Taden gun
Encyclopedia
The TADEN was a British
experimental light machine gun
firing the .280 in
(7 mm) intermediate round. Alongside the bullpup EM-2
rifle design, it formed part of a proposal to reequip the British Army
with new small arms which would use a round smaller than the .303 inch
which was shown to be impractical for use in a modern assault rifle
.
The Taden would replace the Bren gun as the light machine gun
and the Vickers machine gun
as the medium machine gun
. The Taden used elements of the Bren. The EM-2 would replace the Lee-Enfield rifle and 9 mm submachine gun
s.
The TADEN and EM-2 projects were discontinued when the United States Army
refused to consider the .280 cartridge for the new NATO standard on the basis that it was less powerful than their .30-06 Springfield
round (and, as others have suggested, the reluctance to adopt a round developed outside the USA).
It was decided that the TADEN and EM-2 could not realistically be reworked to take the new NATO round and alternatives were sought. The British Army reequipped with licence-built variants of the Belgian 7.62 mm FN MAG
and FN FAL
respectively. A belt fed derivative of the Bren gun had been considered for the GPMG role, but although not selected the Bren was kept on after adaptation to use the NATO round.
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
experimental light machine gun
Light machine gun
A light machine gun is a machine gun designed to be employed by an individual soldier, with or without an assistant, as an infantry support weapon. Light machine guns are often used as squad automatic weapons.-Characteristics:...
firing the .280 in
.280 British
The .280 British was an experimental intermediate rifle cartridge. It was later designated 7 mm MK1Z, and has also been known as 7 mm NATO, .280/30, .280 Enfield, .280 NATO, 7 mm FN Short, and 7×43mm. It was designed by the British Army in the late 1940s, with subsequent help from...
(7 mm) intermediate round. Alongside the bullpup EM-2
EM-2
The EM-2, Also known as Rifle No.9 Mk1 or "Janson rifle", was an experimental British assault rifle. It was briefly adopted by British forces in 1951, but the decision was overturned very shortly thereafter by Winston Churchill's incoming government in an effort to secure NATO standardisation of...
rifle design, it formed part of a proposal to reequip the British Army
British Army
The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...
with new small arms which would use a round smaller than the .303 inch
.303 British
.303 British, or 7.7x56mmR, is a .311 inch calibre rifle and machine gun cartridge first developed in Britain as a blackpowder round put into service in December 1888 for the Lee-Metford rifle, later adapted to use smokeless powders...
which was shown to be impractical for use in a modern assault rifle
Assault rifle
An assault rifle is a selective fire rifle that uses an intermediate cartridge and a detachable magazine. Assault rifles are the standard infantry weapons in most modern armies...
.
The Taden would replace the Bren gun as the light machine gun
Light machine gun
A light machine gun is a machine gun designed to be employed by an individual soldier, with or without an assistant, as an infantry support weapon. Light machine guns are often used as squad automatic weapons.-Characteristics:...
and the Vickers machine gun
Vickers machine gun
Not to be confused with the Vickers light machine gunThe Vickers machine gun or Vickers gun is a name primarily used to refer to the water-cooled .303 inch machine gun produced by Vickers Limited, originally for the British Army...
as the medium machine gun
Medium machine gun
A medium machine gun or MMG, in modern terms, usually refers to a belt-fed automatic firearm firing a full-power rifle cartridge.-History:...
. The Taden used elements of the Bren. The EM-2 would replace the Lee-Enfield rifle and 9 mm submachine gun
Submachine gun
A submachine gun is an automatic carbine, designed to fire pistol cartridges. It combines the automatic fire of a machine gun with the cartridge of a pistol. The submachine gun was invented during World War I , but the apex of its use was during World War II when millions of the weapon type were...
s.
The TADEN and EM-2 projects were discontinued when the United States Army
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
refused to consider the .280 cartridge for the new NATO standard on the basis that it was less powerful than their .30-06 Springfield
.30-06 Springfield
The .30-06 Springfield cartridge or 7.62×63mm in metric notation, was introduced to the United States Army in 1906 and standardized, and was in use until the 1960s and early 1970s. It replaced the .30-03, 6 mm Lee Navy, and .30 US Army...
round (and, as others have suggested, the reluctance to adopt a round developed outside the USA).
It was decided that the TADEN and EM-2 could not realistically be reworked to take the new NATO round and alternatives were sought. The British Army reequipped with licence-built variants of the Belgian 7.62 mm FN MAG
FN MAG
The FN MAG is a Belgian 7.62 mm general-purpose machine gun, designed in the early 1950s at Fabrique Nationale by Ernest Vervier. It has been used by more than 80 countries, and it has been made under licence in countries such as Argentina, Egypt, India, Singapore, the United Kingdom and the...
and FN FAL
FN FAL
The Fusil Automatique Léger or FAL is a self-loading, selective fire battle rifle produced by the Belgian armaments manufacturer Fabrique Nationale de Herstal . During the Cold War it was adopted by many North Atlantic Treaty Organization countries, with the notable exception of the United States...
respectively. A belt fed derivative of the Bren gun had been considered for the GPMG role, but although not selected the Bren was kept on after adaptation to use the NATO round.