ngah-ngoh

Maj. Gen. Jose Tony E. Villarete, deputy chief of staff for plans (J-5) of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), said the SAW will greatly enhance the capability of the Army’s ground forces engaged in counter-insurgency operations.

Villarete said the AFP will continue to modernize its forces even in a small way due to lack of funds.

Lt. Col. Florante Amano, chief of the capability weapons system, said the powerful rifles have been distributed to Army units deployed in various conflict areas in the country.

“We have completed the delivery,” Amano told the Philippines News Agency.
The units that were issued with the Squad Automatic Weapons are the Army’s Light Reaction Units (LRU), Scout Rangers and Special Forces to give them greater firepower.

The SAW is designed to give small infantry operating units such as the squad suppressive firepower in combat.

Another advantage of the SAW is that it is light to be carried by one man and does not require a tripod for stabilization compared to a machine gun which has to be carried by at least a two-man crew or more.

Its cartridge is the same as that of the assault rifles carried by other members of the unit, thus reducing logistical requirements in the supply of only one type of ammunition to a unit.

Squad automatic weapons are not used to inflict mass casualties in combat but to support troops by forcing the enemy to take cover and reduce the effectiveness of their return fire.

This increases the likelihood of a successful attack against an enemy position.
The SAW is also designed to sustain automatic firing for a period of time to keep the enemy at bay while the unit calls for reinforcement.

Other features of the SAWs are:
-SAWs require less training than medium or heavy automatic weapons. The ammos are cheaper.
-SAWs are more effective than assault rifles in fully automatic mode during intense firing.