Posted on 01/14/2010 11:27:55 PM PST by ErnstStavroBlofeld
The Iraq Army has expanded its use of a U.S.-origin assault rifle. Officials said the Iraq Army has absorbed more than 5,000 M-16 assault rifles from the United States. They said the delivery of additional rifles as well as training would be intensified by the U.S. Army in 2010.
"The M16 is now the weapon of choice for the Iraqi army," an Iraqi Army officer identified only as Capt. Anwar, said.
Over the last year, the Iraq army has been training its soldiers on the M-16A4 rifle. The seven-day training course has taken place at the Shaiba training center and included firing positions, range procedures as well as weapons assembly.
"You will need to remember your training lessons and apply your knowledge and skills on the battle field," Anwar, training officer at Shaiba as well as weapons wing commander, told cadets of an M-16 course that graduated on Dec. 24.
The course trained soldiers from the 14th Infantry Division and included a competition in assault rifle skills. All of the soldiers in the course had been using the Soviet-origin AK-47 assault rifle.
Officials said more than 50 percent of the Iraq Army would continue to use the AK-47. They said initial plans to replace the AK-47 Kalashnikov entirely with U.S.-origin light assault weapons had been shelved.
"Retain your M-16 knowledge and apply your basic rifle marksmanship with your current weapons," Anwar said.
(Excerpt) Read more at geostrategy-direct.com ...
For the level of ‘skill’ shown by the hadjis, the AK makes a lot more sense.
THen again, I’d like to see the Standard Issue rifle in 7.62 x 43 or thereabouts.
As always, YMMV
Good. We have a better chance of them jamming when they give the weapons to their “cousins” who would like to use U.S. soldiers as backstops for their lead.
Agreed. The difference in maintenance requirements is another huge factor arguing against the M-16 as the best choice.
Soon after our troops pull out and American presence declines, these M-16's will end up in the junk pile.
.
The M-16 will always be a POS to me.
You couldn’t give me one.
~~~
Same here,,,
Only a fool would take an M-16 over an AK-47,,,
Guys I know in the 10th.Mtn.Div. are still cussin’ em’...
The AK wins that contest hands down.
LOL,,,Roger Dat!,,,I guess our AGE is showin’...;0)
In any environment where you can keep it reasonably clean, M16 is superior weapon to AK-47. The only thing that the AK is better at is working when it is in dirty & filthly environment.
They'll end up on the black market.
well as the range of the .22 cal. bullet,,,
Many units have gone back to the AK-47 because it WORKS!,,,
The .223/5.45x39mm round is what they are,,,A mouse gun !,,,
They have gone to a heavier bullet to try to increase the
range and penetration,,, 62gr.?,,,Don't remember,,,
Some info :
Neither one will shoot through the bushes,,,
The AK-47 and the M-14 will...
well i guess the “weapon of choice” strongly depends on what the US is willing to hand over to them and has little to do what weapon would be the better choice for them.
There for it seems logical to me that the “weapon of choice” is an american product because it helps to keep some jobs in the american arms industry and you don´t have to hand over money to the chinese or the russians to buy them their Aks (that would be definitely the “weapon of their choice” because they are allready familiar and trained with it if they really would have a “choice”.
greetings
There’s no such thing as a brush buster. Every bullet can deflect in brush.
Only hits count. That leaves out the AK-47. It was designed for the individual soldier to lay down massive amounts of fire during an assault.
I would not trust my life to any AR rifle unless it is converted to a piston design like my trustworthy Springfield Armory M1A.
The .223 is a good cartridge to use if you have to haul around a lot of ammo, but its still a very small bullet, normally in the 52-75gr. weight. The .308 uses bullets from 147 to 180gr. or heavier in bolt actions, three times the bullet weight.
> The M-16 will always be a POS to me.
> You couldn’t give me one.
Amen to that. I had to take that POS that was issued to me apart and clear a bent round while in a fire fight on the Mekong River in 1970. When it wasn’t jamming, that idiotic flash supressor with the 3 prong fork design was collecting weeds, vines, leaves and all sorts of other crap when we were on patrol.
O...K...!
Agreed, but that's also just about every battlefield in history.
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