Machine Gun Employment Flashcards
What is Trajectory
arching flight path of the round from the muzzle of the weapon to the target
What is Ordinate
Elevation of the flight path of the round above the line of sight
What is Maximum ordinate
- Max elevation of that round above the line of sight along its flight path
- distance reached at 2/3 distance to target
What is Cone of Fire
- Pattern of each round fired from a machine gun travels a different path.
- M240B the cone of fire is always 2 mils wide
What is Beaten Zone
- defined as the elliptical pattern formed by the impact of the rounds
- because the cone of fire is always 2 mils wide, the beaten zone as well is two mils wide out to the maximum effective range of the gun
What is Uniform Terrain
- short ranges the beaten zone will be longer because of the initial trajectory and narrow because of the relatively short distance the bullet travels before it strikes the ground
- As range increases, the beaten zone decreases in length because the bullets will be falling at a steeper angle and increases in width as the rotation of the bullet further affects dispersion
What is Rising Terrain
-Effect of abruptly stopping the rounds and creates a small beaten zone which nearly duplicates the pattern of the cone of fire on steeply rising terrain
What is Falling Terrain
beaten zone becomes longer and depending on the range, either long and narrow or long and wide
Classifications of Machinegun Fires in relation to the ground
- Dead space
- Danger space
- Plunging fire
- Grazing fire
Classifications of Machinegun Fires in relation to the target
- Flanking fire
- Frontal fire
- Oblique fire
- Enfilade fire
Classifications of Machinegun Fires in relation to the Gun
- Fixed
- Traversing
- Searching
- Traversing and Searching
- Swinging Traverse
- Free Gun
What is Dead Space
- Occurs when target drops below the line of aim or line of sight
- Streams, Ravine, Draw
What is Danger Space
When firing over terrain, any space up to 1.8 m above the deck (the height of an average man) is considered danger space; that is, within the effects of the rounds
What is Plunging Fire
- Danger space is confine to beaten zone
- Fire from high to low and low to high ground and when using long range fires
What is Grazing Fire
- Center of cone of fire does not rise more than 1m off deck
- Most eff. type of fire we can employ
What is flanking fire
Fire to flank of target, oriented 90 degree away from the firing unit
What is frontal fire
Fire front of target, when target is oriented on firing unit
What is Oblique fire
Fire to oblique of target, oriented between 0-90 degree to firing unit
What is Enfilade fire
Long axis of the beaten zone coincides with or nearly coincides with the long axis of the target
What is Fixed
Fire delivered on a point target. Little or no manipulation of the gun is required to obtain and maintain effect on target
What is Traversing
- fire delivered against a wide target requiring changes in direction
- beaten zones of each successive burst should be adjacent to each other if not overlapping
What is Searching
Fire delivered against a target in depth requiring changes in elevation
What is Traversing and searching
fire delivered against an oblique target requiring changes in both elevation and direction
What is Swinging Traverse
Fire delivered against targets which require major changes in direction with little or no change in elevation
What is Free gun
Fire delivered against moving targets that require major changes in both direction and elevation
8 Principles of Machine Gun Employment (PICMDEEP)
- Pairs
- Interlocking Fires
- Coordination of Fires
- Mutual Support
- Defilade
- Enfilade
- Economy
- Protection
What is Pair
- Employ machine guns in together at all times
- Should not separate by intervening terrain
- 35m separation between 2 weapons
- Give us “TALKING GUNS”
What is Coordination of Fires
- Dictates use of appropriate weapons to fire on appropriate targets
- Maximum eff. of all weapons systems employed, conserve ammunition, and ensure all machine gun fires are delivered at the appropriate time and place
What is Mutual Support
Weapons systems need to be able to support each other
What is Defilade
fire the gun behind the mask of terrain outside the effects and observation of the enemy
What is Enfilade
Long axis of the beaten zone coincides with the long axis of the target
What is Economy
make sure the weapon system is appropriate to the threat and to ensure weapon system and crew survivability
What is Protection
- Obvious consideration need to be taken in the construction of machine gun positions in order to ensure maximum survivability of crew
- Cover and concealment are critical
3 classifications of fighting positions
- Primary
- Alternate
- Supplemental
What is a Primary Pos
position from which the gun will fire it’s primary sector of fire
What is a Alternate Pos
secondary position from which the gun will fire it’s primary sector of fire
What is a Supplemental Pos
Another separate prepared position from which the gun fires a secondary or alternate sector of fire
3 support relationships with command and control for MG section
- General support
- Direct support
- Attachment
What is General Support
- Use of fires - Co CMDR
- Tactical control - WPNS PLT CMDR
- Admin/Log control - WNPNS PLT CMDR
What is Direct Support
- Use of fires - Supported unit leader
- Tactical control - MG section/squad leader
- Admin/Log control - WPNS PLT CMDR
What is Attachment
- Use of fires - Supported unit leader
- Tactical control - supported unit leader
- Admin and logistical control - supported unit leader
Classification of offensive fire
- Close supporting fire
- Long range fires
- Flank Protection fires
- Fires in support of consolidation
Close supporting fire
Fires delivered against enemy objectives directly opposing the advance of the attacking rifle units
Long range fires
Fires that are delivered against targets to the rear of enemy forward position that may directly influence the main effort attack on the primary objective
Flank protection fires
When the advance or location of a unit exposes their flank, the machine guns may be tasked with protecting it
Fires in support of consolidation
- Machine guns are used to protect the unit’s consolidation and reorganization
- Employment of the guns on the objective should be planned and rapidly executed
Displacement
After the seizure of an enemy position or when the machine guns can no longer provide fire support from their positions, you must move them to a new location
What is acronym for “MORT”
- Method
- Objective
- Route
- Time
What is Method
- By echelon, we essentially mean “leap frogging” those elements to the new position
- By Unit: In an instance where security en-route to the objective is not as much of a factor, the machine gun element may be ordered to displace directly to the parent units position in order to provide the immediate additional firepower of the machine guns in support of consolidation
What is Objective
The unit will be forced or directed to move to one of two types of locations
What is Route
consideration for the unit leader when planning the displacement of the machine gun element
What is Time
Careful consideration must be given to when that unit will displace
Defensive considerations of MG
PDF and FPL
Primary focus is covering likely avenue of approach
FPL
mission dictates that the weapon is primarily in a position to employ grazing fires across a units’ frontage as a last effort to defend the lines
ADDRAC for MG
- Alert
- Direction
- Description
- Range
- Asssignment
- Control
