Quote:
Originally Posted by Penguin
The Spiegel article says:
The "das" from the last sentence refers to the previous sentence, so it doesn't look like the journalist invented something but refers to the Bundeswehr investigation. Talking about several hundred shots, also leads to the assumption that we are talking about at least 300 shots (mehrere is at least 3). This would add up to at least 10 magazines, which is also the ammo capacity an infantry soldier would normally carry.
I would love it when journalists at least provide a link or a scan of the original sources, today's Focus article from also lacks this...  |
Yopur Spiegel quotes only mentions "several hundreds shots", at ranges of 300 meters, reducing the precision by one third (btw, one third of what? one third of a 100% hit score? One third of the ordinary hit probability when a firefight starts?)
Now note that this bases on the reports coming up early April. Indeed it was 1st April when the first reports came in, saying what you said: 300 m, longer firing sequences, rducing hit probability by one third.
Now note two things. First, new, additional coverage has been reported, today and yesterday for the most, saiyng that the problems are even worse. Now by reference to the BW internal paper the tlak is of 200 m, and the possibility that the wepaon completely breaks down.
Second, I took info from a board where BW veterans posted, or a soldiers blog it was and they commented on it. There it was posted that it is known by experience that ater having fired 3 magazines, the bullets spray by 1.2 meters at 200 meters. 3 magazines is 90 shots.
It is also reported today that the Materialprüfungsstelle of the BW has started additonal exmainations on a wider scale than the 89 rifles they have examined so far - and of which ALL suffer from the described symptoms.
The Spiegel quote of yours is not clear on whether the BW mentioned "several hundred shots" (by one rifle), or the journalist just had read something in that paper and wrapped it up in a wording by himself that maybe is a bit farther away from the truth. We all know how easily media and journalists do that all the time.
Haplo asked for exact naumbers: rounds fired, time, ranges, spreading patterns - that si what it would be about. An spread to any side of 1,2 meters at 200 sounds like much to me, so I ask about people knowing such data for other assault rifles.
When the Americans got into the operation at Mogadishu to capture Aidid'S cabinet, they were confronted with a battle that they did not expect and that lasted for over 24 hours, with quite some very intense close range urban fighting. Around 1000 Militias got killed and several thoiusand wounded, I think, and 18 Americans. I strongly doubt that their rifles were on the brink of unusability after having emptied just three cartridges, because many of their soldiers saw much more intense firing action. Maybe it was not as close and dramatic like painted in Ridley Scott'S movie (which necessarily condenses time and personal fates to pout it all into a movie), but still... If their rifles woulds have degraded so fast, then i think they would have had much higher losses, and soldiers that became prisoners of the militias.