Earlier this month Popular Mechanics published an article I wrote about GRaft, a Ukrainian company which has manufactured belt boxes for almost every type of machine gun being used by the Ukrainian armed forces.
While belt boxes might not seem like the most exciting pieces of military equipment, they’re no less vital than the guns they’re paired with; the boxes are essential for storing and carrying ready-to-use belts of linked ammunition, and they allow machine gunners to move around unencumbered by hanging belts that can become tangled.
M240 GPMG with GRaft 100-round belt box (GRaft)
GRaft initially designed and manufactured furniture including benches and tables but with the full-scale Russian invasion in February 2022, they have since turned their attention and skills to belt boxes. With machine guns being transferred to Ukraine by a plethora of different countries this has led to a wide variety of machine guns entering service with the Ukrainian armed forces. In many cases the machine guns transferred to Ukraine are often without enough belt boxes.
I spoke to one of GRaft’s engineers who explained that their impetus to begin designing and manufacturing belt boxes came from friends’ experience with old boxes for PK-pattern machine guns. He explained that the old aluminium PK boxes had seen decades of service and there was a general shortage of them.
GRaft belt boxes at various stages of fabrication (GRaft)
GRaft began work on their PK box in April 2022 and within a month had a design ready for manufacture. GRaft refined its designs based on direct user feedback and soon began working on belt boxes for other weapons ranging from 14.5mm KPVs to 5.56x45mm and 7.62x51mm FN Minimis.
GRaft kindly shared some videos from their workshop showing how the belt boxes are fabricated. They use laser cutting to cut sheet metal into blanks which are then shaped and riveted and spot welded into their final form. They work with a small paint shop that then powder coat the boxes.
PK GPMG with GRaft belt box (GRaft)
The company also developed 75 and 100-round boxes for the FN MAG/M240, the 100 round box was designed with an angled wall so the mass of the belt sits closer to the weapon’s center of balance, improving the weapon’s handling. Similarly they have also begun producing boxes for 7.62x51mm MG42-pattern machine guns. Their goal, the engineer told me, is “satisfied machine gunners” but really they’d like to get back to producing furniture.
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Since February 2022, France has provided Ukraine with a wide range of weapon systems and military equipment including self-propelled artillery, armoured personnel carriers, anti-tank guided missiles, hand grenades and air defence systems. In this article/video we’ll look at the rarely seen machine guns which France has provided.
In the summer of 2022 France announced the transfer of armoured personnel carriers and AMX-10 RC armoured fighting vehicles. The APCs appear to have largely consisted of Véhicule de l’Avant Blindé (VAB)s, a wheeled 4×4 which entered French service in the late 1970s and is set to be replaced by the VBMR Griffon. The VABs are largely operated by the 46th Separate Airmobile Brigade and the 47th Mechanised Brigade and have been seen in action since July 2022.
A French FN MAG mounted on a VAB (46 OAeMBr)
The majority of the VABs in Ukrainian service appear to be equipped with 12.7x99mm Browning M2 heavy machine guns, however, some have been seen equipped with 7.62x51mm general purpose machine guns. Most intriguingly, in late May 2023 a photograph of a Ukrainian soldier holding an AANF1 emerged. An earlier video, shared in July 2022, of a VAB in the field may have been mounted with an AANF1 but due to low resolution it is difficult to be definitive. The later May 2023 photograph, however, confirms that France has supplied an unknown quantity of GPMGs. It is likely that the AANF1 was provided along with a VAB, notably the weapon is without its bipod. At the time of writing there have been no further sightings of AANF1s.
Ukrainian combatant with an AANF1 (via social media)
The AANF1 is the 7.62×51mm variant of AA-52, a lever-delayed blowback operated belt-fed machine gun introduced in the 1950s. Since the 2010s, the AANF1 has slowly been superseded by the FN MAG. French FN MAGs have been seen in use with members of the 46th Separate Airmobile Brigade. They have been seen both mounted and dismounted from the VABs. While a significant number of MAG-patterned guns have been provided to Ukraine by numerous countries including the US (M240), Sweden (Ksp 58) and the UK (L7A2) the French MAG 58s are identifiable by the their railed top cover and a handguard attached to the gas tube which provides additional rail space.
A dismounted French FN MAG (46 OAeMBr)
In early November 2022, a video showed the best part of a mechanised battalion equipped with VABs, which are armed with a mix of M2 heavy machine guns and GPMGs. Later in November the 46th Separate Airmobile Brigade shared photos of troops training including several photos of French MAG 58s mounted on VABs. In late January 2023, the Brigade shared a photo of the guns being used in the dismounted role while conducting urban warfare training. Several days later another photo was shared of a dismounted French MAG at a range. Another training photograph of a MAG mounted on a VAB was shared in March 2023.
