Based on Richard Gatling's 1862 design, the G&E XM214 Automatic Gun (AKA Minigun) has been featured in movies such as Predator, Terminator 2: Judgment Day and The Matrix. The Minigun (whose "mini" designation stems from a comparison to designs that use a similar firing mechanism but 20mm shells such as General Electric's earlier M61 Vulcan) was developed for mounting on helicopters and light aircraft.

The gun's multi-barrel design helps prevent overheating and also allows for the high firing rate, since as one barrel fires, two others are in different stages of shell extraction and another three are being loaded. It is electrically driven, and its firing rate can be adjusted from 1000 Rounds Per Minute to 10,000 RPM.

The primary drawbacks to the high rate of fire are the huge ammunition usage (166 Rounds Per Second) and the power requirements, as firing the gun requires 3.2 HP to drive the barrel assembly. The Minigun saw extensive use in Vietnam, replacing single barrel machineguns on many helicopters, deployed on wing pods or used by door gunners. Especially noteworthy was "Puff The Magic Dragon", a helicopter mounted with four miniguns and a belt-fed 40mm grenade launcher.

U.S. Special Forces considered a man-portable version, as in Predator, but the Minigun and 1000 rounds of ammo weighed in at 65 pounds. At 166 RPM, that would provide roughly 16 seconds of fire. Additionally, the batteries required to power the gun would have weighed another 60 pounds, not to mention the massive recoil and torque generated by firing the weapon. The idea was quickly scrapped, though recent breakthroughs in electronics and exo-skeletal technology may make the "personal minigun" a reality. Miniguns are currently deployed on helicopter gunships, close support vehicles and occasionally some tanks.

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