During the 1930s, the German Army began using the MG 34. The MG 34 was thought to be the first general-purpose machine gun. The MG 34 had a barrel that could be changed quickly. It was also able to fire from big magazines or a belt. This meant that the MG 34 could fire for much longer than weapons like the Browning Automatic Rifle, Japanese Type 11, British Bren and French Châtellerault LMG. It was also much lighter than weapons like the Vickers machine gun and M1917 Browning machine gun. The MG 34 was also very changeable. It was able to fire from a belt and a drum magazine. It could also be fired from tripods or from armoured vehicles. It even became one of the main defensive guns for the "Luftwaffe" as the MG 81. It was also used as a second gun on tanks as the MG 34 Panzerlauf. However, the MG 34 did have some problems. An example of this is that the MG 34 broke down easily if it got dust on it. It was also quite expensive to make. The MG 34S was made as an improvement to the design.