Heavy Machine Gun

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Lore & Background

The Heavy Machine Gun is a rugged, high-caliber human-made weapon designed for crowd control, often found mounted on vehicles or as a stationary emplacement before being picked up by Sam. Its origins are tied to standard human military technology, offering reliable firepower against both ground and aerial threats. Unlike real-world surface-to-air missiles, this weapon relies on sheer volume of fire rather than guided munitions, making it a favorite for mowing down waves of enemies in close to mid-range combat.

In Their Own Story

In the immediate post-war era, SAM developments were under way around the world. The U.S. Army started its Project Nike developments in 1944. Led by Bell Labs, the Nike Ajax was tested in production form in 1952, becoming the first operational SAM system when it was activated in March 1954. Concerns about Ajax's ability to deal with formations of aircraft led to the Nike Hercules entering service in 1958, the first nuclear-armed SAM. The U.S. Army Air Forces launched Project Thumper in 1946, which merged with another project, Wizard, and emerged as the CIM-10 Bomarc in 1959. The Bomarc had a range of over 500 km, but it was quite expensive and somewhat unreliable. Development of Oerlikon's RSD 58 started in 1947, and was a closely held secret until 1955. Early versions of the missile were available for purchase as early as 1952, but never entered operational service. The Soviet Union began development of a SAM system in earnest with the opening of the Cold War. Joseph Stalin demanded that a missile system to counter a 900 bomber raid be built as quickly as possible. This led to the S-25 Berkut system (NATO reporting name: SA-1 "Guild"), which was designed, developed and deployed in a rush program. Early units entered operational service on 7 May 1955, and the entire system ringing Moscow was completely activated by June 1956. The system failed to detect, track, and intercept the only overflight of the Soviet capital Moscow by a U-2 reconnaissance plane on July 5, 1956.

Reader's Guide

Smaller systems, suitable for close-range work, evolved through the 1960s and 1970s, to modern systems that are man-portable. Shipborne systems followed the evolution of land-based models, starting with long-range weapons and steadily evolving toward smaller designs to provide a layered defence. This evolution of design increasingly pushed gun-based systems into the shortest-range roles. Widely used modern examples include the Patriot and S-300 wide-area systems, SM-6 and MBDA Aster Missile naval missiles, and short-range man-portable systems like the Stinger and 9K38 Igla.

Did You Know?

• The first known idea for a guided surface-to-air missile was in 1925, using a beam riding system with a selenium cell mounted on each of the rocket's four tail fins.
• The first historical mention of a surface-to-air missile design with a drawing was by inventor Gustav Rasmus in 1931, who proposed a design that would home in on the sound of an aircraft's engines.
• Against the Boeing B-17, an average of 2,805 flak rounds had to be fired per bomber destroyed.
• The American Nike Ajax was the first operational SAM system, activated in March 1954.
• The Soviet S-25 Berkut system failed to detect, track, and intercept the only overflight of Moscow by a U-2 reconnaissance plane on July 5, 1956.