Taking advantage of its century-long expertise in the design, development and manufacture of combat-proven machine guns, FN Herstal started to integrate 7.62x51mm NATO and .50 cal machine guns onto various platforms several decades ago.

This has resulted in numerous rotary-wing and subsonic fixed-wing aircraft being qualified with FN integrated airborne weapon systems to total more than 3,000 units in service around the globe today.

FN airborne podded systems are fitted with a .50 cal FN M3P™ machine gun and are operated by the pilot using an armament management system. Various configurations are on sale - featuring a 250 or 400-round ammunition box and a Links (LC) or Links and Cases Collector (LCC).

For the first time in its booth at the Paris Air Show in Le Bourget from 17 to 23 June 2013, FN Herstal will display a pod variant called FN RMP™/Cirit (photo) combining a .50 cal FN M3P™ machine gun and a three tube 2.75” laser guided missile launcher from the Turkish company Roketsan.

FN airborne pod weapon systems will be displayed with OEMs also to include: Aerotec Group, Beechcraft, Eurocopter, and Iomax.

FN airborne pintle mounted systems, equipped with either a 7.62x51mm FN MAGR 58M or .50 cal FN M3M™ machine gun, are designed to be window, door or ramp-positioned.

FN Herstal and the helicopter companies AgustaWestland and Eurocopter will display FN pintle weapon systems in Paris.

In addition to airborne solutions, FN Herstal also offers integrated weapon systems for land and sea applications, including the deFNderR family of remote weapon stations fitted with FN machine guns ranging from 5.56x45mm NATO up to .50 cal.