Editing M2 Browning (section)

===Commonwealth and other forces===
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 |caption1 = Australian M113 with twin mounted [[M1919 Browning machine gun|M1919 Browning]] and M2 Browning Quick Change Barrel machine guns, 17 May 2002
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 |caption2 = [[Israel Defense Forces]] M2HQCB
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The [[Commonwealth of Nations|Commonwealth]] use of the M2 Browning .50 caliber machine gun (known as the .5 Browning in British and Commonwealth service) began in World War II, though from 1942 it was standard armament on US-built AFVs provided under lend-lease such as the [[M4 Sherman]], [[M7 Priest]], [[M8 Greyhound]], or [[M10 tank destroyer]] variously used by British, Canadian, Australian, South African, and New Zealand units. Nevertheless, the heavy Browning's effectiveness was praised by many British and Commonwealth soldiers in infantry, armored, and ordnance branches.<ref>{{cite book |last=Shore |first=C. |date=1988 |title=With British Snipers to the Reich |location=Mt. Ida, AR |publisher=Lancer Militaria |pages=197–198 |isbn=978-0-93585-602-6}}</ref>{{sfn|Dunlap|1948|pp=35, 145}} Many commanders thought that the .50 Browning was the best weapon in its class, certainly the best of the American weapons, including the [[M1 Garand]] and [[M1 Carbine]].{{sfn|Dunlap|1948|pp=35, 145}}<ref>{{cite book |last=Shore |first=C. |date=1988 |title=With British Snipers to the Reich |location=Mt. Ida, AR |publisher=Lancer Militaria |pages=197–198 |isbn=978-0-93585-602-6}} They especially liked the "hell's brew" of AP, API, and APIT ammunition.</ref> In North Africa, after Commonwealth units began to obtain sufficient parts, manuals, gauges, and ammunition for the new weapon, the .50 Browning was increasingly used, eventually replacing the 15&nbsp;mm Besa,{{sfn|Dunlap|1948|pp=35, 145}} but in Italy it was often deleted from top turret mountings because the mount exposed the operator to low branches and enemy fire.<ref>{{harvnb|Dunlap|1948|p=153}}: "The New Zealand and South African divisions, in particular, loved the big Browning and were frequently encountered trading for spare parts and gauges."</ref> All [[Long Range Desert Group|LRDGs]], and some [[Special Air Service|SAS]] units used the aircraft (AN/M2) version of the gun, while beam/waist-mounted and turret-mounted Brownings were used later in the war in such aircraft as the [[Short Sunderland]] and [[Avro Lancaster|Lancaster bomber]].

After World War II, the .50 Browning continued to see action in Korea and other theaters, in aircraft, tripod (ground), ground AA (hip-ring), and vehicle mounts. One of its most notable actions in a ground role was in a fierce battle with a nine-man Special Air Service team at the [[Battle of Mirbat]] in [[Oman]] in July 1972, where the heavy Browning and its API ammunition was used to help repulse an assault by 250 Yemeni [[Popular Front for the Liberation of Oman|Adoo]] guerrillas, though the more famous weapon from the battle is a [[25 pounder gun]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Kennedy |first=Michael Paul |date=1990 |title=Soldier I: SAS |location=London, UK |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing |isbn=0-7475-0750-3}}</ref> The [[Scots Guards]] used the weapon in the 1982 [[Falklands War]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Boyce |first=D George |date=2005 |title=The Falklands War |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=btMcBQAAQBAJ&pg=PA76 |location=Basingstoke, Hants |publisher=Palgrave |page=76 |isbn=978-0-33375-396-5}}</ref>

A .50 caliber Browning was installed along with a .30 caliber Browning machine gun in each compact one-man turret on M113 APCs used by the Royal Australian Armoured Corps in South Vietnam.

The M2HB has been in service with the [[Israel Defense Forces]] since its establishment and has served in all of Israel's [[Israeli wars|wars, operations, and conflicts]]. In 2012, the IDF upgraded its M2HB machine guns to the M2HQCB model, with a heavy quick-change barrel. Today the M2 serves as an infantry crew-served heavy machine gun, as a remote-controlled external [[coaxial gun]] on [[Merkava]] [[main battle tank]]s, as the main weapon on the [[Samson RCWS]], and as a secondary weapon on [[Israeli Sea Corps]] [[gunboat]]s and [[missile boat]]s.

Nigerian troops have extensively deployed the 50 caliber Browning, mounted on Otokar Cobra APCs, Panhard VBL M11s and Landcruiser gun-trucks in counterinsurgency operations in the Niger Delta, N.E Nigeria, the Jos Plateau, and in Mali.