machine Gun Cadre

4th Battalion The Mercian Regiment. Soldiers from the Reserve battalion of the Regiment training to become members of the Machine Gun Platoon based at Burton-Upon-Trent, Staffordshire. The L7A2 General Purpose Machine Gun (GPMG) is a x 51mm belt-fed general purpose machine gun which can be used as a light weapon and in a sustained fire (SF) role. In the SF role, mounted on a tripod and fitted with the C2 optical sight, it is fired by a two-man team who are grouped in a specialist Machine Gun Platoon to provide battalion-level fire support. In SF mode, the GPMG, with a two-man crew, lays down 750 rounds-per-minute at ranges up to 1800 metres.