POTD: Royal Navy FN M3M In Action
In today’s Photo of the Day, we get a look at one of the Royal Navy’s .50 caliber FN M3M door guns in action. The photos were shared by 820 Naval Air Squadron, which is currently assigned to Britain’s new aircraft carriers – HMS Queen Elizabeth and HMS Prince of Wales.
The FN’s M3M, also known as the GAU-21, has a rate of fire up to 1,100 RPM and a range of 2,000m. A development of the iconic M2 Browning, the gun has been in service with the US Navy, USMC and US Air Force for over a decade as well as with other nations around the world.
These photos were taken during a training exercise at Royal Navy Air Station Culdrose, in southwest England. M3M seen here is mounted aboard a AgustaWestland Merlin Mk.2 which operates in an offensive support and anti-submarine role.
820 Naval Air Squadron also shared some video of the M3M in action:
Managing Editor: TheFirearmBlog.com & Overt Defense.com. Matt is a British historian specialising in small arms development and military history. He has written several books and for a variety of publications in both the US and UK. Matt is also runs The Armourer's Bench, a video series on historically significant small arms. Here on TFB he covers product and current military small arms news. Reach Matt at: matt@thefirearmblog.com
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1000 RPM in a .50 with a single barrel. wow, metallurgy sure has come a long way since the M2's birth.
...kinda 'bout time the M2 got a fixed headspace...our old M85 commander's MG in the cupola of our M60 series tanks back in the 70s had fixed HS...still hadda carry the old H/S tool with you if your weapon was the M2....no one has yet designed a better HMG than JMB...one hundred years later