US Army wants more M240L machine guns

While the Next Generation Squad Weapons program marches on towards adoption and fielding, the M240L machine gun continues to Soldier on in the here and now. To that end, the US ARMY has just awarded another contract to FN AMERICA, worth $4.9M, to supply additional M240L medium machine guns. The M240L was originally adopted by the U.S. ARMY in 2010, after a joint development effort with FN to create a lighter, yet durable, medium machine gun.

The M240L set the standard for lightweight 7.62x51mm NATO medium machine guns with an overall weight reduction of five pounds from its predecessor, the FN M240B, without any impact on performance or longevity. The 18 percent weight reduction was achieved by incorporating titanium into the design, including the receiver, and introducing new manufacturing methods to adjust for the material properties.

The M240 general purpose machine gun (7.62x51mm NATO), derived from the FN MAG 58 used by many NATO and other non-Soviet forces since the 1960s. The M240 was first adopted by the U.S. military in the late 1970s and has been in continual service since being introduced. FN has created multiple variants of the M240, including the M240 coaxial, the M240B, M240L, M240D and M240H models.

For more information about FN’s military product line, visit www.FNAmerica.com.