“The first finished version of this machine gun – the Browning M2 – was completed in 1921 and intended at the time to be used against tanks and aircraft. However, the gun would turn out to be a phenomenally rugged, reliable, and effective gun in a multitude of roles. It remains in American military use today virtually unchanged, and also with many other nations worldwide.”
My old MAT (Mobile Advisory Team) in Vietnam in 1969 had one mounted in the back of a jeep. Worked fine so long as you didn’t squeeze off too many long bursts at a time through its 45-inch barrel. Then the vibrations would snap the welds on the plate holding its pedestal mount to the jeep. Not to mention shattering your eardrums.
Can’t imagine its tripod-mounted ground role. In WW2 they’d mount two or three of them inside the wings of fighter planes to fight other planes or strafe troops on the ground. I expect it to be around for another century. Awesome.
Via Instapundit.
THE TEXAS SCRIBBLER 