The M240 (formally Machine Gun, 7.62 mm, M240) is a special version of the Belgian medium machine gun FN MAG made for the United States Army in the 1970s.
Since then it has been used by US forces, largely by infantry, land vehicles, marine and aerial means. Despite not being the lightest machine gun in service, the M240 is known for its reliability and for being standardized as a NATO machine gun.
All variants of the M240 series are powered by disintegrable tape and are capable of firing various types of NATO 7.62x51mm cartridges. All share the same internal parts, so they are interchangeable among other variants of this family. The differences lie in their weight and other characteristics.
The M240 is manufactured by the US division of FN Herstal, a Belgian company that historically always manufactured weapons for the United States.
The M240B and M240G are fired from their bipods, the M122A1 tripod or other types of mountings.
