[The KG9 Kid]

"... Sounds like they want the Navy's MK43. It has a foregrip, collapsible bipod, and an optional shorter barrel for fighting in enclosed structures."

No, no, a thousand times no.

The US Navy MK43 machineguns are just hand-me-down USMC M60-E3s. That's what the Marines upgraded to the M240 *from*. M60-E3s suck. Few Marines respected it. They're good enough for Navy work, though; They are capable weapons for security watch when mounted off the fantail of a ship in port.

The M240 is what the US military should have been using for the infantry GPMG since 1958, though we've been using it as an armor co-axial gun in various tanks since the early 1960s. Other NATO countries have been using it since then as an infantry weapon, designated the 'MAG-58'.

[Britton J Wingfield]

Nope, it REPLACED the m60e3 for use by SEALs and Seabees. It's not the same weapon, despite looking rather similar.

http://www.specwargear.com/weapon.html

[Travis McGee]

Too damn heavy. SEALs traditionally "chopped" their M-60s down to a 15 pound package, with total reliabity.

Show me a 15 pound 240 some time, that a SEAL can carry all night at the ready from a sling on patrol with 200 rounds ready to rock and roll.