The French MAGs haven’t been seen in use with any other Ukrainian units so far. But with significant numbers of French armoured vehicles its possible we’ll see further MAGs and AANF1s in the future.
Update 21/10/23:
Another French AANF1 in #Ukraine. Likely provided along with the VAB APCs from France. It appears that a shop-made bipod has been added to allow it to be used in the ground roll.
— Historical Firearms | Matthew Moss (@historicfirearm) October 21, 2023
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Sources:
Model 1958 general support machine gun – MAG 58, French Ministry of Defence, (source)
NATO automatic weapon model F1 caliber 7.62 mm (AANF1), French Ministry of Defence, (source)
Joint declaration of France and Ukraine, Élysée, (source)
Arms For Ukraine: French Weapons Deliveries To Kyiv, Oryx, (source)
Thank you to Recon UAV on twitter for flagging the French MAGs and to Ukraine Weapons Warfare for bringing the AAFN1 to my attention. Special thanks to Dragonists Society for insights.
Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February we’ve seen a number of FN MAG variants appear in use with Ukrainian forces. By far the most common appears to be the US M240 series. However, in recent months we’ve also seen a number of Swedish KSP-58s appear in imagery from the field.
Sweden has long supported the Ukrainian war effort providing a shipment of 5,000 Pansarskott m/86 anti-armour weapons (perhaps better known as the AT4) back in late February. The transfer of an additional batch of 5,000 m/86s was announced on 2 June. Most recently on 30 June it was reported that Sweden would provide a fresh batch of light anti-armour weapons and also machine guns as part of a transfer worth $49 million. When delivery of this aid was made is unconfirmed but the KSP-58s are reported to have been in theatre possibly as early as July – August.
While the type of machine gun was not confirmed, since the beginning of September we’ve seen imagery of a number of KSP-58 GPMGs appear in theatre. Easily identified by their wooden stocks, grey-green-coloured receiver finish and enclosed front sight. Sweden was one of the earliest adopters of the FN MAG and the Kulspruta 58 or KSP-58 entered service with the Swedish armed forces in the late 1950s and was originally chambered in the 6.5×55mm Swedish round. The KSP-58B was introduced following the adoption of 7.62x51mm. The guns were made under license from FN at the Carl Gustav Stads rifle factory in Eskilstuna.
A KSP-58B in use with Ukrainian troops c. September 2022 (via social media)
These have been seen in the hands of International Legion units and also regular Ukrainian Army units centred around Mykolaiv and Kherson. All the the examples of the weapon sighted appear to be KSP-58Bs, none of the guns seen have the Picatinny rails seen in the KSP-58F.
Speaking to Kaiser [frontline_view_kaiser] a German volunteer with the Ukrainian Army, he said his unit encountered a “a brand-new, never used KSP with original factory delivered Box and all accessories untouched”. His colleague Yuri [nucking_futs_yuri] has shared some videos filmed in late-August, during a training session he ran on FN MAG variants for various Ukrainian units. Yuri said their were about 20 guns on the range during the training session, with the majority being KSP-58s. Yuri shared a video in mid-September firing a through a KSP-58B, from the hip, filmed after the training session had been completed.
While we can’t confirm that the KSP-58s came directly from Sweden it seems likely. Another potential origin for the weapons may be the Baltic States (Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania). Sweden gifted an unconfirmed number of KSP-58s to the Baltic States in the 1990s. Today, the guns remain in service with the Latvian Army and National Guard, the Estonian Army and Estonian Defence League and the Lithuanian Army and National Defence Volunteer Force. Both Estonia and Lithuania began searching for a replacement for the KSP-58 in mid-2021. Given the Baltic states’ support for Ukraine the guns may potentially have originated from there, rather than Sweden itself. We have already seen the Baltic States have transferred former Swedish equipment including the PV-1110 recoilless anti-tank gun which were given to the Baltic states in the early 1990s.
It remains to be seen if we’ll see more of the KSP-58s in the field but in future articles/videos we’ll look at other FN MAG variants are in use in Ukraine.
Update 16/1/24: A maritime element of Ukraine’s Border Guards shared photos of them familiarising with what appears to be a KSP-58.
Some good photos of what appears to be a Swedish FN-MAG (KSP-58) in use with the Ukrainian Border Guards' maritime element.
— Matthew Moss | Historical Firearms (@historicfirearm) January 16, 2024
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Bibliography:
Thank you to Kaiser and Yuri for their input – definitely check them out on their social media!
At the end of the Second World War the British Army had two primary infantry machine guns: the Bren light machine gun and the Vickers medium machine gun. These weapons had proved their worth, the Bren was especially well liked and the venerable Vickers continued to be a reliable workhorse.
