Just in time, Army's new supergun

British troops have been given a powerful new machine gun just days before possible war.

The Minimi weapon - pictured being tested by Private Wayne Fitzgerald, 23, from Telford - was only handed to some units last Friday, giving them less than a week to train on them ahead of likely combat.

The late decision is set to prompt fresh criticism about equipping troops.

But a Ministry of Defence spokesman said: 'The Minimi is not that difficult to understand or use. We would not send soldiers into combat without necessary training.'

The lightweight guns were brought in amid fears that the Army's existing machine gun, the Light Support Weapon, would not provide enough covering fire at close quarters.

The Belgian-made Minimi can fire up to 200 rounds without reloading, making it more than six times as effective as the 30-round LSW.

The belt-fed gun - given to eight infantry units attached to the 7th Armoured Brigade, the Desert Rats - can fire at a rate of 1,000 rounds per minute, giving a sustained volley of fire to cover advancing troops.

Mounted on bi-pods, it has a range of up to 1,000 metres. Troops testing it in Kuwait said they were glad of the extra protection. Guardsman Richard Holgate, 18, of the 1st Battalion Irish Guards, said: 'It's a little beast. We're really chuffed. It's gives us a lot of extra firepower.'

Guardsman Craig Marshall, from the same unit, said: 'It gets a lot of fire down very quickly so it is better for closequarters-combat.' Each eightman-unit has received one Minimi either on top of, or to replace, its two LSWs.

It was issued under 'urgent operational requirements' but the Army stressed it is not replacing the LSW.

The LSW is more accurate than the Minimi. But officers complain that constant reloading means it cannot provide sustained fire.