Army Awards SIG NGSW Contract

[Double Naught Spy]

And the days of the Vietnam tactics of 'gain fire superiority' via blasting magazines of ammo at suspected enemy locations disappeared from doctrine when I was a Infantry Platoon Leader carrying a M-16A1.

Well aimed and controlled fire has been doctrine for the last 45 years or more.

What is doctrine and what actually happens often are different things. When people don't have a specific enemy identified (point target), they will pour rounds into a given area (area target). It may be "controlled" and "aimed" fire, but it is often high volume without an identified specific target.

[video=youtube;lpwJGkT9vVk]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lpwJGkT9vVk[/video]

However, support-by-fire is taught as a specific tactic, dumping rounds into a given area. Again, this utilizes lots of ammo.

The initiation of the SBF on planned TRPs and target areas ensures that fire superiority is established.

As discussed earlier, there are distinct phases of rates of fire being employed by the base of fire element: the initial heavy volume (rapid rate) to gain fire superiority, the slower rate to conserve ammunition (sustained rate) while still preventing effective return fire as the assault moves forward, the increased (rapid or cyclic [if needed]) rates as the assault nears the objective, and the lift and shift to targets of opportunity.

Not Vietnam, instruction for tactics in Afghanistan, circa 2014. https://www.benning.army.mil/infantry/ma...nsley.html