Current Events > Question for you military buffs and know it alls

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I don't know shit about the military, any military really.

But in fiction I often see like, dudes who support their unit with like, a big ass minigun.

I know miniguns exist as fixed weapons or on helicopters or what have you but is that just hollywood/rule of cool shenanigans and not an actual thing in ever used?

My guess is the latter and I've tried googling it but the best I could find was a SAW but they used more practical looking weapons.

So, anyone know who can help me learn about this random thing I'm curious about?

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My grandfather was in Vietnam and he said they had one of those guns on most of the helicopters. He said the gunners pretty much just shot anything that moved

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I bet you could miniaturize one and train a guy to make it half way useful

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You got it. SAWs are usually the suppressive fire for the squad.

my buddy was EOD with a SAW and was his units suppressive fire. M249.

to my knowledge thats about the best foot troops get without armor or air support.

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The coolest firearm we had in our company was a SAW (Squad Automatic Weapon) and I got to fire it many times. I was in a transportation company so we all were assigned M16A3 assault rifles at the time (2001-2005) in the US Army.

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McmadnessV3 posted...

But in fiction I often see like, dudes who support their unit with like, a big ass minigun.

I know miniguns exist as fixed weapons or on helicopters or what have you but is that just hollywood/rule of cool shenanigans and not an actual thing in ever used?

It's used but not as "support"

The most recent popular use of one is when Obama killed one of the top Al Qaeda guys. Dunno if I can find the video right now but it's black and white and one moment there's a house and the next moment it's just a cloud of dust. That was a strike conducted by the Gau 8 avenger

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Tyranthraxus posted...

when Obama killed one of the top Al Qaeda guys

Damn

We would mount MK44s on our vehicles, its a big ass weapon system and would be completely impractical for anything other than being mounted on a vehicle or on a stand in a guard post.

In a normal squad element, one member will usually carry the SAW or a 240. Everyone else carries M16/M4. .50 caps will usually be mounted

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gamer167 posted...

We would mount MK44s on our vehicles, its a big ass weapon system and would be completely impractical for anything other than being mounted on a vehicle or on a stand in a guard post.

Yeah we had a couple humvees with mounted 50 cal cannons, but I was assuming TC meant firearms that a single soldier could hold and operate. I fired a 50 cal on a tripod and it rocked the ground under me, so much freaking power.

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MabusIncarnate posted...

Yeah we had a couple humvees with mounted 50 cal cannons, but I was assuming TC meant firearms that a single soldier could hold and operate. I fired a 50 cal on a tripod and it rocked the ground under me, so much freaking power.

I've heard them shot out in the distance during national guard exercises. They sound really powerful

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MabusIncarnate posted...

Yeah we had a couple humvees with mounted 50 cal cannons, but I was assuming TC meant firearms that a single soldier could hold and operate. I fired a 50 cal on a tripod and it rocked the ground under me, so much freaking power.

Yeah the biggest weapon system one person would ever practically carry and engage with was the M240 in my experience.

MabusIncarnate posted...

Yeah we had a couple humvees with mounted 50 cal cannons, but I was assuming TC meant firearms that a single soldier could hold and operate. I fired a 50 cal on a tripod and it rocked the ground under me, so much freaking power.

Yeah the single soldier bit. Sorry if I wasn't clear.

I'm aware of it's usage on vehicles and aircraft but I was more curious about the one man carrying it around stuff you often see in fiction.

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McmadnessV3 posted...

Yeah the single soldier bit. Sorry if I wasn't clear.

I'm aware of it's usage on vehicles and aircraft but I was more curious about the one man carrying it around stuff you often see in fiction.

I served 4 years, and I was range control for nearly a year, so I saw all kinds of units come through for qualification. I never saw them bring anything close to many of the weapons a lot of action movies show, i've never seen a minigun in person tbh. The SAW is common, and a whole lot of M16 and M4 as mentioned previously. I did see grenade launcher attachments on both, but they fired paint grenades for training and practice purposes. It would just make a big orange splat on the target.

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McmadnessV3 posted...

Yeah the single soldier bit. Sorry if I wasn't clear.

I'm aware of it's usage on vehicles and aircraft but I was more curious about the one man carrying it around stuff you often see in fiction.

Nah. A guy isn't holding up a minigun and firing it. Guns that big have such recoil that they need to be mounted to avoid injury to the user. At some point they also get so heavy it becomes impractical to use them anywhere except vehicles.

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From a cursory Google search, it seems people have miniaturized them to the point of one guy being able to hold and use them, but I imagine when compared to other guns currently in use they are impractical and costly as fuck

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Yeah I figured it was mostly just hollywood shenanigans.

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there's also video game shenanigans as well


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KnightofShikari posted...

there's also video game shenanigans as well

LOL yeah that's probably 3000 lbs of ammo on his back

Lemme just strap a small car on and walk into combat

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MabusIncarnate posted...

LOL yeah that's probably 3000 lbs of ammo on his back

Lemme just strap a small car on and walk into combat

Do ittttt

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MabusIncarnate posted...

LOL yeah that's probably 3000 lbs of ammo on his back

Lemme just strap a small car on and walk into combat

A car strap on, eh? Starting to sound like Friday night here

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I love swallowing a Mazda Miata in my ass

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KnightofShikari posted...

there's also video game shenanigans as well

reminds me of a MGS character

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