Editing Light machine gun (section)

==History==
In 1903, French military theorists noticed that the [[heavy machine gun]]s of the day were of little use in infantry assaults. They determined that "the machine gun must learn to walk".<ref name=Chauchat>{{cite web |url=http://www.mitrailleuse.fr/France/Chauchat/Chauchat.htm |language=fr |title=Fusil mitrailleur Chauchat. FM modèle 1915 C.S.R.G. |work=Les mitrailleuses du premier conflit mondial |publisher=mitrailleuse.fr |year=2003 |access-date=December 18, 2011}}</ref> They researched the possibility of a light machine gun which could be carried by troops. A [[marching fire]] tactic was theorised, using incidental suppressive fire, with the advancing troops considered a deadlier threat than the un-aimed bullets, causing the enemy to fall back. The prototype guns were not approved for production, and none were in service when [[World War I]] began.<ref name=Chauchat/> The French quickly brought the prototypes to mass production to boost the firepower of advancing infantry.

By the end of [[World War II]], light machine guns were usually being issued on a scale of one per [[Section (military unit)|fire team]] or [[squad]], and the modern infantry squad had emerged with tactics that were built around the use of the LMG to provide [[suppressive fire]].{{citation needed|date=April 2018}}