Aliens - M56 Smartgun

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The M56 Smartgun system consists of four major components — the M56 combat harness, the Head Mounted Sight (HMS), the stabilized articulation arm and the gun itself.[3]
The M56 is carried into combat on a self-aiming stabilized mount that is linked to an infrared target tracking system for accurate, autonomous aiming.[2] The mount also negates the traditional need to position or set up the machine gun prior to opening fire. The gun itself is constructed largely from molded carbon fibre and light alloy stampings, though some interior parts are made of high-strength plastics.[4] The weapon's barrel is easily replaceable and air-cooled, although an additional heat sink attachment can be jacketed onto it to further improve sustained fire capabilities.[1] The M56 is 122 cm long, incorporating a 54.5 cm barrel, while the entire gun assembly, including the harness and a full load of ammunition, masses 17.82 kg.[4]

 A diagram of the M56 Smartgun.
 Unusually, the M56 incorporates two different firing mechanisms in its design — firing is controlled either by depressing a red "fire" button mounted on the forward hand grip, or by lifting a firing handle mounted beneath the rear grip.[5] A selector on the forward grip switches the weapon between its Safe, Burst and Autofire settings. The Burst setting will fire four-round bursts, while the Autofire setting will continue to fire the weapon at its full cyclic rate so long as either of the triggers remains depressed.[5] Clicking off the safety will also automatically charge the weapon (provided there is not already a round chambered), although Marines have expressed disdain for this system, citing it as a major cause of stoppages, and prefer instead to manually charge the weapon after reloading using the cocking handle on the right side.[5]


The gun's rotating breech and feed mechanism are powered by an internal motor. In the event of a stoppage, the charging handle can be used to clear the mechanism.[5] Smartgun ammunition is stored on a roll of continuous plastic non-disintegrating link belt; the drum magazine on the M56 typically holds 500 rounds[1] and can be quickly reloaded in the field.


While the operator is standing, the gun is held and steered by its fore and back grips. The gun can also be fired from a prone position, although owning the weapon's unique design, this entails the operator lying on their back. When prone, the gun is controlled with the foregrip and the charging handle, the latter of which must be locked forwards for this purpose.[6]