Specifications - M249 light machine gun
Summary
The M249 light machine gun (LMG), also known as the M249 Squad Automatic Weapon (SAW), which continues to be the manufacturer's designation, and formally written as Light Machine Gun, 5.56 mm, M249, is the American adaptation of the Belgian FN Minimi, a light machine gun manufactured by the Belgian company FN Herstal (FN).
The M249 is manufactured in the United States by the subsidiary FN Manufacturing LLC, a company in Columbia, South Carolina, and is widely used in the U.S. Armed Forces. The weapon was introduced in 1984 after being judged most effective (compared to a number of candidate weapons) to address the lack of automatic firepower in small units. The M249 provides infantry squads with a high rate of machine gun fire, combined with the accuracy and portability of a rifle.
Personal Arms
| Weapon System | Light Machinegun | |
| Caliber | 5.56×45mm NATO | |
| Rate of fire | 700–850 rounds/min | |
| Effective firing range | 700 m (2,300 ft) | |
| Feed system | M27 linked disintegrating belt, STANAG magazine |