Israel Weapon Industries IWI NEGEV NG7 LMG/LMG SF Belt-Fed 7.62mm NATO “Light Machine Gun”: Lightweight and Highly-Mobile Select-Fire 7.62x51mm Medium Machine Gun/General Purpose Machine Gun (MMG/GPMG) for Military Infantry Special Operations Forces (SOF) Missions in Urban Warfare Environments (Video!)

By David Crane
defrev (at) gmail (dot) com

March 11, 2012

Israel Weapon Industries (IWI) has just introduced the IWI NEGEV NG7 “Light Machine Gun (LMG)”, which is a lightweight and highly-mobile select-fire belt-fed 7.62mm NATO (7.62x51mm NATO) Medium Machine Gun/General Purpose Machine Gun (MMG/GPMG) designed specifically for military infantry Special Operations Forces (SOF) missions in urban warfare environments. In urban combat, an infantry machine gunner may need to switch over to semi-auto fire for precision shooting and to avoid unnecessary collateral damage in CQB/CQC (Close Quarters Battle/Close Quarters Combat) scenarios. This is the NEGEV NG7 lightweight advanced machine gun’s raison d’etre, and is currently the only select-fire (full-auto/semi-auto) 7.62mm MMG/GPMG of which DefenseReview (DR) is aware.

Assuming the IWI NEGEV NG7 lightweight 7.62mm MMG/GPMG works as advertised, it will be a welcome infantry warfare tool for the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and complement to the IWI NEGEV and NEGEV SF 5.56x45mm NATO (5.56mm NATO) select-fire LMG/SAW (Squad Automatic Weapon) models, especially if/when they end up having to fend off the enemy Arab and Iranian/Persian/Aryan hords in a World War III (WWIII)/Armageddon-style war. In fact, the Negev NG7 appears to be a beefed-up/enlarged Negev 5.56, essentially.

It would be interesting to see if FNH USA (FN Herstal USA) and U.S. Ordnance can develop select-fire versions of the Mk48 MOD 1 and M60E4/Mk43 MOD 1 7.62mm MMGs/GPMGs, respectively, in order to match the NG7 LMG’s combat versatility. If FNH can successfully develop a select-fire MK48, they can obviously do the same with the Mk46 MOD 1 5.56mm LMG/SAW.

While Defense Review is examining hypotheticals, we might as well also ponder the capability and possibility of Singapore Technologies Kinetics (ST Kinetics) (formerly CIS) successfully developing a 7.62mm MMG version of the drum mag-fed (drum magazine-fed)/box mag-fed Ultimax 100 Light Machine Gun (LMG).

The IWI NEGEV NG7 looks pretty good in the pics and embedded video below, but DR will have to T&E it on the firing range to figure out how well it stacks up versus the M60E4/Mk43 Mod 1 and FN MK48 Mod 1.

The NG7 advantages (from the IWI NEGEV NG7 Data Sheet):

• The NEGEV NG7 includes:
– a semi-automatic mode that enables accurate and fast controlled fire for close quarter battle
– an automatic mode that allows maximum firepower for infantry combat
• There are 4 safety mechanisms that minimize the chances of uncontrolled fire
• The NEGEV NG7 can be fired from a varity of mounts, special helicopter airborne mount,
vehicle or sea crafts mounts
• The NEGEV NG7 has a gas regulator for additional power in adverse conditions
• The NEGEV NG7 is fed from an assault drum or belt chain
• Tritium night sights are installed enabling firing in dim light conditions
• The NEGEV NG7 bipod is extremely robust and durable
• The NEGEV NG7 is equipped with picattiny rails for optical
devices and other accesories
• The NEGEV NG7 can be quickly dismantled
on the field for maintenance

IWI NEGEV NG7 Weapon Specs (from Data Sheet):

Models: NEGEV NG7 LMG, NEGEV NG7 LMG SF
Caliber: 7.62x51mm
Operation: Open bolt, gas impact on piston head, rotating Bolt
Firing Modes: Safe, Semi-auto, Auto
Feeding System: Box, Assault Drum Belt Feed
Assault Drum Capacity: 100, 125 rds.
Barrel Rifling: 1:12” twist, 4 grooves
Weight (Kg): Weapon only 7.6, 7.5
Overall (OA) Length (mm)l: 1000, 912
Length with Stock folded (mm): 820, 730
Barrel Length (mm): 508, 420
Firing characteristics: Muzzle velocity (approx.) (m/sec) 860, 810
Cyclic Rate of Fire (ROF) (approx.) (rds/min): 850 – 1050 (gas reg. position 1), 950 – 1150 (gas reg. position 2)
Sight: Rear iron sight Aperture, with elevation drum for 300-1000 m (at 100-m intervals), Back up rear sight Post, built in picatinny rail
Front Iron Sight: Post type (Adj. for windage & elevation)
Sight Line Radius: 440 mm

General Features:

Bipod: Telescopic bipod (optional)
Buttstock: Telescopic, foldable (optional)
Assault Grip: Optional – detachable assault grip Detachable assault grip

IWI NEGEV NG7 Lightweight 7.62mm NATO Machine Gun Data Sheet

Company Contact Info:

Israel Weapon Industries Ltd. (IWI)
P.O Box 63 Ramat
Hashron 47100 Israel
Phone: +972-3-7606000
Fax: +972-3-7606001
Email: info@iwi.net
Website: http://www.israel-weapon.com

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