M247 machine gun

The M247 General Purpose Machine Gun (GPMG) is a machine gun used extensively by the armed forces of the United Nations Space Command. It is a scaled-down version of the M247H heavy machine gun.

Design details
The M247 GPMG is chambered for the ubiquitous M118 7.62×51mm FMJ AP cartridge, unlike the M247H, which uses the 12.7mm high velocity cartridge. Being a general-purpose machine gun, the M247 is fed via a belt box on the right side of the gun and is usually deployed on a tripod. The weapon's mobility allows personnel to quickly establish defensive perimeters or to provide suppressing fire.

Although it is usually used as a mobile support weapon, the M247 GPMG is often permanently turret-mounted and bolted to the ground, with a large slab of armor protecting the operator. In this configuration, the weapon is fed by a drum magazine, which is considerably larger than the standard box magazine. The M247 GPMG is also commonly mounted in the troop bays of D77-TC Pelicans, which allows the dropship's crew chief to provide suppressing fire for embarking and disembarking troops; many Pelican-mounted M247s are equipped with an underslung drum magazine to complement the belt feed.

Variants

 * M247 General Purpose Machine Gun Turret Autocannon: This variant is an autocannon that can be placed on the M312 Elephant.
 * M247H Heavy Machine Gun: This variant is the most widely used turreted machine gun in service.
 * M247T Medium Machine Gun: This variant is outfitted mostly on the M808 Scorpion and M850 Grizzly main battle tanks as an onboard anti-infantry weapon.

Operational history
The M247 had entered service with the UNSC as early as 2526.

Production notes


During the production of Halo 2, the M247 was considered for inclusion as a first-person weapon, with a playable version in the files of Halo: The Master Chief Collection. Another variant was also concepted and implemented in early builds, sporting a 20mm grenade launcher mounted atop the weapon. The Art of Halo: Creating a Virtual World erroneously claims this weapon as a 25mm launcher.

The grenade launcher machine gun attachment was recovered and restored for use in retail Halo 2 by the Digsite project.

In Halo 3, a number of UNSC crates bear decals listing their contents as the M247, despite the game replacing the weapon with the AIE-486H machine gun. The decals reuse the label text and information from their equivalents in Halo 2, except for changing the crate's icon to the AIE. The M247 was present in early builds of Halo 3, though would ultimately be replaced for final release.

List of appearances

 * Halo 2
 * Halo Wars
 * Halo 2: Anniversary
 * Halo: Last Light
 * Halo: Oblivion