[geeks] Multi-Barrel Machine Guns

[Phil Stracchino]

On 08/30/11 11:23, Sridhar Ayengar wrote:
> Did anyone ever successfully build a gas-operated Gatling gun?

Afterthought:  if you want something along those lines, look at revolver
cannon like the Aden r the Mauser or Rheinmetall guns.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Revolver_cannon

The original MK213 was gas-operated, as were the MK213-derived 30mm ADEN
and the current 27mm Mauser BK-27 that pretty much all of the current
European fighters carry.  There are also externally-powered versions
like the French 30mm GIAT, and Rheinmetall developed their RMK30 from
the GIAT with the addition of venting combustion gases to the rear to
reduce recoil.

A Gatling gun has a higher peak rate of fire than a revolver cannon, but
a revolver cannon has a higher initial rate of fire because there's less
rotating mass to spin up.  Both types are generally used only in short
(half to one second) bursts anyway, particularly in airborne
applications, so the initial rate of fire is arguably more important.
Revolver cannon are also generally capable of heavier throw weight, with
up to 35mm cannon (at 100 rounds per minute) in service; Gatling cannon
rarely exceed 20mm (US) or 23mm (Russian).

The German experimental Ndchstbereichschutzsystem MANTIS (close-in
defense system) features six radar-controlled 35mm cannon firing 100rpm
each, with each round containing 152 3.3g tungsten flechettes.  That's
15,200 flechettes per second through the target area, and that's a
serious shitstorm by anyone's measure.


-- 
  Phil Stracchino, CDK#2     DoD#299792458     ICBM: 43.5607, -71.355
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