Israel Weapon Industries is set to soon unveil the very latest variant of its Negev Light Machine Gun.
The highly-advanced and upgraded Negev NG7 will make its
international debut at the upcoming FIDAE International Air & Space
Fair 2012 which opens in Santiago, Chile, on 27 March. It'll then go on
to be showcased at the DefExpo India 2012 event, which begins in New
Delhi on 29 March.
According to a statement made by Uri Amit - the Chief Executive
Officer of Israel Weapon Industries (IWI), the Negev NG7 offers several
advantages over its predecessors. It's described as being more ergonomic
and more reliable, offering lightweight and effective performance to
battlefield-deployed troops.
Negev NG7 LMG
The design's roots lie in the Negev 5.56mm calibre Light Machine Gun,
with close to 80 per cent parts commonality. However, the Negev NG7 LMG
is a 7.62mm calibre gun and features both a semi-automatic firing mode
and a fully-automatic mode, for precision attacks and all-out firepower
bursts, respectively.
Initial development work on the original IWI Negev Light Machine Gun
began in the mid-1980s, with the first examples passing into the hands
of Israeli military personnel in 1997. Besides to Israel, the design's
also been sold to six other nations including Georgia and Thailand,
which has acquired 1,500 examples to date.
NG7 Light Machine Gun
The Negev NG7 Light Machine Gun's weight is under eight kilograms and
it can be mounted to a variety of platforms, both land-based and on
naval craft. There's also a series of safety elements that mitigate the
uncontrolled fire risk, Picatinny rails allowing optical sights to be
affixed and a gas regulator, which boosts the gun's efficiency in harsh
operational environments.
"These advances, together with its unique characteristics, make it
the most effective lightweight 7.62 available for infantries", Amit
added. "As with all other weapons built by IWI, it was developed
together with the Israel Defense Forces.
"The close cooperation between IWI and the Israeli army in the
development of new weapons - and the testing of these weapons on the
battlefield by the IDF - is one of the most important factors
contributing to the success of our weapons among armies around the
world."
Negev LMG image copyright Israeli Defense Forces
