On the combat medic and other people thing, blue force gear and Vickers make a medics sling with dual tri glides to snug your carbine to your body while doing stuff that requires both hands. For most mos' this is actually sufficient to make a carbine good enough for most.

Especially if you went down to a 10.5-12.5 inch barrel.

I can definitely agree with this.

In my own experience I have had to go all the way down to a g26 so I can pocket carry while I work because even a compact handgun can get annoying and limit range of motion etc.

To say nothing of the bruising scraping etc if you're doing something very physical.

renatohm said:

People have been suggesting just this - more HE, less KE - for some time now.

Yes.  Gatnerd and others were much faster than I to see the potential of the "more HE, less KE" concept.

It was only after the lengthy discussion with schnuersi that it dawned on me that the infantry squad does not necessarily have to be a rifle squad.

After all, there was a time when the infantryman's standard individual weapon was not even a firearm.

Hmm.  That picture makes me wonder -- if this were 500 BC, would schnuersi be arguing that infantry soldiers should not carry a sword as a secondary weapon?

(Just kidding.)

Gustav plus at least 1 40mm grenade launcher per fire team. Say, 1 Gustav, 1 40 grenadier, 2 ammo bearers/riflemen for 1st team. 1 MG, 1 40, 2 ammo bearers for 2nd team. Squad leader has rifle, SDM with SDMR, a comms specialist and then drone operator for command element. M4A1s for everyone but Gustav, MG, and SDM, they'll carry pistols for backup.

renatohm said:

...having PDW + HE lobbers + MG would probably be more effective than the current setup, and would only need 2 calibers in guns that are actually good on their jobs. To add some spice to this thread - what HE lobbers? Mainly RPG with the odd NLAW here and there, plus ATGM for certain scenarios?

IMO, it would depend upon how flexible military leadership would be, as well as the tactical situation. 

There are any number of theoretical options which might be possible for equipping a PDW/HE squad.

If the primary threat is light infantry, the squad could be entirely two-man CG teams w/airburst ammo:

YouTube

Carl Gustaf 84mm Airburst grenades

Shooting Carl Gustaf 84mm recoilless rifle. 6 H.E. (high explosive) grenades from 6 canons against trench system

For defensive operations against mechanized forces in urban terrain, every squad member could be an anti-armor weapons platform:

With a compact, lightweight PDW as the standard individual weapon, squad members would be better able to carry more than one AT4, NLAW, or perhaps even Javelin:

Switchblade is another possible option:

YouTube

Switchblade: A look at the drone the US is sending to Ukraine

Drones have been a vital part of Ukrainian efforts to fight off the Russian invasion. Now the Americans have promised to send the highly-sophisticated Switch...

Farmplinker said:

Gustav plus at least 1 40mm grenade launcher per fire team.

Why?  Seems somewhat redundant.  Also, 84mm HE > 40mm HE.

I think that the amount of HE in a fire team would really depend upon the amount of body armor of the opponent.  If a fire team carrying mainly M4's goes up against an opponent with enough body armor to reduce the M4's effectiveness, having a greater number of HE rounds would prove useful.  Although it is possible to use an M4 and 5.56x45 in "target saturation" mode, the ammo won't hold out for very long.

Rather than Gustav, maybe I should have put heavy, or Gustav/Javelin/Stinger. As for the Gustav and 40mm combo, Gus for armored targets, 40 for un/lightly armored. Shoot the Gustav at the bunker, use the 40 for the guys in the treeline. Just my $.02.

stancrist said:

Hmm. That picture makes me wonder -- if this were 500 BC, would schnuersi be arguing that infantry soldiers should not carry a sword as a secondary weapon?

No I would not...
but I would argue about the optimum size of the sword and length of the spear/pike. And the ratio of line breakers to pikemen.
:)

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