FN Minimi

The FN Minimi is an open bolt light machine gun designed in Belgium by FN Herstal and produced in 1975. In service in more than 75 countries, it proved itself as a reliable, lightweight machinegun in the days it was introduced.

History
When the United States develoepd the 5.56x45mm NATO for use in their lightweight assault rifle M16 Rifle. The deployment of an intermediate rifle cartridge encouraged a development of a lightweight machine gun as well since the general-issued machine guns are heavy, use the 7.62x51mm NATO full-power rifle cartridge, and generally made for more than one person to use. Fabrique Nationale (FN) of Belgium creates this machine gun to fill in the squad-leveled machine gun for a single man to use. The FN Minimi then became adopted by a number of countries and was met with positive reception despite some complaints.

Combat History
The FN Minimi provided much needed firepower in a easily-transported state for the infantry. It increased the amount of firepower each squad is worth in a firefight.

Para
A shortened FN Minimi with a collapsable stock made for paratroopers, it features an overall length of 914 mm extended and 766 mm collapsed with a barrel length of 349 mm and a weight of 14.5 lb.

Vehicle
A FN Minimi designed for vehicle use. It features no buttstock for a shortened length of 793 mm overall with the normal 465 mm long barrel with a 11.7 lb. weight. It is meant to be fired remotely from a vehicle so it has no sights.

M249
The M249 is the US produced version of the FN Minimi. The US Product Improvement Program (PIP) implemented on the M249 gives it the design used today, giving it a new stock, buffer assembly, gas regulator, flash hider, heat guard on the barrel, and folding carrying handle. This program increased the weapon's weight to 16.5 lb.

Minimi 7.62
The success of the 5.56mm Minimi had the US USSOCOM request for a machine gun chambered for the 7.62x51mm NATO. The weight of the finished product is 18.5 lb. and the overall length is 1003 mm. The US version is called the Mk.48 Mod 0.