantry Automatic Rifle’s to the designated marksman role by adding a Leupold TS-30A2 Mark 4 MR/T 2.5-8x36mm variable power scope, replacing the standard ACOG. The Leupold has previously been used with the Mk 12 Special Purpose Rifle.

The US Army is seeking 12,600 Magpul PMag Gen M3 magazines, or equivalents, from commercial vendors, according to a recently updated listing on FedBizOpps, posted in early August. This announcement was updated soon after the news that Army TACOM had authorized the requisition of Gen M3 PMags with unit funds, by unit commanders

The US Army Tank-automotive and Armaments Command (TACOM) has just authorized the purchase of Magpul PMag Gen M3 polymer magazines through requisition by unit commanders, marking a major step in the use of PMag magazines in Army service. Although a previous clarification in 2012 authorized the magazines for use, they could not be purchased using unit (that is to say, Army) funds. The full announcement is replicated below, courtesy of Soldier Systems Daily:

The  1/6 “Hard” Über Squad that Marine Infantry Gunner (WO5) Wade put into motion some months ago has taken on Golf Six, a live fire range in Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. 1/6 is trialing several new pieces of kit, most importantly M27 IARs as a standard squad issued rifle, in addition to suppressors mounted to an entire squad’s weapons. Not discussed earlier but seen here is the addition of new ballistic helmets, squad level communications with every Infantryman, and a new plate carrier separate from currently issued ones. Alongside this Über squad were photographs of other squads that weren’t as lucky to receive all the latest in gadgets and gear.

In recent testimony to Congress, USMC leadership Lieutenant General Robert Walsh and Brigadier General Joseph Shrader officially acknowledged that the USMC’s M27 Infantry Automatic Rifle, made by Heckler & Koch, encounters durability issues when used with the US Army’s new M855A1 Enhanced Performance Round. The testimony is transcribed below:

An update from the USMC has been released today authorizing the purchase of Gen M3 PMags with unit funds for Marine Corps combat units. The update reads: