CHARLOTTE, N.C., Jan. 18 (UPI) -- The U.S. Army has exercised a contract option for additional production of the M2HB machine gun, more commonly known as the .50-caliber machine gun.
General Dynamics Armaments in North Carolina said the $7 million deal announced Thursday was an option to the original pact awarded last October, which is now valued at $27.5 million.
The venerable heavy machine gun is a mainstay weapon for U.S. infantry as well as gunners aboard tanks and other vehicles patrolling Iraq and Afghanistan. The gun snaps off 12.7-milimeter rounds at a rate of 450 per minute and has an effective range out to 2,000 yards.
The gun's reliability and fearsome killing power has made the World War II-era weapon nicknamed "The Deuce" an admired asset for U.S. forces on the ground in Iraq.
"Its high level of lethality and versatility has made it the world standard in its class," General Dynamics boasted in a news release.
The M2HB is assembled at General Dynamics' plant in Saco, Maine with the program management based in Burlington, Vt.
