Coaxially mounted weapons refer to those weapon systems that are mounted coaxially, side-by-side, with the main weapon system. Typically this is seen on the US M1 main battle tank and the M2 Bradley fighting vehicle. The coaxially mounted weapon (coax), on these US vehicles, is the M240 machine gun. The M240 is mounted such that its orientation is in line with the main gun on the tank or Bradley, hence coax. The M240 fires along the same line as the main gun, meaning that the coax is aimed at the same target as the main gun. The M240 does not have the same range (can't shoot the bullet as far) as the main gun on either the tank or the Bradley. The coax offers the tank/Bradley commander the ability to engage and destroy targets that are presented but do not require the firepower of the main gun. Enemy troops and light skinned vehicles are typical targets that the M240 would be used against, the main gun being reserved for enemy armored targets such as tanks and troop carriers.
Coaxial cable, for example, has a conducting wire in the center and a second conducting layer running all the way around the exterior circumference, under the insulation.
The inner and outer conductors are separated by an insulating layer known as dielectric.
In discussions of armored fighting vehicles, it denotes a machine gun or similar weapon mounted in a fixed orientation in the turret, immediately adjacent to and parallel with another weapon, typically the main gun of a tank, so that the machine gun is aimed by rotating the turret and elevating or depressing the main gun.
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