In the late 1940s, the British Army recognised the Soviet threat to Western Europe. In 1947, Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery, the newly appointed Chief of the Imperial General Staff wrote a paper outlining rearmament plans based on intelligence estimates of how quickly the Soviet Union was likely to be ready for another full-scale war. Montgomery believed that Britain had just 10 years to develop new weapons and begin rearmament before the Soviet Union had recovered enough to launch an invasion of Western Europe. As such the British Army felt that rearmament needed to be complete by the late 1950s.
Two Vickers medium machine guns in action in Wesel, 1945 (IWM)
A number of large budget programmes were launched while small arms projects were also undertaken. These included the Infantry Personal Weapon programme which sought to develop a new intermediate calibre infantry rifle – the IPW programme later yielded Stefan Janson’s EM-2, a bullpup chambered in .280, which was briefly adopted as the Rifle No.9. The FN FAL was later adopted due to changes in political circumstances – a long, fascinating story for another article. The companion to the IPW programme was the development of a Sustained Fire Machine Gun also chambered in .280. The TADEN, a belt-fed derivative of the Bren firing the new .280 round, was designed by Harold Turpin (‘T’), the Armament Design Establishment (‘AD’) and Enfield (‘EN’). With the abandonment of the IPW the TADEN was also abandoned but its design greatly influenced the later X11 developments.
Another major small arms programme at the time was the search for a new machine carbine (or submachine gun). This saw the testing of designs from Sterling, BSA and Madsen – with the Sterling finally adopted as the L2.
The other major small arms project was the programme to find a new section level machine gun. The German MG34 and MG42 had impressed the Allies during the war, so much so the US went as far as to clone it with the T24. After the abandonment of the EM-2 and TADEN machine gun the British issued a new specification for a lightweight sustained fire machine gun, chambered in the 7.62x51mm round recently adopted by NATO, in the mid-1950s.
The design team at the Royal Small Arms Factory at Enfield developed a belt-fed derivative of the Bren light machine gun. The X11 series of prototypes sought to convert the Bren’s proven design into a weapon capable of sustained fire. The X11 made a number of changes to the Bren included the addition of a detachable butt/grip/trigger assembly which could be swapped for a pair of spade grips and a paddle trigger for static sustained fire from a tripod. This resulted in the pistol grip being located much further back than the traditional Bren’s.
The X11E2 set up for the sustained fire role on a tripod with the spade grips and an optical sight similar to the UNIT sight. (Royal Armouries)
It appears that during the mid-1950s British military parlance described the General Purpose Machine Gun as a Sustained Fire Machine Gun (SFMG). From the available photographs it appears that the L4 and X11 use the same barrel with its distinct flash hider. The receivers of all the prototypes appear to be milled to attach the optical long range sight seen above.
The main drawback with the X11 was its feed mechanism. The feed slide was indexed by a rotating vertical feed shaft which was driven by the gas piston’s recoil. This created a considerable amount of friction within the action. It had the effect of causing failures to feed during adverse conditions testing and elevated firing tests. A series of four X11 prototypes were developed with Harold Turpin (co-designer of the STEN gun and later TADEN) working on the new gun. Each prototype appears to have a sightly different trigger configuration. The most interesting of these is a two-finger double-crescent trigger reminiscent of the MG-34’s – from the photographs it appears that the conventional selector lever, used in the X11E2, was replaced with a fire-selector system similar to the MG-34’s (upper crescent – semi-auto, lower crescent – full-auto). However, the trigger of the example of the X11E4 examined by Vic (serial number #11) was fully automatic only, despite its crescent shape.
Below are photographs of examples of the three types held at the Royal Armouries:
X11E2, note the large cutout in the receiver in front of the trigger group (Royal Armouries)
The X11 was tested against the M60, French AA-52, Swiss MG51, Danish Madsen-Saetter, German MG-3, and the Belgian FN MAG. The FN MAG, designated the X15E1 by the British, fared best in the trials with the X11 coming second due to its feeding issues. In January 1958, the British abandoned the X11 and moved to adopt the X15E1 general purpose machine gun, negotiating a license for its manufacture. The weapon was finally adopted as the L7A1 in 1961, with production at Enfield beginning in 1963. It seems that the Birmingham Small Arms Company were a latecomer to the competition having developed the another belt-fed Bren gun derivative known as the X16.
The Bren did continue in service after the switch to 7.62x51mm. In 1954, before beginning work on the X11, Enfield had developed the X10E1. Taking a Canadian manufactured 7.92x57mm Bren breech block and converting it to cycle the new round. The X10E1 was formally adopted as the L4. The L4 remained in service, alongside the L7, into the early 1990s. The L7 GPMG continues to be used by the British Army.
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The Armourers Bench 