Taden gun

TADEN machine gun
Type	Light machine gun
Place of origin	United Kingdom
Service history
In service	1951
Used by	UK
Specifications
Length	889 mm
Barrel length	623 mm
Cartridge	.280 British
Calibre	.276 (7 mm)
Action	gas operation
Rate of fire	450 to 600 round/min
Feed system	Non-Disintegrating Metal-Link Belt
Sights	Fixed

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 used the action and gas system of the Bren but would fire from 250-round non-disintegrating metal-link belts rather than box magazines. The light machinegun model used a buttstock and trigger group like the Bren and the medium machinegun model used spade grips and a butterfly trigger like the Vickers.

The TADEN would replace the Bren gun as the light machine gun and the Vickers machine gun as the medium machine gun. The EM-2 would replace the Lee–Enfield rifle and 9 mm submachine guns.

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.

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