DESIGN
In the late 1970’s Fabrique Nationale started
to develop a new machinegun around their
new 5.56mm SS109 round. The SS109 was originally
to enhance the effectiveness of the Vietnam
era M16, which resulted in the M16A2. At
that time there were no machineguns in 5.56mm
NATO. There were some ineffective Light Support
Weapons, assault rifles modified to give
support fire, and there were the heavy 7.62mm
machineguns. The US wanted a support weapon,
which could be used in the same role as the
BAR, used in the second world war. The new
weapon should replace the unsatisfying support
versions of the M14 and M16. Because FN started
to develop the Minimi while they were working
on the SS109, they had an advantage over
other manufacturers, who didn’t had the same
amount of time available for development.
FN called the weapon Minimi, which stand
for ‘mini-mitrailleuse’ or ‘mini-machinegun’,
because the weapon is quite small compared
to other machineguns at that time. The US
immediately adopted the Minimi as the M249
when it was available in 1982. The first
variant developed was the Minimi Para, designed
for the paratroopers. The newest variant
is the Minimi SPW, designed for the special
forces. |
| The Special Purpose Weapon is the newest
member of the Minimi family. It’s a further
downsized Minimi Para. It is developed for
the US special forces, who needed an even
smaller machinegun than the M249 SAW. The
US Navy SEAL’s use a variant which is lighter
than the SPW and has the same fixed stock
as the M249 SAW. The SEAL variant is called
Mk.46 Mod 0. To save weight, the Mk.46 cannot
be fed by M16 magazines, just like the SPW. |
| The Minimi Para was developed for airborne
forces. It has a retractable stock and a
shorter barrel. It doesn’t weigh a lot less
as one would expect. It is only a bit less
cumbersome. Although it has a shorter barrel,
it is almost just as effective as the standard
M249. The Para can be converted to the standard
Minimi in less than 30 seconds. |
| The most common and oldest of the Minimi
family. It has a lightweight polymer stock
and a thick hand guard, which allows the
gunner to hold his weapon even if it has
fired a lot of rounds. |
PERFORMANCE
The Minimi is a belt-fed machinegun, but
it can also use M16 style magazines, even
C-Mags! When using magazines the rate of
fire is 1000 rpm, instead of 750 rpm. It
can be fired from the shoulder, when lying,
or from the hip, when standing. It is just
as accurate as machineguns in a heavier calibre.
The 5.56mm round is less lethal but it’s
low power, and thus low recoil, makes the
weapon controllable. Normal machineguns are
best used firing bursts of 3 or 4 rounds.
The Minimi can fire bursts of 6 rounds with
more accuracy because of the low recoil.
The effective range for a single target is
800m and for an area target 1000m, for the
Para and SPW it is 600m and 800m respectively.
One of the drawbacks is that the Minimi is
unreliable in dessert conditions. That is
why the Israelis developed a similar machinegun
that is just as capable as the Minimi. It
is called Negev (a dessert in Israel, ironical
isn’t it?). The Negev can also fire semi-automatic
and it is easier to mount attachments. The
Minimi and Minimi Para can be mounted on
vehicles or on tripods, although a 7.62mm
machinegun would be better suited for such
mounts.
USE
- The best know user is the United States
army. It was adopted by the US as the M249
SAW (Squad Automatic Weapon). Nowadays the
name ‘M249’ is known better than ‘Minimi’.
The M249 replaces the M16A1 light machine
guns and the M60’s and M240’s in machinegun
teams.
- The French use both Minimi and Minimi Para,
it replaces the AAT-F1.
- The army of the Netherlands is the only
army which uses solely the Para version.
It replaces the MAG, even those on mounted
on jeeps.
- The British paratroopers are
using the
Minimi Para alongside the L86.
- Italy
- Israel used the Minimi, but
has it’s own
better machine gun: the Negev.
It is still
use by commandos, whose actions
have to be
denied in case of failure. A
Negev would
show that Israel is involved.
A Minimi is
untraceable, because there are
so many users.
- Greece
- Philippines
- These are the best known users, but there
are many more.
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