French firm demonstrates gun-mounted motorcycle

A machine gun once reserved for infantry squads and vehicle mounts has found a new home strapped to the back of a motorcycle, and the company behind the setup says this is only the beginning of a rapidly evolving niche in European special operations equipment.

French tactical equipment distributor TR Equipement staged a live demonstration in Belgium showing off what it calls a dedicated combat motorcycle solution, presenting a configuration that mounts FN Herstal’s Evolys ultralight machine gun onto a specially designed motorcycle platform built to bring mobility, firepower, and rapid response capability directly onto the terrain. The demonstration took place on a Belgian air base, and TR Equipement described the event as part of an ongoing evaluation study currently underway in Belgium, while noting that the French market for this same combat motorcycle concept has already been open for several weeks.

Motorcycles armed with machine guns are not a new idea, even if pairing one with cutting-edge modern hardware gives the concept fresh relevance. American General John “Black Jack” Pershing equipped Harley-Davidson motorcycles with sidecars and machine guns during the 1916 expedition against Mexican revolutionary Pancho Villa, giving two-man teams far more firepower than mounted cavalry scouts could carry while retaining similar speed and battlefield flexibility. Motorcycles continued serving militaries through both world wars primarily as message-carrying and reconnaissance platforms, and while the concept has repeatedly faded from frontline use as heavier armored vehicles took over most combat roles, the same basic appeal that drove Pershing’s cavalry substitute a century ago, speed and agility in terrain where trucks or armored vehicles struggle, still applies directly to modern urban combat and special operations missions where a small team needs to move fast without announcing its approach with a convoy.

The FN Evolys itself represents a genuinely modern piece of engineering rather than a legacy design bolted onto new equipment. Belgian manufacturer FN Herstal unveiled the Evolys in May 2021 as what the company called a new chapter in machine gun design, building the weapon around aluminum alloys and 3D-printed polymer components to make it dramatically lighter than the machine guns it was designed to replace. The 5.56x45mm NATO version weighs roughly 5.5 kilograms (12 pounds), nearly a third lighter than the decades-old FN Minimi it succeeds, while the 7.62x51mm NATO version weighs about 6.2 kilograms (14 pounds), still lighter than comparable belt-fed weapons like the FN MAG despite offering a longer effective range. Both versions fire at a cyclic rate around 700 to 750 rounds per minute, feed from a belt using a patented lateral feed mechanism that FN Herstal designed for fast, ambidextrous reloading with a single hand, and reach effective ranges up to 800 meters (2,625 feet) for the 5.56mm version and 1,000 meters (3,280 feet) for the 7.62mm variant, giving a mounted gunner reach that far exceeds what a rifle-armed rider could bring to a fast-moving engagement.

Mounting a weapon like that onto a motorcycle rather than a vehicle turret or a soldier’s shoulder sling changes the tactical equation for units that specifically need speed and terrain flexibility a truck or armored personnel carrier cannot match. A motorcycle can weave through narrow streets, navigate rubble-strewn urban terrain, or cross rough countryside impassable to wheeled vehicles, all while carrying enough firepower to matter in a firefight rather than relying purely on a rider’s personal weapon, a combination that appeals specifically to special forces, quick-reaction units, and law enforcement intervention groups that TR Equipement has built its business serving since the company’s founding in 1997. Based in Écouflant, France, and operating from a 1,500 square meter (16,150 square foot) facility that includes an indoor shooting range, TR Equipement holds French defense procurement authorization to sell and manufacture weapons of war, optics, and nuclear, biological, and chemical protective equipment, along with an official NATO supplier code, credentials that position the company as an established defense equipment distributor rather than a garage operation experimenting with novelty weapon mounts.

TR Equipement credited three partners for the Belgian demonstration in its own announcement of the event.

“Combat motorcycle warfare is evolving. Presentation in Belgium of our dedicated combat motorcycle solution, developed to meet the growing needs of operational units. While a study is currently underway in Belgium, the French market has already been open for several weeks, and TR Equipement is establishing itself as one of the major players in this rapidly evolving segment. During this demonstration, carried out on an air base, our teams presented a configuration integrating FN’s Evolys machine gun, mounted on a motorcycle platform specially designed to bring mobility, firepower, and reactivity to the terrain,” TR Equipement said.

The company thanked partners DZP Group, FN Herstal, and a firm it listed as Nobel Sport for their involvement in the project, though the announcement did not specify each partner’s exact contribution to the demonstrated system.