The end of Ultimax

Earlier this month, Singapore announced that it would be selecting the Colt IAR as its new section automatic weapon over the Ultimax Mark 8 to replace earlier variants of the Ultimax.

This effectively means the death of the Ultimax, as in addition to being the producing country, Singapore was by far its largest user. With no major state effort to support and market it, the Ultimax joins the likes of other failed LMG designs like the Ameli and Stoner, and will only exist from now on as a curiosity in some SOF arsenals.

What went wrong?

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  1. 11 months ago
    Anonymous

    I don't understand. The Ultimax is an actual LMG, albeit a mag fed one, and one that harnesses the principle of continuous recoil to boot. The IAR is a full auto M-16 with a big fat heat sink stuck on it.

    • 11 months ago
      Anonymous

      It makes sense when you consider how many airsoft products they produce.

      • 11 months ago
        Anonymous

        Airsoft is banned in Singapore

    • 11 months ago
      Anonymous

      The trend, at least for the US, is away from true LMGs and towards select-fire IARs. Probably due to being superseded by GPMGs which are becoming lighter and are much better for long-range sustained fire. Basically, if you're going to haul all that ammo, might as well be 7.62mm so you can hit harder and further. The only advantage 5.56mm had was for interchangeability with riflemen and for this a magazine-fed automatic rifle is better suited.

  2. 11 months ago
    Anonymous

    Does Singapore even have a large enough military for this contract to be impressive?

    • 11 months ago
      Anonymous

      Large enough to account for the most of the 80,000 weapons in the Ultimax's production run. Singapore has a system similar to Finland where it can mobilize 300-500,000 reservists, so this would translate to a significant requirement.

  3. 11 months ago
    Anonymous

    XM7 a shit, XM250 a shit. I hate nu-SIG.
    NGSW should've been a conversion kit for existing M4's using pissin' hot 6mm ARC and the KAC LAMG in the same, it's basically a product-improved Ultimax.

    • 11 months ago
      Anonymous

      Good rounds doesn't fit into AR-15 magazine.
      AR-15 was a mistake.

      WWSD What Would Stoner Do (in hindsight), real things edition not some YouTubers crap:
      Make 5.56x45 5mm longer OAL allowing use of VLD bullets.
      Magazine to use such rounds.
      No magwell.
      Rock in mags.
      Rock in 100rds Ultimax drums.

      • 11 months ago
        Anonymous

        >rock in mags

        Mad gay, youre gay.

  4. 11 months ago
    Anonymous

    >Colt IAR
    >using direct gas impingement in a sustained fire weapon in 2023

    I hope they enjoy cleaning barrels during combat

    • 11 months ago
      Anonymous

      Swapping entire uppers like a quick-change barrel isn't out of the question if employed as a traditional MG team. Like everything M27, there's unconventional (or dubious) tradeoffs for minor benefits, such as eliminating the need for the traditional machinegunner's oven mit.

      • 11 months ago
        Anonymous

        Swapping out upper receivers won't work like barrels because you only need to rotate the barrels once the other is too hot and the other has cooled down. Whereas you swap an upper and all you have is two dirty fouled uppers

    • 11 months ago
      Anonymous

      >2023
      >Jarheads use proprietary M4 pattern piston to replace the M4A1, M16A4, and SAW
      >Army getting Sig P320s and a new caliber infantry rifle

      Game is all rigged Anon.

      • 11 months ago
        Anonymous

        They haven't replaced the SAW.

  5. 11 months ago
    Anonymous

    >What went wrong?
    This mistake.
    Stanag magazine and it's consequences were disaster for 5.56 development.

    • 11 months ago
      Anonymous

      Good rounds doesn't fit into AR-15 magazine.
      AR-15 was a mistake.

      WWSD What Would Stoner Do (in hindsight), real things edition not some YouTubers crap:
      Make 5.56x45 5mm longer OAL allowing use of VLD bullets.
      Magazine to use such rounds.
      No magwell.
      Rock in mags.
      Rock in 100rds Ultimax drums.

      [...]

      you stinky frog

  6. 11 months ago
    Anonymous

    >What went wrong?

    Nothing? The original design is over 40 years old and whatever they have in service is probably old and clapped out. The same reason why the Minimi is being ditched for the M27 or MG4 etc. Whoever is running their army probably decided that whatever updated version simply wasn't as good as what's available on market. Simple as

  7. 11 months ago
    Anonymous

    >getting rid of the ultimax
    understandable
    >not replacing it with the MGX
    huh?
    >IAR instead
    huh??

  8. 11 months ago
    Anonymous

    >WW2 pioneers actual decent belt-fed LMGs
    >in the 2020s we're moving back to the interwar automatic rifle concept
    What went wrong?

    • 11 months ago
      Anonymous

      Focus on light weight.
      WW2 had firepower as the biggest focus. It didn't matter that an MG42 weighed 30lbs if it pumped lead down range.
      These days, combat is lower in intensity, and covering ground is a bigger focus. Therefore, giving up firepower for less mass is a trade off many see as worth it.

      • 11 months ago
        Anonymous

        >combat is lower in intensity
        Ukraine happens and some people still think this

    • 11 months ago
      Anonymous

      Focus on light weight.
      WW2 had firepower as the biggest focus. It didn't matter that an MG42 weighed 30lbs if it pumped lead down range.
      These days, combat is lower in intensity, and covering ground is a bigger focus. Therefore, giving up firepower for less mass is a trade off many see as worth it.

      The Singaporeans have been using magazine-fed machine rifles instead of belt fed machineguns at the squad level for a long while though. Besides, nobody is replacing platoon level machine guns with them.

    • 11 months ago
      Anonymous

      The 5.56mm light machine gun doesn't need to exist when the 7.62mm GPMG does

  9. 11 months ago
    Anonymous

    >Colt

    Do they know it’s slav now?

  10. 11 months ago
    Anonymous

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