One of the lessons the IDF has learned from Operation Protective Edge and the preceding military operations is that the weight that IDF ground soldiers carry on their backs is too heavy, reports Channel 2 News‘s website, Mako.
The Technological Division of the IDF’s Ground Arm, together with the security industries, are working on several solutions that can lighten the load carried by the ground troops, without reducing their firepower.
One of these solution, reports Mako, is a rocket launcher that soldiers carry, which weighs about 10 kg. The military surveyed technologies and found a solution that could make the launcher 30% lighter, at 7 kg.
The 5.56 mm caliber ammunition carried by fighters, and used in Negev machine guns, Tavor and M-16 rifles, weights 12 grams per bullet. New ammunition will weigh 30% less. MAG machine guns may also receive lighter ammunition, or be phased out in favor of lighter Negevs.