M247H Heavy Machine Gun

The M247H Heavy Machine Gun, formally known as the Machine Gun, Caliber 7.62 mm, M247, is a heavy weapon used extensively by the United Nations Space Command ground forces. It is a variant of the widely used M247 General Purpose Machine Gun and is very effective against infantry.

Design details
The M247H is an air-cooled, gas-operated, electrically fired, linkless-fed weapon. It can be used in both anti-personnel and anti-vehicle roles. It is most often seen mounted on stationary tripods and used as a defensive weapon, but can also be carried by those strong enough to efficiently operate it. An M247H is mounted on either side of most UH-144 Falcons.

Like many other support weapons used by the UNSC, the M247H is fitted with a metal shield near the rear of its barrel to protect the user. Some versions, including the one mounted on the UH-144 Falcon, lack this feature.

Trivia

 * It has a faster fire rate but less damage than its Halo 3 counterpart, the AIE-486H Heavy Machine Gun.
 * Chief Warrant Officer Jorge-052, a SPARTAN-II commando, utilized this weapon throughout the Human-Covenant war. His customized M247H lacked the shield plate, which was replaced by a heat cover over the barrel as well as a few other small differences.
 * The M247H is erroneously labeled as the AIE-486H Heavy Machine Gun in Bungie.net game stats.
 * It is prone to overheating in Halo: Reach unless it is removed from its mount, which somehow enables it to fire without overheating until all ammunition is expended.
 * If a player listens to it firing, it makes the exact same sound as the AIE-486H HMG when firing, even with the sound of the gun spooling up.
 * The weapon is described to use 7.62mm rounds, however, the game manual describes it to fire 12.7mm rounds and text on the weapon's ammunition box in-game reads "12mm HVE". A 12.7mm caliber would be more logical given its designation as a heavy machine gun, rather than 7.62mm which would make it a medium machine gun.
 * Along with the above points, the weapon seems far too large and bulky to fire the 7.62mm round.
 * The ejection port for the gun is on the left side but in-game, when fired, the spent cartridges exit through the right side above the ammo box.
 * The AIE-486H HMG doesn't overheat while the M247H does. This is due to the fact that the AIE-486H has a design similar to the Gatling Gun. Its three barreled design allows it to fire rounds continuously without the user having to worry about overheating as much.