Armor: March 9, 2004

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A group of marines, looking for ways to increase the firepower of their hummers, developed a simple mount that allows a machine-gun to be easily fired from the right hand seat of the vehicle. The mount can be installed in a few seconds. The main element consists of two one foot long metal arms and a cradle that holds the machine-gun and the ammunition box. Another piece of metal allows the gun to slide along the bottom of the door window. A third element is the door adaptor, which secures the mount to the door. The gunner can use either a medium (7.62mm) or light (5.56mm) machine-gun. Hummers can also be equipped with a turret mounted machine-gun, but this installation is heavy, expensive and requires the gunner to stand (which can be tiring over a long period of time.) The gunner is also exposed to the elements (sun, rain or snow and cold). The door mount is a lot lighter, cheaper and convenient, and is less fatiguing for the gunner. The mount is ready for mass production and the marines hope to get into wide use in Iraq and Afghanistan as soon as possible. 

 

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