>>519502
Two even better questions:
>Who needs a HMG?
>Do we need something with more power than a rifle round?
General Dynamics already made this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lightweight_Medium_Machine_Gun Now then, it's a lot better than a HMG for dismounted infantry, because they can carry more ammo and can fire relatively accurately at targets 2-2.5km away. But do you really need accurate fire against those targets when you could just throw some smoke and HE at them with a mortar and call it a day? If the answer is yes, then indeed, you need that round. If the answer is no, then you are better off with 60mm mortars for the dismounted infantry. And at this point the question is this:
>Are light mortars the ultimate weapons against soft targets more than 2km away, or should we consider other weapons too, like AGLs and recoilless rifles?
And that's a different can of worms that I don't want to open in this post.
But we also have vehicles, so we should consider what kind of vehicles we want. And again, that's already a discussion on it's own. So for simplicití's sake let's just think of a classic MBT, and then a good old IFV.
For the MBT I see these options:
>go with the hip and cool method and put HMG on top of the turret and a co-axial GPMG next to the gun
>be hipsters and switch them for a co-axial HMG and a GPMG on the top
>use two GPMGs like how the Germans do it (pic related is an MG3 with a system that changes from one barrel to the next when it's overheated from constant firing)
>use two medium machine guns for increased range
>do what I'd do and use two revolver "cannons" that fire your standard GPMG rounds and have a variable rate-of-fire, so you can use them as simple GPMGs or go full BRRRT
>be even more of a 12 years old and put two Gatling gats on it
>for maximum lulz go with two Gatling guns that fire HMG rounds
>or put one or two autocannons on it, with or without additional machine guns
For the IFV:
>basically all of the above
>but consider how it's better if you can supply the same ammo for the vehicle and the dismounted infantry, so that they can even share it if they have to
Notice how I didn't even mention snipers anywhere in this post who might actually use this round the most. Do you want snipers to snipe at people 2km away, or are you more of an artillery guy?