The Minigun: how is the brutal machine gun with which they arrested Ovidio Guzmán

Tanks, armored vehicles and planes were among the vehicles with which the agents repelled the attack of Guzmán’s assassins who were aboard the armored pick-ups. But undoubtedly the most powerful weapon the military forces would have in their possession was a six-barrel articulated rotary machine gun on a Black Hawk military helicopter, according to local journalist José Luis Montenegro.

The artifact they would have available is an M134 Minigun, from the United States. It is a high velocity weapon with the ability to perform between 2,000 and 3,000 detonations per minute.

Ovidio Guzmán was also heavily armed; the moment he was among the attackers; He had in his possession weapons exclusive to the Mexican Armed Forces.

“After checking the aggression directed against the security forces, Ovidio was identified among the members of this criminal group, obtaining his seizure in possession of exclusive weapons of the Mexican Army and Air Force,” explained Cresencio Sandoval, Secretary of Defense of Mexico.

The M134 is also known by the US Air Force designation GAU-2 and US Navy designation GAU-17. It is a weapon for both aircraft, boats and land vehicles.

The Minigun, as it is better known, is an electrically operated six-barreled rotary machine gun, allowing it to fire at a rate of 3,000 rounds per minute (50 rounds per second). It has an effective range of 1,000 meters.

Of 7.62x51mm NATO caliber, it is fed by bands stored in containers for up to 4,000 rounds of ammunition. Its steel and titanium construction, allow for its high rate of fire and the durability of its guns, without having to be refrigerated. The length of her guns is 22 inches (56 cm).

It has also been seen installed on Kazan Mi-17 helicopters. The Mexican Air Force also uses it. The Mexican Federal Police employ them in their UH-60 Black Hawk.

The antecedent with Ovid

In 2019, during another arrest operation against Ovidio Guzmán, the hitmen of the Sinaloa cartel showed their firepower against the local authorities. At that time, they attacked the forces with the M2 Browning machine gun.

The Browning M2 (.50 or 12.7 caliber) is a world-famous gun that is now 90 years old. It was born in 1933 despite having been designed towards the end of the First World War by John Browning. He did this to match the strength of his French and British allies who had the Hotchkiss, by which they became stronger in the field.

It fires a much more powerful cartridge than its predecessor, the M1917, on which Browning was based. Then, in the 1930s, it would be the Colt company that would take care of its improvement and production. However, it continued to bear the name of its creator, now deceased. Its inception was in World War II, but since then it has been used in other wars such as: the Korean War, Vietnam, the Six Day War, Yom Kippur, the Cambodian Civil War, the Malvinas, Iran and Iraq, the Gulf and Afghanistan.