They forgot the instructor! A man in camouflage bursts into the covered truck bed, bringing with him the tart, still slightly warm air of the Kherson sun and spicy jokes.
“I’m not on any social media, so don’t film me,” says the instructor and cracks a new joke.
The press officer, the camera operator and I listen attentively to his tall tales and folklore. Partly autobiographical.
The vehicle races along the steppe roads, and we, clinging to a crate with a machine gun, try not to fall out of the bed. Today we’re going to the training ground with fighters of the 34th Coastal Defense Brigade. Journalists usually don’t go to training grounds often, because reports from there don’t turn out very interesting. But not this time, because the machine gunners are training today. And it’s very spectacular. And very loud.
Not at all forgotten old
In the 21st century, notions of modern war have in many ways changed radically. Especially since 2022, when the largest-to-date confrontation between two regular armies, the Russian and the Ukrainian, gave rise to new concepts of war and a new philosophy of it, based primarily on the priority of high-tech methods of conducting combat operations.
However, at the same time it cannot be said that the importance of such traditional types of armament as small arms, and in particular machine guns, has diminished. They were first used on the battlefield in the 19th century. And over time, although weapons overall, of course, have undergone many improvements, the principle of the machine gun’s operation has not substantially changed. Moreover, when developing some modern machine gun models, the developments of the inventor of this weapon, Richard Gatling, are used, which are still relevant.
A fighter of the 34th Coastal Defense Brigade with the call sign Sava says that even now the machine gun is a very effective weapon, moreover – indispensable when carrying out certain combat missions.
“The machine gun, – the serviceman says, – if it is well placed on a position and carefully camouflaged, is a very good weapon. The assault rifle is a weapon for assault actions. And 12.7-millimeter caliber machine guns in particular put the enemy out of action well when you need to hold positions and repel enemy attacks”.
According to Sava, one machine gun can prevent the enemy’s advance: “One 12.7‑mm machine gun can hold off about 20-30 people. In particular, if they are attacking by boat and are clearly visible. This weapon shoots very well. Its effective range is two kilometers”.
Sava – is an experienced fighter. He fought in an assault brigade that liberated his native Kherson region and on the Zaporizhzhia front.
During short smoke breaks the fighters call to each other where they fought and find out that already in 2022 they nearly stormed Davydiv Brid and liberated the Beryslav area.
Large caliber
The machine guns lined up on the firing position look impressive. They sound even more so. After the very first bursts I lose my hearing and remember the active headphones donated to our Media Base by donors. Forgetting them was a mistake.
The crews skillfully adjust the machine guns. Bullets fly off into the range and only by the joyful shouts do we understand that someone is hitting. Gradually my head gets used to the loud shots, my body barely twitches and I begin to notice the hits.
Instructors take turns sitting or lying down behind the machine gun.
“Someone jerry-rigged it. They welded it up from all sides. But it fires,” one of the fighters grumbles under his breath while inspecting the captured machine gun.
He doesn’t like the Russian “Kord”.
“The American one is better, but I’d shoot with this one too,” he says, smiling.
Versatile machine gunners
Belgian FN MAG (Mitrailleuse d’Appui General), American Browning M2, Soviet DShK (Degtyaryov–Shpagin heavy machine gun), captured Russian “Kord”…
At the training ground the fighters learn to use machine guns of all types as effectively as possible. Therefore each crew trained in disassembling and assembling various machine guns, as well as in firing them.
“We open the box, take out the belt, hold it with the thumb, insert it until it clicks…”, the instructor teaches the fighters to load the machine gun; the movements must be practiced until automatic, because during combat work there is sometimes not even a second to think or remember something.
On the ammunition box is the logo of a well-known European manufacturer.
A cloth is spread on the ground, on it – disassembled machine guns: the fighters study different machine guns and learn to repair them as quickly as possible, because such skills are also indispensable in battle.
“Crews,” Sava says, “work with different machine guns during training, because versatility, the ability to handle different weapons, is a very valuable quality in a soldier”.
An important part of the training is shooting: short and long bursts at targets placed at various distances.
All the skills needed by machine gunners in combat conditions are practiced at the training ground. Because machine gunners are a very important component of the defense of Kherson Oblast. Even though high-tech methods of waging war (such as drones) now carry great importance, the weapon that has been used by armies around the world since 1862 remains no less a significant guarantee of the region’s security than modern developments.