The Ministry of Defence has awarded a £20 million contract to FN UK to upgrade and sustain the British Armed Forces’ L111A1 heavy machine gun, the latest step in modernising the country’s direct fire arsenal.
Defence Equipment & Support (DE&S) confirmed the ten-year deal this week, saying it would not only keep the weapon relevant but also bolster the UK’s industrial base.
The work will create ten new jobs and sustain around 80 at FN UK’s facility in Kent, the only site in Britain still manufacturing and assembling machine guns.
The L111A1 is the UK designation of the 12.7mm Browning M2, a design with more than 90 years of battlefield history. Still regarded as one of the most effective heavy machine guns ever developed, it provides integral close-range fire support from tripods, vehicles, and naval mounts, with an effective range of around 1,800 metres. The Royal Navy also uses the weapon against fast inshore attack craft.
According to DE&S, the mid-life update will address obsolescence issues, improve reliability, and lower through-life support costs. Officials estimate the changes could save the MOD around £9 million over the programme’s lifetime.
Brigadier Nick Serle, Head of Military Capability Delivery for the British Army, said the update would “further enhance the lethality of our close combatants” while also helping to secure skilled UK jobs. Richard Murray, Director of Lethality & Protect at DE&S, added that the partnership with FN UK would ensure the armed forces “continue to benefit from one of the world’s most capable heavy machine guns, with enhanced performance and reliability.”
FN UK’s chief executive, Michelle Cantoni, described the award as a milestone for the company, which is marking 50 years of British manufacturing. “At FN UK, we’re proud of this announcement as the only machine gun manufacturer in the UK… this achievement occurred during commemorations to mark 50 years of manufacturing in the UK and over 135 years of expertise as part of the FN Group.”
The contract will see upgrades rolled out gradually: 18 percent of the guns are due for delivery by March 2026, half by March 2027, and the remainder by March 2028.
Fn UK, used to be Manroy Engineering in tbe good old days.
At least they are still going. Don’t mention the Manroy redesigned quick barrel detach system, I mentioned it once, but I think I got away with it….
Any details of the upgrade?
Good to see this quoted in mm’s not cm’s.
👀
Then again a 11.7cm round would give10 times more lethality !
I assume you meant 12.7 cm (not aware of any 11.7cm weapons). This is 127mm or 5” gun found on various frigates & destroyers. Lethality wise you are way out.
Ha, “Typo” It was a Joke but I mis typed 12.7 so It sort of made no sense either way ! You’ll not have seen a previous series of comments.
Oh and so was the “10 times Lethality” bit was because there are 10mm’s to a cm, which I’m sure you know.
To recap, a 12.7cm gun is 10 times the size of a 12.7mm gun so I was sort of having a little play with this comparrison.
But don’t worry, not many on here have a clue what I’m on about most of the time.
By some miracle, DJ seems to have missed you!
I blame their working hours, It’s no joke being up all night spinning discs.
Haven’t missed him, but not always sure which half I should/would be talking to. Plus, I must admit, I tend to concentrate more on the message than who sent it. Occasionally he almost makes sense, which I am sure was unintended, but hey, it happens.
😆
Bugger, another near miss, I’ll have to adjust my sights for more windage !
Those 5″ guns are only the size of toothbrushes, not very lethal at all!
Ha, I see what you did there !
So what is obsolete after 90yrs of proven combat use? Maybe a change in material specifications of the steel used in their manufacture?
Think “Trigger’s Broom”.
If you want a more modern .50 cal, then look to ST of Singapore.
Well as an example there’s a noticable weight difference between the older and newer tripods. The og HMGs also couldn’t mount optics. You can always make improvements.
Shephard lists the ST kinetics CIS .50mg as weighing 30kg & the Manroy M2HB QCB as weighing 51kg.
This is an example of the dangers of citing numbers without checking what those numbers *actually* are.
The STK .50s 30 kg does not include the weight of a tripod.
The M2s 51kg does.
Without a tripod the m2 is still heavier, but only by 8 kg.
Well if you had to carry one, then 8kg lighter makes a welcome difference.
See below that come back isn’t as clever as you think. And the 8kg is not as much as you’d think. It’s a team operated weapon system and if it’s in the dismounted role you’re carrying ammo and tripod and spare barrel, so you’re looking at probably around 70kg total between the team, for either weapon system.
In one example did see US Army used 9 man squads for the M2, it weighs 80 lbs + for the machine gun, the receiver and barrels are carried separately as is the necessary tripod which is additional weight, and ammo comes in cans with a 105 round belt at 35 lbs each.
US SOCOM moving on to the Lightweight Medium Machine Gun (LWMMG) firing the .338 Norma magnum round to drastically cut down on the weight and number of soldiers needed, testing for a new machine gun, the Sig MMG 338, True Velocity RM 338 (ex General Dynamics) and the Ohio Oranance Works REAPR.
See zero forward thinking from Brigadier Nick Serle, Head of Military Capability Delivery for the British Army, who said the update would “further enhance the lethality of our close combatants” if he is referring to use by the troops and not vehicle mounted.
Pffft, my Action Man with gripping hands, used to carry it all on his own.
(ok, so “when I were a lad”, my parents bought me an Action Man figure and a load of guns and stuff, one of which was this one, complete with tripod and ammo belts, previously I had an Apollo Space Capsule and a JEEP, spoilt rotten really, I think it was just to keep me from playing with Barbie). (mind you, thinking about it, those gripping hands might have come in handy).
HMG is nearly universally in the vehicle mounted role in the UK.
Do some Light Infantry Bn FS Coys still have them? I read some time back they’d been issued to augment the FS Platoon using GPMG. Assume mounted on WMIK?
Dont think so. We recently did a gun run with ours. Primarily they’re vehicle mounted like the GMGs (no typo), but in theory they can be dismounted, hence why we have a tripod.
Team of 12 used to carry reciever, barrel, spare barrel, ammo tins, and tripod, each lap of camp was followed by assembly, functions test, disassembly and pop quiz.
250,000 per gun !!
I think there are a lot kicking around in RN and Army armouries all over the country.
80 is the number
Of jobs.
80 is the number of jobs at the factory.
I can’t believe we only have 1 company building manufacturing and assembling machine guns in the UK
Thats shocking 🤯
With the current size of the British Army, Navy, Marines and Air Force, how many Factories do you think they could sustain ? 🤔
I’d be keen for HMG to ensure an adequate deep reserve of these weapons- when the crap hits the fan there is little better than a 12.75mm HMG- so holding a few thousands in reserve would be a good idea- ideally with the remote weapons mount- highly useful against drones. For £20 million youd hope you could get a few hundred new HMGs.
I know this is aobut sustaining and maintaining our current weapon systems which I approve of but there is a hot war going on in Europe that could still very easily spill over into a NATO involvement and therefore additional weapons are needed – at the very least they can sit in reserve as an insurance policy.