The state-owned Turkish defense company Makina ve Kimya Endüstrisi (MKE) has qualified its machine gun MMT-76 for use as a door gun on helicopters. According to the company, the 7.62 x 51 mm NATO-caliber MG, within a joint project with the Turkish Ministry of Defense, after its ground qualification tests in 2025 has now also passed the air qualification tests for helicopter use with a 100 percent success rate.
According to MKE, the MMT-76, which has already passed 40 different NATO standard tests, has demonstrated excellent performance under helicopter vibrations, reliability and durability, high and low temperatures, and air-to-ground firing tests. The production-ready machine gun has thus proven itself as a true multi-mission system that can be used both as a light infantry machine gun and as a helicopter weapon.
MMT-76 is lighter than most 7.62 mm machine guns
The MMT-76 is a fully automatic gas-operated weapon with a short-stroke gas piston and a rotating bolt. It features a six-position adjustable telescoping shoulder stock and has an overall length of 1,155 to 1,240 millimeters. The barrel, with four right-hand twists, is 604.5 millimeters long and, according to the manufacturer, has a life of 12,500 rounds. The fire rate is 750 rounds per minute, the muzzle velocity 860 meters per second, and the effective combat range 1,000 meters.
The ammunition belt is fed from the right as usual, and the accuracy for a machine gun is typically specified as eight MOA (minutes of angle). MKE particularly highlights the low weight of eight kilograms. This is lighter than most Western 7.62 mm machine guns and is roughly equivalent to the Russian PKM, on which the MMT-76 is also based. Among other things, Turkey received this model after German reunification from stocks of the former National People’s Army of the German Democratic Republic (GDR).
