RIFLE PLATOON FIREPOWER EXPERIMENT

Abstract

An experiment was conducted under simulated combat conditions to determine the best distribution of weapons currently available to the rifle platoon. Three rifle squad organizations were used with different weapon mixes of the M14 rifle, M14 modified rifle, M60 machinegun, and M79 grenade launcher. Rifles and machine-guns were first fired at different times, one run at a time, and results in terms of volume, accuracy and distrubution of fire were recorded for each. After that, both weapons were fired at the same time in several control runs. This was to account for possible interactions that split runs might not show. The M79 grenade launcher was evaluated primarily by measuring the points of bursts from targets, rather than the effects of rounds on targets. These exercises led to specific recommendations regarding the composition and organization of rifle and mechanized rifle squads and platoons. (Author)

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Mar 01, 1962
Accession Number
AD0815051

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Accuracy
  • Ammunition
  • Armored Personnel Carriers
  • Automatic Weapons
  • Classification
  • Employment
  • Grenade Launchers
  • Grenades
  • Guns
  • Hit Probabilities
  • Launchers
  • Machine Guns
  • Miss Distance
  • Rifles
  • Small Arms
  • Statistical Analysis
  • Weapons

Readers

  • Marksmanship and Weaponry.
  • Systems Analysis and Design