▁supp lement ▁the ▁F N ▁M AG ▁general - pur pose ▁machine ▁gun , ▁replacing ▁it ▁at ▁section ▁level . ▁Te ething ▁problems , ▁low ▁quality ▁parts , ▁poor ▁erg onom ic ▁design ▁and ▁an ▁in ability ▁to ▁be ▁w ield ed ▁left - hand ed ▁made ▁the ▁SA 8 0 ▁suite ▁un pop ular . ▁The ▁magazine - f ed ▁L 8 6 ▁was ▁found ▁to ▁not ▁be ▁as ▁capable ▁of ▁sust ained ▁fire ▁as ▁a ▁bel t - f ed ▁system ▁so ▁it ▁was ▁initially ▁supp lement ed ▁by ▁the ▁L 1 1 0 A 1 ▁F N ▁Min imi ▁and ▁then ▁replaced ▁by ▁it . ▁The ▁L 8 6 ' s ▁role ▁was ▁then ▁changed ▁to ▁that ▁of ▁a ▁Design ated ▁Mark s man ▁R if le . ▁ ▁United ▁States ▁In ▁United ▁States ▁usage , ▁the ▁M 2 4 9 ▁light ▁machine ▁gun ▁is ▁commonly ▁referred ▁to ▁as ▁the ▁Squad ▁Autom atic ▁We ap on ▁( SA W ). ▁ ▁In ▁the ▁ 1 9 7 0 s ▁the ▁United ▁States ▁began ▁real izing ▁that ▁they ▁might ▁have ▁to ▁fight ▁a ▁conflict ▁in ▁the ▁desert s ▁and ▁mountains ▁of ▁the ▁Middle ▁East ▁or ▁Near ▁East ▁rather ▁than ▁the ▁j ung les ▁of ▁Asia ▁or ▁for ests ▁of ▁Europe ▁and ▁E uras ia . ▁The ▁Squad ▁Autom atic ▁We ap on ▁program ▁was ▁designed ▁to ▁create ▁an ▁intermediate ▁weapon ▁between ▁the ▁M 1 6 ▁rif le ▁and ▁M 6 0 ▁machine ▁gun . ▁It ▁would ▁have ▁to ▁fire ▁trac er