Navy SEAL Armed With M60E4

A United States Navy SEAL pictured holding a M60E4 machine gun.

The M60E4 is a lightweight, air cooled, gas-operated machine gun that fires 7.62mm x 51mm from a disintegrating M13 belt.

The Navy Special Warfare designation of the M60E4 is the Mk 43 mod 0.

The Mk 43 Mod 0 is an evolution of the M60E3 weapon previously employed by the SEALs.

The M60E4 carried by the SEAL shown here features a duckbill flash hider, a feature of earlier Mk 43s.

The M60e4 features a foregrip and can be fired from the shoulder in the manner of an assault rifle.

The weapon also can be fired supported by a fold-down bipod or mounted on a tripod.

The SEALs used the M60E3 during the late 80s and into the 90s.

They then went about replacing them with the M60E4/Mk 43 Mod 0 and later, the Mk 43 mod 1.

The Mk 43 mod 1 added a number of improvements to the design, including more accessory rails.

Despite these improvements, the weapon faced concern over its reliability.

The MK 48 mod 0 / mod 1 has now replaced the M60 variants in SEAL service.