The Mekanika Uirapuru is a general-purpose machine gun of Brazil

Brazil

Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...

ian origin and is chambered in the 7.62x51 mm NATO calibre.

Standard fare for the Brazilian Armed Forces, the Uirapuru features design simplicity and ease of operation. This home-grown GPMG replaced the FN MAG

FN MAG

The FN MAG is a Belgian 7.62 mm general-purpose machine gun, designed in the early 1950s at Fabrique Nationale by Ernest Vervier. It has been used by more than 80 countries, and it has been made under licence in countries such as Argentina, Egypt, India, Singapore, the United Kingdom and the...

. Brazil's arms industry may have been slow in getting started, but today it is a major domestic consumer and exporter of weapons systems, as in aircraft

Aircraft

An aircraft is a vehicle that is able to fly by gaining support from the air, or, in general, the atmosphere of a planet. An aircraft counters the force of gravity by using either static lift or by using the dynamic lift of an airfoil, or in a few cases the downward thrust from jet engines.Although...

, fighting vehicles and small arms

Small arms

Small arms is a term of art used by armed forces to denote infantry weapons an individual soldier may carry. The description is usually limited to revolvers, pistols, submachine guns, carbines, assault rifles, battle rifles, multiple barrel firearms, sniper rifles, squad automatic weapons, light...

, light weapons like the Uirapuru GPMG in 7.62 mm NATO.

The Uirapuru is a conventional gas-operated machine gun

Machine gun

A machine gun is a fully automatic mounted or portable firearm, usually designed to fire rounds in quick succession from an ammunition belt or large-capacity magazine, typically at a rate of several hundred rounds per minute....

 that is suited for all military occasions-infantry support; armor- and aircraft-mounted or ship-borne, It is belt-fed and capable of cycling 700 rounds per minute, For sustained fire mode, the Uirapuru can be mounted on a tripod

Tripod

A tripod is a portable three-legged frame, used as a platform for supporting the weight and maintaining the stability of some other object. The word comes from the Greek tripous, meaning "three feet". A tripod provides stability against downward forces, horizontal forces and moments about the...

 and also comes with a top-mounted carrying handle. It weighs 28 pounds with the bipod. This weapon is 51 inches and change in length and sports a quick-change 23 1/2-inch barrel with a flash suppressor

Flash suppressor

A flash suppressor, also known as a flash guard, flash eliminator, flash hider, or flash cone, is a device attached to the muzzle of a rifle or other gun that reduces the visible signature of the burning gases that exit the muzzle. This reduces the chances that the shooter will be blinded in dark...

. The Uirapuru is the brainchild of Brazilian Olympio Vieira de Mello, manufactured by Brazil's Mekanika Industria e Comercio Ltd.