Weapons That Changed the World

Today’s infantry units face a different and dynamic enemy. At a moment’s notice they can confronted by a highly mobile insurgent force using asymmetrical, ambush tactics. They need a weapon that provides the heavy volume of fire of a machine gun with the accuracy and portability of a rifle. The M249 SAW or “Squad Automatic Weapon” is the heavy hitter in U.S. infantry teams. Host Wil Willis tracks this ferocious class of firearms from its origin as a bulky, defensive weapon like the Maxim Gun at the turn of the twentieth century to its transformation through both World Wars into aggressive, lightweight, killing machines. The Danish Madsen was the first light machine to give the infantryman true mobile firepower. It was first in service in 1902, weighed only 20 pounds and could fire 450 rounds per minute. The French Chauchat (1915) was a cheap and simple solution to mobile firepower, but as Wil Willis discovers it is inaccurate and jams frequently. The American Browning Automatic Rifle replaced the Chauchat. Wil puts both head to head in an explosive test. By World War Two, most nations had their own light machine gun. Wil fires three of the most famous, the German MG42, the British Lewis and the Czech/British Bren gun. Today, the HK21E and the M27 are both weapons looking to take the SAW’s place. Wil Willis tests them both. Follow the explosive history of this revolutionary weapon system that launched mobile warfare by blending massive firepower with the accuracy and portability of a rifle.