Photo Of The Day: Looking for moments where a photographer captures soldiers and their firearms in interesting situations or places on the Earth? Look no further, here is another dose of TFB’s daily articles where you will find just that. Today we’re looking at a French Aerial Door Gunner during a flight over Mali.

The Machine Gun is an FN MAG. It’s probably the MAG 60.30 fixed aircraft version, which fires via a solenoid trigger. It is also possible to feed this version both from left or right, depending on which side the gun is mounted on. The FN MAG has been around for quite some time, as production started in 1958.

The picture is from the ongoing anti-insurgent operation in Africa’s Sahel region called Operation Barkhane. The operation has its name from the crescent-shaped dunes in the Sahara desert. The picture is from the French Armée de Terre (French Army), which has some 4,500 soldiers in the operation.

For more fun, check the Norwegian Sniper in Mali, German MedEvac with HK G36s in Mali or the Heckler & Koch 416F deployed in Sahel. The Heckler & Koch G36C in Mali that TFB spotted is pretty cool too. It was used by the bodyguards of Sweden’s Prince Carl Philip.