Ameli

Ameli abbreviates for ametralladora ligera or "light machinegun" in Spanish, is a machine gun designed for the Spanish Army serviced by Centro de Estudios Técnicos de Materiales Especiales (CETME). Design officially finished in 1981, entered service the following year. Ameli have many design features similar to that of a MG42 (MG3) and G3 (HK21), feature such as the pawl-type feeding mechanism is modelled off the MG42 but the gun's roller-delayed blowback operating mechanism is that of a G3. Ameli is an automatic weapon that fires from an open bolt. Designed to chamber the 5.56x45mm NATO cartridge fed from the M27 munition belts on the left side of the receiver, typically found in a 100 or 200 rounds capacity disposable plastic containers, Ameli is able to fire at a rate of up to 1200 rounds per minute, adjustable for up to 1000 metres of effective firing range. Barrel of Ameli is a quick-change air-cooled type, able to adjust to fire the heavier SS109 and the lighter M193 type 5.56 cartridge. Other features include a slotted flash suppressor muzzle and molded polymer stock, able to adjust for bipod, static tripod or vehicle mounted firing. For a light machinegun, Ameli unit have a relatively lower mass, various manufacturing issues resulted in the poor performance of Ameli, which have had impacts on the weapon's reliability. The manufacturing of Ameli stopped in 2013 with the closing of Empresa Nacional Santa Bárbara factory, all Ameli units servicing the Spanish army will be removed from maintenance list, with the broken units being replaced with the H&K made MG4E.