BREN

The Bren (from Brno, the Czechoslovak city of design, and Enfield, the location of the British Royal Small Arms Factory), usually called the Bren Gun, was a series of light machine guns adopted by Britain in the 1930s and used in various roles until 1991. While it is best known for its role as the British and Commonwealth forces' primary infantry light machine gun (LMG) in World War II, it was also used in Korea and saw service throughout the later half of the 20th century including the Falklands War and the 1991 Operation Granby / Gulf War.

The Bren was a modified version of a Czechoslovak-designed light machine gun, the ZB vz.26, which British Army officials had tested during a firearms service competition in the 1930s. The later Bren featured a distinctive curved box magazine, conical flash hider and quick change barrel. In the 1950s the Bren was rebarrelled to accept the 7.62x51 mm NATO cartridge. Although fitted with a bipod, it could also be mounted on a tripod or vehicle-mounted.

The Bren was replaced as the section LMG by the L7 GPMG, a heavier belt-fed weapon. This was in turn supplemented in the 1980s by the L86 Light Support Weapon firing the 5.56 × 45 mm NATO round, leaving the Bren only in use on some vehicles.