(ARES CONMAT)

The Egyptian Helwan 920 ‘Multi-Machine Gun’

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In 2020 the Egyptian ministry of military production announced the manufacture of the first ‘multi-machine gun’, the announcement came with national pride as the Multi-Machine Gun (or multi-purpose machine gun possibly depending on translation) will be completely manufactured by Egypt. The machine gun, called the Helwan 920, was shown in the previous IDEX Conferences at Dubai IDEX 2017, Egypt EDEX 2018 and Egypt EDEX 2019 as prototypes. The weapon has appeared on Egyptian government arms sites since the early 2010s.

The weapon was again displayed at IDEX 2021, it is a clone of the iconic and ubiquitous Belgium FN MAG and like the original is chambered in 7.62×51mm. It will replace older imported and locally produced machine guns currently in Egyptian service.

Fig. 1.1. The Egyptian Multi Machine gun “Helwan 920” at IDEX 2017 (via Small Arms Defense Journal)

The Helwan 920 can be installed on tanks such as M1A1 and other armored vehicles. It was displayed in various configurations at IDEX 2021. Egypt announced that mass production will begin in 2021 and to be used in Sinai as a part of the Egyptian operations against the insurgents. The Egyptian version will save about 40 percent from the cost as it will be fully manufactured in Egypt. The Helwan 920 a direct copy of the Belgium FN MAG general purpose machine gun, it is unclear if the production of the weapon is under license.

Fig. 1.2. A close up of the markings on the Egyptian Multi Machine gun “Helwan 920” receiver (via Small Arms Defense Journal)

Fig. 1.3. The “EGPMG” on display at IDEX 2021 (Source: ARES CONMAT)

At IDEX 2021 it bore a display tag reading “Egyptian General Purpose Machine Gun – EGPMG”. The Egyptian clone will be produced by at Factory 300, a specialist industry factory in Abu Za’abal, an industrial suburb of Cairo. The weapon weights 11 Kg and has a 54.8 cm barrel. It is gas operated and internally chromium plated, just as in the MAG the barrel can be changed in few seconds under battle conditions.

Fig. 1.4. The Belgium FN-MAG general purpose machine gun (FN Herstal)

The Helwan 920, not to be confused with the earlier Egyptian semi-automatic pistol, is available as an infantry model with bipod and butt, the same model can have the following accessories: tripod with ability of horizontal rotation 360-degrees, and vertical rotation (-3 : +15-degrees), Anti-aircraft telescopic column, anti-aircraft sights, 50 rounds feed box, 250 rounds box, triggering mechanism with rear grip for armored vehicles and it can also be fitted with optics or equipped with infrared sighting systems. The technical Specifications of the weapons are officially listed as:

  • Caliber: (7.62×51 mm) NATO
  • Rifling: 4-groove RH.pitch 305mm
  • Operation: automatically by gas pressure
  • Firing range is 1800 meter
  • Firing 900 rounds/min
  • Firing 3 different kinds of ammunitions: armor-piercing ammunition, tracer ammunition, and regular ammunition

FN-MAG is perhaps the most widespread and successful modern machine gun of Western origin. It entered the service in 1958, manufactured by FN Herstal, a company based in Herstal – Belgium. The MAG has a slightly longer 63 cm barrel than the Egyptian version but the weapon’s overall length is 126 cm which is similar to the Egyptian copy.

Author: Abdelrahman M, is a small arms and light weapons researcher who focuses on Egypt and Libya.

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Bibliography:

    1. Shea, Dan, 2017. ‘IDEX ABU 2017’, Small Arms Defense Journal, <http://www.sadefensejournal.com/wp/idex-abu-2017/>, 17 November, 2017
    2. Maklad, Marawan, 2019 Egyptian Military Industry, TheFirearmBlog, https://www.thefirearmblog.com/blog/2019/05/16/egyptian-military-industries/>, 16 May, 2019
    3. Magdy, Mohamed, 2021 مصر تبدأ في تصنيع رشاش يطلق 900 رصاصة في الدقيقة, <https://www.elwatannews.co m/news/details/5546701>, 25 June 2021
    4. Ministry of Military Production, الرشاش متعدد الأغراض حلوان (۹۲۰) <https://www.momp.gov.eg/Ar/ProduectDetails.aspx?id=140>
    5. Al-Ain. 2021 “ إيديكس 2021.. ظهور أول رشاش مصري متعدد: يطلق 3 أنواع من الذخائر” <https://al-ain.com/article/edex-2021-harvest-egyptian-international-weapons> December 2021
    6. ‘FN MAG’, Military Today<http://www.military-today.com/firearms/fn_mag.htm>
    7. ‘An Egyptian multi-machine gun appears in EDEX 2021′, Sputnik,<https://arabic.sputniknews.com/20211201/%D8%B1%D8%B4%D8%A7%D8%B4-%D9%85%D8%B5%D8%B1%D9%8A-%D9%85%D8%AA%D8%B9%D8%AF%D8%AF-%D9%8A%D8%B7%D9%84%D9%82-3-%D8%A3%D9%86%D9%88%D8%A7%D8%B9-%D9%85%D9%86-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B0%D8%AE%D8%A7%D8%A6%D8%B1-%D9%8A%D8%B8%D9%87%D8%B1-%D9%81%D9%8A-%D8%A5%D9%8A%D8%AF%D9%8A%D9%83%D8%B3-2021-%D8%B5%D9%88%D8%B1-1053459403.html>
    8. FN HERSTAL, <https://fnherstal.com/en/about-us/>
    9. FN HERSTAL, <https://fnherstal.com/app/uploads/technical-data-fn-mag-1.pdf>

 

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