FN UK partners with True Velocity to produce .338 Norma Magnum machine gun

FN UK has partnered with True Velocity to produce the .338 Norma Magnum LWMMG. (General Dynamics Ordnance and Tactical Systems)

FN Browning Group subsidiary FN UK announced on its website on 15 August that it would form a strategic partnership with True Velocity for the production and assembly of components for the .338 Norma Magnum (NM) Lightweight Medium Machine Gun (LWMMG) at its Kent facility.

This agreement follows the announcement on 18 June of a similar partnership between FN Browning Group subsidiary FN America and True Velocity to produce the LWMMG.

The LWMMG, also known as the RM338, is a medium machine gun chambered for the .338 NM cartridge. The weapon employs a novel system of operation known as short recoil, impulse averaging (SRIA). According to a patent application filed in February 2013, the SRIA system combines a short recoil and gas-operated system of operation with a complex buffer assembly. This solution allows the minimisation of the recoil effort of the powerful .338 NM cartridge while keeping the approximately 11 kg weight and the length of the weapon compared with an equivalent 7.62 mm NATO general purpose machine gun (GPMG) such as the FN MAG.

Originally developed by General Dynamics Ordnance and Tactical Systems, the intellectual property and the data package were transferred to True Velocity subsidiary LoneStar Future Weapons in 2021 during the selection process for the US Army's Next Generation Squad Weapon programme. Under the agreement, the RM277 rifle design was also transferred to LoneStar.