What is Squad automatic weapon?
[[Image:Army Heritage Museum B.A.R..jpg|thumb|right|The [[M1918 Browning Automatic Rifle|M1918]] is an example of a squad automatic weapon.]] [[Image:Familiarization with a RPK during Exercise Rescue Eagle 2000.jpg|thumb|right|A [[Romania]]n soldier shows a [[United States Marine Corps|U.S. Marine]] how to clear an [[RPK]], a squad automatic weapon.]] A '''Squad automatic weapon''' ('''SAW''', also known as '''section automatic weapon''' or '''light support weapon''') is a weapon used to give infantry [[squad]]s or [[Section (military unit)|section]]s [[automatic firearm|automatic]] firepower that can easily be moved around. Weapons used for this are [[selective fire]] rifles. They usually have a [[bipod]] and a heavier [[gun barrel|barrel]] so that they can be used as [[light machine gun]]s. SAWs usually fire the same [[Cartridge (firearms)|cartridge]] as the [[assault rifle]]s or [[battle rifle]]s used by other people in the squad/section. This makes [[military logistics|logistics]] easier because only one type of [[ammunition]] needs to be given to a unit. SAWs are light enough to be used by one man. However, [[heavy machine guns]] such as the [[Browning M2]] are more powerful but need a [[Infantry support weapon|crew]] to be as effective as they can be. ==Overview== Many SAWs (such as the [[RPK]] and [[SA80#LSW|L86]]) are just [[assault rifle]]s or [[battle rifle]]s that have been changed. They may be able to carry more ammunition and will almost always have a bipod. In the case of some assault rifles, such as the [[H&K G36]] or [[Steyr AUG]], the SAW is simply the usual rifle with a few parts changed. However, the Austrian Army, who uses the most Steyr AUGs, doesn't use the HBAR (heavy barrel) version of the assault rifle. Instead, they use the [[MG 74]], which is a gun which was made from the design of the German WW2-machine gun [[MG 42]]. One of the first weapons designed for this role was the [[M1918 Browning Automatic Rifle]]. Even though it could not carry many bullets in its [[magazine (firearms)|mag