Abstract: An aircraft cargo and/or equipment pannier system for an aircraft having a weapons bay in its fuselage, the pannier system including a container chassis having a pair of spaced apart beam attachment mountings for suspending the chassis from the ceiling of the weapons bay with a pair of spaced apart cross beams, and an upper support frame assembly which is releasably secured to and interconnects the cross beams. When the cross beams are attached to the container chassis, the cross beams are housed essentially within the confines of the container chassis.