US Army M1 Abrams tanks now rock miniguns - just like in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3

A common philosophical question is whether art reflects life or life reflects art. Some even argue that it is a cycle, with each chasing the other endlessly in a loop. Well, there’s a new cycle to consider: the relationship between Call of Duty and the U.S. Military. A user on social media has pointed out the connection with screenshots of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 alongside a post with images of the 1st ABCT, 1st Armored Division, showing a mounted M134 Minigun mounted on M1A2 SEPv2 Abrams tanks.

A social media post points out the connection between Call of Duty and the actual military

Call of Duty is a fictional video game series, perhaps more so when it leaps into the future or pits players against hordes of zombies. But the series has always drawn from reality. The developers of the series and many other video games have worked closely in the past with the U.S. Military, to the point where the military has even approached developers with concepts of video games that could train soldiers, via The Guardian. While there is no financial relationship between the two, it is a mutually beneficial structure that has caused some people to consider Call of Duty a form of propaganda.

According to this social media post, the U.S. Military has replaced a machine gun, the M240 GPMG, with the minigun commonly seen in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3. The post doesn’t elaborate on the history of mounted weaponry on tanks, and I am not an expert in military history. Thanks to The War Zone for context and Wikipedia for providing a list of miniguns in video games. But it’s still shocking to imagine the possibility of video games having an impact on real-world combat. Hopefully, this doesn’t mean that Gears of War’s chainsaw gun is next.

This relationship is mirrored in Hollywood. There are not many alternative options for movies to use military equipment like tanks, jets, and other weaponry. For certain movies to get made, they must work with the U.S. Military. This has impacted some of the most popular movies of the last few decades, like Iron Man, as a prime example, thanks to Comic Book Resources.

Growing up, the practicality of games like Call of Duty being used in training was a common refrain in support of video games serving a purpose. These kinds of games will never stop being popular. Call of Duty will continue being one of the best-selling (if not the best-selling) franchises every year. Battlefield 6 is potentially gearing up for a major launch later this year as well. We’ll have to see what future impacts these games have on the real world.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III

November 10, 2023

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• Overview

• Call of Duty (franchise)
• military
• weapons (games)