Morita Type 38

The Morita Type 38 (三八式軽機関銃 Sanhachi-shiki Kei-kikanjū) is a Yamataian 5.5mm light machine gun used by the Yamataian Armed Forces. The weapon is extremely accurate due to its constant-recoil operating system. It is considered one of the most lightweight machine guns in the world.

The weapon is produced by Morita, and of five distinct generations produced, four have been put into service. The Type 38 is used in significant numbers by the armed forces of Yamatai, and is also exported in significant numbers around the world. The Type 38-2 is currently used in the Yamataian military as a section automatic weapon, while Yamataian special forces make use of the Type-38 Kai Nii variant.

History
Work on a new light support weapon for the Imperial Army began in 1978. Prior to the Type 38, the Imperial Army was still using the Endwar-era as their main light machine gun. The Type 10 fired the standard full-power Yamataian rifle round since before the Endwar, the 7.7×58mm Arisaka. However, experience in the Hinoan War proved that the 7.7×58mm Arisaka was too high powered and generated too much recoil to enable reliable and accurate automatic fire from rifles. In the 1970s, HECO had begun looking into the development of a new, smaller round, from which the 5.5×40mm Arisaka-Chiotanne round would be created.

Resistance to the adoption of the 5.5×40mm Arisaka-Chiotanne was strong within the Imperial Army due to a traditional way of thinking amongst the higher leadership, and the Yamataian military remained using the 7.7×58mm Arisaka Type 20 rifle up to 1989. Morita began the development of the Type 38 in 1978, seeking to replace the archaic Type 10 with a modular weapon that could enable to section machine gunners to use the same magazines as their section mates, easing logistics and enabling the sharing of ammunition without needing to manually load magazines in the field. As it was believed that Yamatai would also adopt the 5.5×40mm Arisaka-Chiotanne, the new weapon was designed to be chambered in 5.5×40mm.

When the Imperial Army received the new machine gun, the higher leadership attempted to reject it and order a rechambered version in 7.7×58mm. However, trials against competing machine guns from around the world of multiple calibres proved that the Type 38 fit the Army's requirements entirely, impressing the higher echelons of the Yamataian military enough to reverse their views on the smaller round, and indirectly spurring development of the Arisaka Type 45. By 1985, the Type 38 machine gun was adopted into the Yamataian military, used by both the Army and SNLF.

Design
The Morita Type 38 is a gas-operated automatic weapon with a short-stroke gas piston operating system. It is capable of fully automatic fire only. The Type 38 is a locked breech weapon with a rotating bolt that contains 7 locking lugs, and the weapon fires from an open bolt position. The bolt contains both a spring extractor and a casing ejector. The weapon's non-reciprocating cocking handle is located on the left side of the receiver and occupies the forward position during firing. The Type 38 is striker-fired.

The feature that grants the weapon its low recoil compared to similar light machine guns is the "constant recoil" principle. The overall design allows the bolt carrier group to travel all the way back without ever impacting the rear, instead stopping gradually along the axis of movement against the resistance of the return springs.

In the Type 38-1 model, the magazine catch consists of two tapered pins on a bar, controlled by the magazine release button. This design can only fit proprietary 100 round synthetic drum magazines or HECO JACT magazines modified by drilling two holes at the left feeding lip to fit the tapered pins. This was changed in the Type-38-2 model to accept both the proprietary drum magazines and unmodified HECO JACT magazines. An unusual feature among modern machine guns is the fact the Type 38 was purposely designed to feed from magazines as opposed to belts.

The Type 38 uses a manual safety mechanism that consists of a lever installed on the left side of the receiver (just behind the trigger) with two possible settings: "安" – indicating the weapon is safe and "火" – continuous fire. An internal safety achieved through the proper arrangement of parts and mechanisms secures against premature detonation. The weapon also has an integral bipod and carrying handle. The light machine gun was also designed to be able to mount a bayonet and either day or night-time optics.

Variants

 * Type 38: Pre-production model with a quick-change barrel.
 * Type 38-1: Production model with a fixed model. The quick-change barrel feature was removed due to concerns over standardisation and machining of spare barrels.
 * Type 38-2: Second generation production model first produced in 1996 and still in use as the main Type 38 model used by the Yamataian military. Magazine well modified to fit unmodified HECO JACT 5.5mm magazines. Quick-change barrel, with two barrel lengths available, a standard and short. The short barrel is designed for use with paratroopers and special forces. There is also an optional 10.5-inch (270 mm) VIP protection barrel. The Type 38-2 can fire both the standard and heavy variants of the 5.5×40mm Arisaka-Chiotanne round.
 * Type 38 Kai: Developed for foreign purchase as well as special forces use, with the addition of a folding stock and a new fire selector module.
 * Type 38 Kai Nii: Modernised variant for special forces use with folding stock, accessory rails and improved ergonomics.
 * Type 38 Kai San: Next-generation development first unveiled at the 2017 Niihama Defence Science Fair.

Users

 * Dai Hoa: Type-38 Kai in use with the Special Task Force and also the Naval Diver Unit frogmen.
 * Yamatai: Type-38-2 in use with Yamatai Imperial Army and SNLF as a section automatic weapon. Type-38 Kai Nii variant in use with Rangers, Umibozu, and ISA TokuSa.