After seeing how successful the weapon was during the invasion of Iwo Jima, there was even some talk of putting the Stinger into larger scale production and distributing them. Six Stingers were produced, and at least on a Battalion level, were officially approved for use in combat. But even with those shortcomings it was an absolutely devastating weapon with a rate of fire at least twice that of the standard Browning machine guns the Marines had access to at the time. It was somewhat ungainly, and as it was designed to be cooled by the air flowing past it while in flight, had a tendency to overheat quickly. 30 caliber AN/M2, salvaged from a crashed or otherwise inoperable aircraft, that was modified for use by infantry.

Which is precisely how a few United States Marines designed and built the “Stinger” light machine gun (LMG) during the lead-up to the invasion of Iwo Jima in 1945. But even still, soldiers overseas would occasionally find themselves in unique situations that required hardware that the factories back at home couldn’t provide them with. The production of military vehicles and equipment was industrialized like never before, and with luck, never will be again. During the Second World War, the United States was pumping out weapons, aircraft, and tanks at an absolutely astonishing rate.

Tank buster gun camera