Profense Introduces 5.56 Minigun at AUSA Global
Profense Defense, a relatively new company and competitor to the legacy 7.62x51mm NATO M134 Dillon Minigun has unveiled a 5.56x45mm version of their 7.62 PF M134 Minigun at AUSA Global in Huntsville, Alabama. Shepard News Media wrote up a report about the new offering while covering the convention. According to Shepard’s conversation with Profense, the PF 556 was developed at the request of a specific customer and will begin low-rate production in June of this year.
Upon reaching out to Profense, OVD was able to obtain a publicly released specifications sheet concerning the “PF 556”. The Minigun appears to be an identical copy of the PF M134, except scaled down in size for the 5.56x45mm NATO round. There are some changes to the control monitor of the PF 556 from the PF M134, in particular the digital round counter bar located at the bottom of the panel.
Historically 5.56x45mm NATO Miniguns have gone back to the early days of the 7.62x51mm versions. The first test model was called the XM124 Microgun and was developed by General Electric during the Vietnam War. Appealing to a need for ammunition commonality and the ability to be mounted to vehicles that were otherwise too small to support the 7.62x51mm version, the XM124 was ultimately never adopted because the smaller round just couldn’t compare to the 7.62x51mm in terms of accuracy and range while in use by moving vehicles (mostly aerial platforms). However, coming forward to today where M134s are being taken out on patrols on ground special operations missions, a 5.56x45mm Minigun could actually be an asset in an extremely confined urban center.
Below is a promotional video created for the companies PF M134.
The PF M134 is currently in active service with a number of militaries around the world, this European Maritime SOF unit included-
Feature photo first published on Scott Gourley’s Twitter account and used with permission.