[EchoSixMike]

Going to something in 7.62x51 would add that caliber to the rifle squad, something the supply type people in the USMC have always been loathe to do. The M249 currently has a bit of a bad rep in the USMC due to a variety of issues, the main ones IMO being: a.) it's old and worn out thus often unreliable and b.) it's heavy, bulky and slows the movement of the automatic rifleman and thus the fire team.

The USMC is eagerly looking forward to the titanium M240 for the company weapons platoon, which are typically attched to the line platoons. Since the parts are already insystem, I doubt the Mk 48 would be considered there.

I personally am a big fan of the M249 and would liked to have seen the USMC simply improve the existing M249 with something like the Mk46 or the Para-SAW thus decreasing the weight while maintaining the ability to have real suppressive fire.

Several of the Marines in my sniper platoon took it upon themselves through personal connections to have their M249's essentially rebuilt by our armorers prior to OIF 2. During the rains and mud of the fall/winter of 04, those SAW's did God's work along MSR Tampa and elsewhere when Fallujah went down. A key issue is that they were dilligently maintained, which is something that seems to be decreasing in frequency, given our society's love for hardware solutions for software issues. S/F(that would be Semper Fidelis)....Ken M