It seems that each infantry man in the British Army is armed
with a SIG Saur P228 pistol as a back-up weapon. Should SAF
consider similar move?
By the way, how does a standard SAF infantry section's firepower
compare with the British Army infantry section?
The British Army section now consists of eight soldiers made up of a Corporal as section commander,
a Lance-Corporal as his second-in-command ("2IC") and
six privates. Three sections
together form a platoon. In conventional
warfare, the section is split into two four-man fireteams ("Charlie" and
"Delta"), commanded by the corporal and lance-corporal
respectively.
The "Rifle Section" of the Second World War was formed of 10
men; a Corporal as the section leader with six privates with Lee
Enfield rifles forming a rifle group, and a light machine gun group
of a Lance-corporal, a gunner with the Bren gun and a "loader"
carrying a spare barrel and extra ammunition.
Prior to the introduction of 5.56 mm calibre squad
automatic weapons (SAWs) in the late 1980s, the
typical section was armed with and organized around the 7.62 mm L7 GPMG (general
purpose machine gun). The section was typically
divided into 3 "groups": a scout group, a rifle group and a gun
group. The scout group comprised two men with rifles and/or submachine guns, who usually
moved with the section commander (the corporal) close behind. In
effect, the section commander was the third man in the scout group.
The rifle group comprised 3-4 riflemen, and perhaps a grenade
launcher (such as the M79 or M203). The last group was the
gun group. This was commanded by the section 2ic (the lance
corporal), and the gunner was usually the second most senior
private; the most senior private would lead the rifle group.
All section tactics were basically designed to bring the gun to
bear on the enemy and support the gun. The gun would be deployed on
the highest ground, with the best field of fire. The rest of the
section carried ammunition for the gun. It was claimed that, in
sections organised in this way, the gun provided 80 per cent of the
section's firepower.
This organization was abandoned in favour of fireteams when 5.56
mm assault
rifles and SAWs were introduced in the late
1980s. These were the L85
IW and the longer-barrelled L86 LSW ("Light support
weapon"). The firepower of the team has now been extended by the
L110A1 LMG. The LSW is now seen
as a more accurate version of the IW and the LMG is the belt fed
weapon for laying down suppressing fire. Each fire team has two IW,
one with an underslung grenade launcher, one LSW and one LMG.
An infantry section now consists of:
Fireteam Charlie: Corporal, armed with a L85A2 5.56mm rifle.
riflemen, armed with a L85A2 5.56mm rifle with 40mm underslung
grenade launcher. rifleman, armed with a L108A1 5.56mm light
machine gun. rifleman, armed with a L7A2 7.62mm general purpose
machine gun.
Fireteam Delta: Lance Corporal, armed with a L85A2 5.56mm rifle.
riflemen, armed with a L85A2 5.56mm rifle with 40mm underslung
grenade launcher and benelli M4. rifleman, armed with a L108A1
5.56mm light machine gun. rifleman, armed with a L86A2 5.56mm light
support weapon.
NOTE. All troops in an infantry section are armed with a P228
pistol and 1 infantry section to a mastiff or warrior
