REASSESSING SECTION TACTICS WITH THE 20mm PAW

I recently had the opportunity to visit a South African weapons-developer who has designed and built a 20mm Personal Assault Weapon (PAW). The light-weight, shoulder-fired, semi-automatic and devastating 20 x 42mm PAW can – accurately - deliver a variety of 20mm rounds onto a target some 1000m distant. Using either a 7-shot box-magazine or a 6-shot drum-magazine, this weapon has the potential to become an enemy’s worst nightmare.

The PAW weighs in at 6kgs and has the recoil of a 12-gauge shotgun. This is due to the unique recoil-mitigation system that was developed to enable either left-handed or right-handed firing of the weapon. Although it boasts a range of 1000m, it is not always that easy to engage a target at that distance. However, supplementing the section/squad firepower, the PAW will easily allow effective and accurate fire at a range of 800m.

I am a firm believer that terrain is the primary driver of tactics. Furthermore, I believe that tactics should continue to evolve as we get to know and understand the enemy and his weapon systems better. Lessons learnt in combat ought, additionally, to be a contributing factor to our evolving tactics and battlecraft. The arrival of the 20mm PAW will, however, drastically change the combat landscape.

I believe the weapon system should be used at section (squad) level along with the 40mm MGL – another good weapon which is also made in South Africa. Along with the section machinegun, these two weapons are capable of delivering accurate and devastating firepower onto any objective. In turn, this allows for several “new” options during fire-and-manoeuvre.

The weapon can be used in a variety of environments such as open terrain, bush terrain, urban warfare, mountain warfare, and long-range convoy or vehicle ambushes and so on. It is furthermore not restricted to a specific type of operation. It also gives the Infantry section the ability to engage low-flying aircraft and helicopters.

In brief, this is a devastating weapon. I believe that if correctly used, it will enable the infantry section to lay down fire-intensity that has, till now, been unheard of.