M249 SAW

Also known as M249 Squad Automatic Weapon, M249 light machine gun, Light Machine Gun, 5.56 mm, M249, 5.56 mm Light Machine Gun M249

5.56 mm light machine gun

Key facts

Type: Light machine gun , Squad automatic weapon
Place of origin: Belgium / United States
In service: 1984–present
Used by: See Users
Wars: United States invasion of Panama Gulf War Somali Civil War Bosnian War Kosovo War War in Afghanistan (2001–2021) Iraq War Syrian Civil War Russo-Ukrainian War (2014–present) Yemeni Civil War (2014–present) Saudi-led intervention in Yemen Haitian gang war
Manufacturer: FN America
Unit cost: US$4,087
Produced: Late 1970s–present
Variants: See Variants
Mass: 7.5 kg (17 lb) empty 10 kg (22 lb) with 200-round soft pouch
Length: 40.75 in (1,035 mm)
Barrel length

~31 min read

Article

The M249 SAW, formally as the Light Machine Gun, 5.56 mm, M249 Squad Automatic Weapon, is the United States Armed Forces adaptation of the Belgian FN Minimi, a light machine gun designed and manufactured by FN Herstal.

The M249 SAW is manufactured in the United States by the subsidiary FN Manufacturing, LLC (FN America), a company in Columbia, South Carolina. It was adopted in 1982 by the U.S. Armed Forces to address the lack of sustained automatic fire capability at the squad level and has been widely used since. The M249 SAW combines the rate of fire of a machine gun with the accuracy and portability of an assault rifle.