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soldier keeping watch in Iraq with a SAW mounted to the top of his Humvee .]] soldier aids a U.S. Marine in clearing an RPK , a squad automatic weapon variant of the AK-47 .]] A squad automatic weapon ('''SAW''', also known as '''section automatic weapon''') is a Light or General-purpose Machine Gun , usually equipped with a Bipod and firing a rifle-caliber bullet. A SAW is used to provide Suppressive Fire for an infantry Squad or Section . The basic use of this weapon is to force enemy troops to take cover and reduce the effectiveness of their return fire while friendly troops attack. This increases the likelihood of a successful attack against an enemy position. A SAW must be light enough for an individual soldier to carry and fire from the shoulder. A SAW can also be used to defend against a massed assault. However, it is not as effective in this role as a medium or heavy machine gun, as a SAW is not generally mounted on a tripod, and therefore cannot be set up to cover preset arcs of fire. Many SAWs (such as the or FN Minimi . One of the first weapons designed for this role was the M1918 Browning Automatic Rifle , which, though having a limited ammo capacity (20 rounds per magazine), was still higher than the typical infantry rifle, and it gave the infantry a base of fire weapon that was more suited to maneuver warfare than the bulkier machine guns of the period, such as the M1919 Browning Machine Gun . DOCTRINE Assault Rifle s often provide a Full Automatic setting, but troops too often become excited in combat and waste large amounts of ammunition. Therefore, in many modern armies, Military Doctrine requires the ordinary soldier to avoid using his weapon's fully automatic mode unless defending against a mass assault or an ambush. This doctrine greatly reduces logistics loads, including combat pack weights, aerial resupply, and fuel requirements. It reduces training requirements and expense. It also extends patrol time for a typical soldier. The problem is that this doctrine provides no fire support during an assault. The SAW was invented so that a machine gun could be carried on assaults. It is a specialist weapon to avoid unnecessary use of ammunition, and reduce both the training and combat pack loads of a squad. When applied to civil or irregular Militia , this doctrine makes private purchase of ammunition affordable, and allows militia to train and operate with standard military doctrines using nonmilitary repeating rifles. In war time, such lightly equipped civil militia can be easily upgraded by distributing relatively few SAWs, one per squad, and training. Further benefits:
SEE ALSO
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