Jinpyo Kim: "Evaluation of Developing a Light Machine Gun Based on the U.S. M16 from 60 Years Ago"

Kim Jin-pyo, Chairman of the Real Estate Special Committee of the Democratic Party of Korea, is announcing additional supply measures to stabilize the housing market at the National Assembly Communication Center on the 10th. Photo by Yoon Dong-joo doso7@

[Asia Economy Reporter Jeon Jinyoung] Kim Jinpyo, a member of the National Assembly Defense Committee from the Democratic Party of Korea, stated on the 6th that the domestic development standards for light machine guns are based on the criteria from the 1960s when the United States developed the M16 rifle, and emphasized the need to establish a Korean-style ROC (Required Operational Capability).

At the National Assembly Defense Committee’s audit of the Joint Chiefs of Staff on the same day, Representative Kim pointed out, “The Light Machine Gun-II project, which is underway to replace the K-3 machine gun currently used by our military, initially had an ROC set by the Joint Chiefs of Staff requiring that bullets penetrate a 3.43mm mild steel plate at an effective range of 800m to pass. However, despite the test firing results showing kinetic energy and bullet velocity as expected by the Joint Chiefs, the bullets failed to penetrate the mild steel plate at 800m.” He added, “As a result of this issue, the project underwent an audit by the Board of Audit and Inspection, and last September, the Joint Chiefs revised the requirement so that penetration of the mild steel plate at 600m, not 800m, would be considered passing. This problem delayed the weapon’s deployment by nearly a year.”

He continued, “When Amalgamated Arms in the United States developed the M16 rifle in the early 1960s, they tested penetration using a 3.43mm mild steel plate of the same material and thickness as the M2 helmet worn by the U.S. military to verify whether the helmet could be penetrated. This standard has been used up to now in Korea as the penetration evaluation criterion for 5.56mm caliber small arms developed and produced domestically,” criticizing, “It is the ROC standard from a full 60 years ago that is still being used as is.”

Representative Kim argued for resetting the rifle ROC, saying, “When I heard the difficulties faced by personnel involved in rifle development, I learned that there is not a single company in Korea that manufactures 3.43mm thick mild steel plates, so they have to search abroad and barely manage to obtain them.”

He emphasized, “In the era of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, I wonder if we are still blindly following the ROC standards set by the U.S. decades ago. I believe it is now time to consider a Korean-style ROC that fits our own technology and environmental conditions.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.