The Procurement Office of the Bundeswehr recently ordered the manufacture and delivery of ammunition for the Maschinengewehr 6 (MG6). These so-called “500 belts with cartridges” in caliber 7.62 mm x 51 contain – in addition to the cartridges with soft core bullets – the corresponding belt links, associated ammunition boxes and packing materials.
The underlying contract is a multi-partner framework agreement with a term of ten years in order to ensure the best possible long-term supply of ammunition and thus operational capability. The contract was previously approved by the Budget Committee of the German Bundestag. https://militaeraktuell.at/nur-noch-ein-monat-bis-zur-airpower-2024/ These cartridge belts have already been in use in the MG6 since 2020 and have proven their worth in the troops. The ammunition can be used for so-called soft targets, i.e. non-armored targets such as cars, trucks, drones or transport aircraft, and is also used by the Bundeswehr primarily for training purposes. In the Bundeswehr, the MG6 has so far been used exclusively by special forces and belongs to the medium machine gun class. The weapon is an air-cooled rotary barrel machine gun with a barrel bundle of six barrels and an electric drive – the advantage is that the barrels do not overheat due to the rotation, despite a firepower of up to 3,000 rounds per minute.
The MG6 is used to engage fast-moving targets at a range of up to 1,200 meters. In addition to helicopters (LUH SOF) and land vehicles (AGF Serval), the MG6 can also be used on the combat swimmers’ inflatable boats (RHIB boats) or stationary on a swivel leg.
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