The Pig Endures!
25th Infantry Division PFC Milton L. Cook fires his M60 machine gun spraying a tree line, around the Filhol Plantation near Cu Chi, Republic of Vietnam, January 8, 1967.” (Photo: National Archives 111-CCV-345-CC37981)
The U.S. Army Contracting Command in Newark, New Jersey this week awarded an eight-figure contract to a Nevada firm for the venerable M60 machine gun.
The $14,960,325 firm-fixed-price contract awarded to U.S. Ordnance of Sparks, Nevada covers an unspecified quantity of M60E4 and M60E6 machine guns, along with spare parts, accessories, conversion kits, and training.
The “Echo Four” and “Echo Six” variants, better known as the MK43, shouldn’t be confused with the classic M60 and are much modified from the Vietnam-era 7.62 NATO general purpose machine gun made famous in the third act of “Rambo: First Blood.”
The M60E4/M60E6/MK43 is lighter, shorter, and decked out with accessory and optics rails. Further, the gas system is paired to the bottom of the barrel, meaning a quick barrel change can instantly fix most series of failures. (Photo: U.S. Ordnance)
The M60 – based on a redesign of the German MG42 – originally entered service in 1957 to replace the Great War-era M1917 water-cooled machine gun and the air-cooled M1919.
After becoming iconic in Vietnam and the Cold War, the platform was gradually phased out in favor of the FN-made M240, based on that company’s almost universally acclaimed FN MAG 58 platform. Besides small-scale use in special operations units, the M60 endures in a variety of training roles.