How much ammo do soldiers carry

A Basic Combat load for the primary weapon is rounds of 5. Usually carried in seven 30 round magazines. But Basic Combat Load depends on several factors. What military, what caliber round, what role in a section, resupply or not, mounted vs dismounted ops. Reconnaissance or direct action. Regardless, it is encouraged for modern infantry solider to carry 5—7 full magazines for his primary weapon and 3—4 for the secondary weapon. The basic combat load for a modern infantry soldier who might reasonably expect to be aggressively engaging the enemy about six magazines plus one loaded in the weapon is fairly normal but that could easily double depending on what other equipment needed to be carried.

Aside from that, the answer is it depends. Some will carry a lot more than the minimum seven rifle magazines, as well as pistol magazines if they carry a sidearm. It all depends on the situation, and most warfighters whose primary weapon is an assault rifle will carry more than seven, if not on their immediate person at least in a pack or in a nearby vehicle, but the basic combat load is one in the rifle and six more at the ready.

In fact, given a robot assistant, many commanders would carry even more weight, such as a. There's another issue: Putting all your ammunition on a big, noisy machine that cannot take cover comes with its own inherent risks as well.

Again though, increased carrying capacity, is an invitation to increase the load. An exoskeleton is an invitation to add more protection, meaning heavier armor, and potentially more powerful weapons.

Commanders and soldiers plan for the worst and expect the supply system to fail, which it rarely does. The Project Payne study cites the Battle of Long Tan in Vietnam where Australian soldiers fought for more than two hours with just three round magazines each, without running out of ammunition.

But even this approach can seem fraught with danger. Faced with uncertainty, commanders default to the lowest-risk approach of taking everything possible. Compared to WWII, modern armies are much more risk-averse. Heavier loads may cause back strain and knee problems, but giving troops more protection and firepower—and communications and sensors with all those batteries—is a higher priority.

Lighter loads are unlikely unless we start accepting the risk of more casualties, and in the modern era of the hour news cycle, that seems more unlikely than ever. Type keyword s to search. Today's Top Stories. Kim Jae-Hwan Getty Images. This is one problem which technology alone may not be able to solve. A Heavy History. Hulton Archive Getty Images.

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