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Photo Of The Day, or should we say of the year? As another year has passed, the Ministry Of Defense in the United Kingdom has chosen the “Best of Defence Imagery 2021“, and this image was one of the selected. It’s easy to see why, and you can see the original caption below for more background:
Pictured is an RAF Flight Sergeant (from 27 Sqn, RAF Odiham), he operates as the rear crewman as the Chinook transits through the Hombori mountains in Mali at sunset. The Royal Air Force Chinooks currently deployed in Mali in support of French Military Operations there have passed a significant milestone after recording 3000 hours of operational flight time. The milestone was passed by 1310 Flight, the RAF detachment that operates the CH-47 Chinooks in Mali and is primarily committed to conducting flight operations in support of the French Operation Barkhane, a counter-terrorist operation across the Sahel region of West Africa.
The L7A2 General Purpose Machine Gun (GPMG) is a 7.62mm x 51mm belt-fed general purpose machine gun which can be used as a light weapon and in a sustained fire (SF) role.
In the SF role, mounted on a tripod and fitted with the C2 optical sight, it is fired by a two-man team who are grouped in a specialist Machine Gun Platoon to provide battalion-level fire support. In SF mode, the GPMG, with a two-man crew, lays down 750 rounds-per-minute at ranges up to 1800 metres.
The GPMG can be carried by foot soldiers and employed as a light machine gun (LMG). A fold-out bipod is used to support the GPMG in the LMG role.
Versions of the GPMG are mounted on most Army vehicles and some helicopters.