The German version of the common Maxim gun design, the MG08 was the primary general-purpose machine gun of the Imperial German Army during World War I, and continued to be used by the German military during the Weimar Republic era and as an emplaced "fortress" gun during World War II.
The MG08 saw several modifications during the Great War, including using a perforated water jacket to turn the weapon into an air-cooled gun for use in German warplanes. The Army also worked on a reduced-weight version to turn the weapon into a light machine gun, that would wind up being the MG08/15 and it's later development the MG08/18.
