Vickers .30 inch machine gun, M1918

Manufactured by the Colt Manufacturing Company. Modified Vickers machine gun for aircraft use, with air cooled barrel jacket.

The .303 inch Vickers machine gun was the British Army's primary heavy machine gun during World War One (1914-1918) and World War Two (1939-1945). Famed for its reliability, it could fire over 600 rounds per minute and had a range of 4,500 yards. The Vickers continued to be used by the British Army into the 1960s.

Vickers machine guns were on order from the Colt Manufacturing Company from 1915 but the first weapons were not manufactured and delivered until late 1917, well after the United States entered the War. Over 2,800 of the machine guns produced by Colt were converted to use on aircraft.