L8A2 (7.62 mm)
Contents
Description
The L8A2 is a British 7.62 mm General Purpose Machine Gun (GPMG). It is an Enfield L7 GPMG with modifications to make it suitable for use as a tank co-axial machine gun. The Enfield L7 GPMG, of which the L8A1, L8A2, L37A1 and L37A2 are all variants, is itself a British licence-built version of the Belgian FN MAG GPMG. As such, the L8A2 performs identically to the FN MAG, and L8A1 and almost identically to the L37A1 and L37A2. Being only a 7.62 mm machine gun, it is largely ineffective against all but the most weakly armoured or open cabin vehicles.
Vehicles equipped with this weapon
General info
The L8A2 performs identically to the L8A1 and FN MAG machine guns. The only difference between it and the L37A1 and L37A2 is a marginally higher rate of fire on the L37 versions.
Available ammunition
Like the L8A1, the L8A2 can only be equipped with one ammo belt consisting of two Armour Piercing (AP) bullets, followed by one Tracer (T) bullet. Neither bullet has much penetration (maximum of 10 mm), however the AP bullet performs much better than the tracer bullet.
| Penetration statistics | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ammunition | Penetration @ 0° Angle of Attack (mm) | |||||
| 10 m | 100 m | 500 m | 1,000 m | 1,500 m | 2,000 m | |
| AP | 10 | 9 | 7 | 4 | 0 | 0 |
| T | 5 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Shell details | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ammunition | Velocity (m/s) |
Projectile Mass (kg) |
Fuse delay (m) |
Fuse sensitivity (mm) |
Explosive Mass (TNT equivalent) (g) |
Normalisation at 30° from horizontal |
Ricochet | ||
| 0% | 50% | 100% | |||||||
| AP | 853 | 0.0108 | N/A | N/A | N/A | +2.0° | 47° | 60° | 65° |
| T | 835 | 0.0095 | N/A | N/A | N/A | +2.0° | 47° | 60° | 65° |
Comparison with analogues
The L8A2 performs identically to the L8A1 and FN MAG machine guns, while having a slightly lower rate of fire than the L37A1 and L37A2. It has the same ballistic performance as the L3A1 found on previous British Vehicles, but has a higher rate of fire.
Usage in battles
Due to the very low ammo penetration, this weapon is largely ineffective against armoured targets (although you may be able to penetrate some vehicles with extremely thin armour). The gun is primarily useful for killing exposed crew members in open topped vehicles, although there are few vehicles at the battle ratings this gun is found at. The gun can also be used for marking enemy vehicles and obscuring the view of enemy players by shooting at their gun sight. You can use the gun against aircraft, though it will only do very minimal damage. Being co-axially mounted means it can often not be brought / kept on target against aircraft as well.
Pros and cons
Pros:
- Better rate of fire than L3A1 machine gun
Cons:
- Lower rate of fire than the L37A1 and L37A2 machine guns found on later tanks
- Low penetration makes it ineffective against most armoured targets
- Low damage
History
Along with the L8A1, L37A1, and L37A2, the L8A2 is a British License built variant of the FN MAG GPMG. The FN MAG is a Belgian 7.62 mm general-purpose machine gun. It was designed in the early 1950s by Ernest Vervier, while working at the weapons company Fabrique Nationale (FN). Between 1956 and 1957, the British armed forces trialled both the FN MAG and the American M60 machine gun, selecting the FN MAG for usage. The MAG was built under license as the L7 GPMG by Enfield in Britain, with minor modifications being made. It entered service under the Designation L7A1 in 1963.
The L8A1 variant was designed for co-axial use, primarily in the Chieftain series of Main Battle Tank (MBT). It was modified with a fume extractor, removal of the shoulder stock, and a folding pistol grip, in order to allow the weapon to function better in the confined space available inside a tank. The L8A2 is an upgraded L8A1 with an improved feed system.
Media
Excellent additions to the article would be video guides, screenshots from the game, and photos.
See also
External links
| Tank machine guns | |
|---|---|
| USA | |
| 7.62 mm | M37 · M60D · M73 · M240 · M1919A4 · Mk.52 |
| 12.7 mm | FN M3P · M2HB · M80 · M85 |
| Germany | |
| 5.56 mm | MG4 |
| 7.62 mm | C6 · MG3A1 |
| 7.92 mm | MG13 Dreyse · MG34 · MG37(t) · MG42 |
| 12.7 mm | S.MG.50 |
| USSR | |
| 7.62 mm | DT · PKMB · PKT · PKTM · RP-46 · SGMT |
| 12.7 mm | DK · DShK · 6P49 · NSVT |
| 14.5 mm | KPVT |
| Britain | |
| 7.62 mm | Browning MG4 · L3A1 · L8A1 · L8A2 · L37A1 · L37A2 · L94A1 |
| 7.7 mm | Vickers |
| 7.92 mm | BESA |
| 12.7 mm | L21A1 |
| Japan | |
| 6.5 mm | Type 91 |
| 7.62 mm | Type 74 |
| 7.7 mm | Type 97 |
| 12.7 mm | Type 60 (B) |
| China | |
| 5.8 mm | QJT |
| 7.62 mm | Type 55 · Type 59 · Type 86 |
| 12.7 mm | QJC88A · Type 54 |
| 14.5 mm | QJG02 |
| Italy | |
| 7.62 mm | Beretta MG42/59 · FN MAG 60-40 |
| 8 mm | 34/40M · Breda Mod. 38 |
| 13.2 mm | Breda Model 31 |
| France | |
| 7.5 mm | AAT-52 · MAC 31 |
| 7.62 mm | A-A-F1N |
| 8 mm | Hotchkiss Mle 1914 |
| Sweden | |
| 6.5 mm | ksp m/14-29 |
| 7.62 mm | ksp 39 C · ksp 58 · ksp 94 |
| 8 mm | ksp m/36 · ksp m/39B |
| 12.7 mm | ksp 88 |
