It was first adopted by the U.S. Army in 1977, as a coaxial tank gun, and slowly adopted for more applications in the 1980s and 1990s.
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These have been replaced to a considerable extent in the light machine gun role by 5.56×45mm NATO weapons, such as the widespread use of the M249 SAW, but the 7.62 round is still the standard chambering for most general-purpose machine guns such as the M60E4, the M240 and the German HK21 and MG3, and flexible mountings such as helicopters, jeeps, and tanks.
The M145 Machine Gun Optic is a variant of the C79 that was developed for the U.S. Army and is commonly mounted on M240 and M249 machine guns.
It can be fitted with various weapons including an M240 machine gun, an M2 .50 caliber machine gun, a Mk 19 grenade launcher, and a BGM-71 TOW missile depending on mission requirements.