The F6F series was designed to take damage and get the pilot safely back to base. A bullet-resistant windshield and a total of of cockpit armor was fitted, along with armor around the oil tank and oil cooler. A self-sealing fuel tank was fitted in the fuselage. Standard armament on the F6F-3 consisted of six .50 in (12.7 mm) M2/AN Browning air-cooled machine guns with 400 rounds per gun. A center-section hardpoint under the fuselage could carry a single disposable drop tank, while later aircraft had single bomb racks installed under each wing, inboard of the undercarriage bays; with these and the center-section hard point late model F6F-3s could carry a total bomb load in excess of . Six high-velocity aircraft rockets (HVARs) could be carried – three under each wing on "zero-length" launchers.