MH-53j .50 cal Door Gunner

Photo of a .50 cal machine gun mounted to the rear ramp of a USAF MH-53j Pavelow III helicopter from the 20th Special Operations Squadron (SOS). Whilst the M134 Miniguns usually carried port/starboard offer greater firepower than belt-fed machine guns such as the .50 cal, they need electrical power to operate. There have been occasions when a helicopter's minguns have become unfirable due to power loss during hot LZs in Afghanistan. In such cases, the belt-fed M240D or M2 .50 mounted at the rear were still operational and able to lay down suppressing fire.