Modular Weapon System on:
[Wikipedia]
[Google]
[Amazon]
A modular weapon system (MWS) is any
A modular weapon system (MWS) is any weapon
A weapon, arm, or armament is any implement or device that is used to deter, threaten, inflict physical damage, harm, or kill. Weapons are used to increase the efficacy and efficiency of activities such as hunting, crime (e.g., murder), law ...
equipment which has removable core components (or " modules") that can be reconfigured/interchanged to give the weapon different capabilities to adapt to various applications. Modularity
Modularity is the degree to which a system's components may be separated and recombined, often with the benefit of flexibility and variety in use. The concept of modularity is used primarily to reduce complexity by breaking a system into varying ...
can provide several advantages to military organizations, such as the versatility of allowing units to quickly tailor their weapons to best suit the immediate tactical needs, to quickly repair/exchange malfunctioned components, and to reduce overall logistical
Logistics is the part of supply chain management that deals with the efficient forward and reverse flow of goods, services, and related information from the point of origin to the point of consumption according to the needs of customers. Logi ...
burdens and costs. However, it also make the legal tracking and technical categorization of a weapon more complicated as it can now be easily converted into a diverse variety of different forms.*
For example, the Stoner 63
The Stoner 63 is a 5.56×45mm NATO modular weapon system. Using a variety of modular components, it can be configured as an assault rifle, carbine, top-fed light machine gun, belt-fed squad automatic weapon, or as a vehicle mounted weapon. A ...
is a 5.56×45mm NATO-caliber modular small arm
A firearm is any type of gun that uses an explosive charge and is designed to be readily carried and operated by an individual. The term is legally defined further in different countries (see legal definitions).
The first firearms originated ...
system using a variety of modular components, which can be configured as a rifle
A rifle is a long gun, long-barreled firearm designed for accurate shooting and higher stopping power, with a gun barrel, barrel that has a helical or spiralling pattern of grooves (rifling) cut into the bore wall. In keeping with their focus o ...
, a carbine
A carbine ( or ) is a long gun that has a barrel shortened from its original length. Most modern carbines are rifles that are compact versions of a longer rifle or are rifles chambered for less powerful cartridges.
The smaller size and ligh ...
, a top-fed light machine gun
A light machine gun (LMG) is a light-weight machine gun designed to be operated by a single infantryman, with or without an assistant, as an infantry support weapon. LMGs firing cartridge (firearms), cartridges of the same caliber as the othe ...
, a belt-fed
An ammunition belt is a firearm device used to package and feed cartridges, typically for rapid-firing automatic weapons such as machine guns. Belt-fed systems minimize the proportional weight of the ammunition apparatus to the entire weapon ...
squad automatic weapon
A squad automatic weapon (SAW), also known as a section automatic weapon or light support weapon (LSW), is a man-portable automatic firearm attached to infantry squads or sections as a source of rapid direct firepower. Weapons fulfilling th ...
, or a vehicle mounted weapon.
A modular firearm can also be useful for hunters, which then easily can change to a different chambering or barrel length when hunting different species.
Quick-change barrel system
Another example of a modular firearm system is the increasingly popular quick barrel change systems, which is found on some new rifles like for example theBlaser R8
The Blaser R8 is a German straight-pull rifle known for its radially locking bolt system, modularity and its barrel mounted scope mount manufactured by Blaser. The rifle also features a manual cocking system and a direct trigger. In 2015 the ...
, Roessler Titan and SIG Sauer 200 STR
The SIG Sauer 200 STR (Scandinavian target rifle), also known as the SIG Sauer 200 STR Match, is a bolt-action rifle mostly used as a Shooting sport, target/competition rifle for national competitions by Norwegian, Swedish and Danish sport shoote ...
. These systems simplify the replacement of worn barrels or caliber changes, since they often only require the use of a hex key
A hex key (also, hex wrench, Allen key and Allen wrench, Unbrako or Inbus) is a simple driver for Bolt (fastener), bolts or screws that have heads with ''internal'' hexagonal recesses (Socket wrench, sockets).
Hex keys are formed from a sin ...
, thus eliminating the need for special tools and custom fitting by a gunsmith.
See also
*Glossary of firearms terms
The following are terms related to firearms and topics.
A
B
C
...
* Action threads
In firearms, barrel threads refer to the screw threads used to attach a barrel.
Action threads, also called receiver threads, are situated at the chamber end of the barrel, and can be used for attaching the barrel to the receiver. The receiver n ...
* Press fit barrel
References
Rifles {{Guns-stub