General-purpose machine gun

A general-purpose machine gun (GPMG) is a belt-fed machine gun tasked with in a variety of roles, from a bipod- or tripod-mounted infantry support weapon to a helicopter door gun or a vehicle-mounted support weapon. Its can provide fire support for vehicles or infantry from a variety of mounts.

In modern practice, they are air-cooled medium machine guns firing rifle cartridges such as the 7.62×51mm NATO, 7.62×54mmR Russian, or 7.92x57mm Mauser. They are generally operated from a stationary prone position from either a bipod or tripod, or otherwise mounted on a vehicle, as they are usually too powerful and heavy to be fired effectively on foot from an unsupported standing position or on the move.

Notable examples

MG-42 variants

• American M1919 Browning machine gun: originally chambered for .30-06 Springfield but has since been converted to a variety of calibers; it was used as an infantry weapon (light and support roles) and also mounted on a variety of vehicles, aircraft and naval platforms.
• German Maschinengewehr 34 or MG 34: air-cooled, belt-fed and had the ability to be mounted on a variety of fixtures and employed in several different roles. Notably, the MG 34 remained the standard co-axial weapon for Nazi German vehicles through the Second World War. The MG34 was successful enough during use in the opening stages of the Second World War that the concept of the GPMG was adopted in many other post-WWII armies.
• German MG 42: the MG 34's immediate successor in Wehrmacht service—and the most versatile and effective machine gun design of the Second World War.
• German MG3, a direct descendant of the MG 42, is still in service with the German Army and others.
• Belgian FN MAG, the most widely used GPMG among NATO and other western armies.
• South African Vektor SS-77.
• Russian PK/PKM family of multi-purpose machine-guns, widely exported.
• People's Republic of China, the Type 67 and later improved models.
• American M60, supplemented by the M240 (FN MAG variant) in US service.

Gallery

The Belgian FN MAG is in service with many nations and in various forms:

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  Light infantry in Australian service

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  Tripod mounted sustained fire role in American service

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  Vehicle mounted in Dutch service

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  Ship mounted aboard a US Navy destroyer

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  Helicopter door gun

See also

• List of firearms
• Medium machine gun