Let it rattle and roll! The Photo Of The Day can be chosen for a variety of reasons, but aerial door gunner pictures are always chosen! These two images are from CF Combat Camera / Caméra de combat of the Canadian Armed Forces. According to FN, the FN M3M (GAU-21) is a .50 caliber (12.7x99mm) single barrel rapid-fire machine gun suitable for rotary-wing aircraft applications, providing firepower ranging out to nearly 2000 meters. The FN M3M was designated by the U.S. Navy as the GAU-21 in 2004.

A door-gunner from 1st Battalion, Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry, attached to 408 Tactical Helicopter Squadron, fires the GAU-21 machine gun on a range during Exercise Gander Skein at 3rd Canadian Division Support Base Detachment Wainwright training area, October 26 2022.
Un mitrailleur de bord du 1er Bataillon, Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry, qui est affecté au 408e Escadron tactique d’hélicoptères, fait feu avec une mitrailleuse GAU-21 dans un champ de tir durant l’exercice GANDER SKEIN, dans la zone d’entraînement de la Base de soutien de la 3e Division du Canada Wainwright, le 26 octobre 2022.

Images and caption source: Cpl Djalma Vuong-De Ramos.