3,380 feet (1,030m) per second. [9], The self-powered version, the GAU-4 (called M130 in Army service), is gas-operated, tapping gun gas from three of the six barrels to operate the gun gas driven mechanism. It is a semi-armor-piercing high-explosive incendiary (SAPHEI) round, providing improvements in range, accuracy, and power over the preceding M56A3 HEI round. In response to this requirement, the Armament Division of General Electric resurrected an old idea: the multi-barrel Gatling gun. M61A1; M61A2; gun pod versions, the SUU-16/A (also designated M12 by the US Army) and improved SUU-23/A (US Army M25), were developed in the 1960s, often used on gunless versions of the F-4. An internally mounted M61A2 Vulcan 20 mm rotary cannon is embedded in the aircraft's right wing root with the muzzle covered by a retractable door to maintain stealth. The average time between jams or failures is in excess of 10,000 rounds, making it an extremely reliable weapon. General Electric M61 Vulcan Cannon. The idea of powering a Gatling gun from an external electric power source was not a novel idea at the end of the World War II, as Richard Jordan Gatling himself had done just that in 1893, with a patent he filed. Phalanx Block 0 Original 1980 version. A. [24][25], The gun was installed in the Air Force's A-7D version of the LTV A-7 Corsair II where it replaced the earlier United States Navy A-7's Colt Mk 12 cannon and was adopted by the Navy on the A-7C and A-7E. If you are on mobile, then try requesting the mobile version of the site. After Martin's merger with Lockheed, the rotary cannon became the responsibility of Lockheed Martin Armament Systems. 20mm-M50-Series.pdf The planes currently effected are the F-4C Phantom II with it's M61 cannon of the American tree and the Mitsubishi T-2 with it's JM61A1 cannon of the Japanese tree. The M61A2's lighter barrels allow a somewhat higher rate of fire, up to 6,600 rounds per minute.[12]. Eventually, the standard 20×102 mm cartridge was determined to have the desired balance of projectile/explosive mass and muzzle velocity, resulting in an optimum balance of range, accuracy and kinetic energy on target. General Electric didn’t simply scale up its 20-millimeter M61 Vulcan system, as that would have resulted in a gun that far exceeded the Air Force’s maximum weight requirement. The M61 is also the basis of the US Navy Mk 15 Phalanx Close-in weapon system and the M163 VADS Vulcan Air Defense System, using the M168 variant.. Variants. Bursts of from two or three up to 40 or 50 can be selected. Practically no powered rotary cannon is supplied with sufficient ammunition for a full minute of firing, due to its weight (at 6,000 rpm, the projectiles alone would represent a mass of about 600 kg (1,300 lb) for one minute firing; and by including the brass shell, filling and primer the weight is slightly double that at 1,225 kg (2,701 lb)). It was also adopted as standard in the "teen"-series air superiority fighters, the Grumman F-14 Tomcat, the McDonnell Douglas F-15 Eagle, General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon and McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Hornet. The multiple barrels provide both a very high rate of fire—around 100 rounds per second—and contribute to prolonged weapon life by minimizing barrel erosion and heat generation. The M61 Vulcan is a hydraulically, electrically or pneumatically driven, six-barrel, air-cooled, electrically fired Gatling-style rotary cannon which fires 20 mm rounds at an extremely high rate (typically 6,000 rounds per minute). The M61 and its derivatives have been the principal cannon armament of United States military fixed-wing aircraft for sixty years. Most aircraft installations are double-ended, because the ejection of empty cartridges can cause a foreign-object damage (FOD) hazard for jet engines and because the retention of spent cases assists in maintaining the center of gravity of the aircraft. The M61 Vulcan is a hydraulically, electrically or pneumatically driven, six-barrel, air-cooled, electrically fired Gatling-style rotary cannon which fires 20 mm rounds at an extremely high rate (typically 6,000 rounds per minute). This variant fed from ammunition boxes fitted to the landing skid and was developed to provide the AH-1 helicopter with a longer-range suppressive fire system before the adoption of the M97 Universal Turret mounting the M197 cannon. [citation needed]. 2 m (6.6 ft) effective radius to produce casualties to exposed personnel. Combat experience in Vietnam showed that a gun could be more effective than guided missiles in many combat situations, and that an externally carried gun pod was less effective than an internal gun; the first generation of gun pods such as the SUU-16 were not oriented with the sights of the fighter. The M61 and its derivatives have been the principal cannon armament of United States military fixed-wing aircraft for fifty years. The M61 Vulcan is a 20×102mm externally powered rotary cannon developed in the United States. Its name is a portmanteau of the M134 and the M61 Vulcan, also by GE, which is actually considered an autocannon due to the large 20x102mm shells it fires and not a machinegun, much less a … The Army wanted something better, combining an extremely high rate of fire with exceptional reliability. No tracer or self-destruct. The M61 Vulcan Can Fire 6,000 Round Per Minute "The Hand of God" M61 20mm Vulcan Cannon. Depending on the application, the feed system can be either single-ended (ejecting spent cases and unfired rounds) or double-ended (returning casings back to the magazine). 148–57. It has been the principal cannon armament of United States military aircraft for five decades. The next generation of fighters built post-Vietnam incorporated the M61 gun internally. The F-4 was originally designed without a cannon as it was believed that missiles had made guns obsolete. [4], The self-powered version, the GAU-4 (called M130 in Army service), is gas-operated, tapping gun gas from three of the six barrels to operate the gun gas driven mechanism. A 2000 USAF safety report noted 24 premature detonation mishaps (causing serious damage in many cases) in 12 years with the SAPHEI round, compared to only two such mishaps in the entire recorded history of the M56 round. At the end of World War II, the United States Army Air Forces began to consider new directions for future military aircraft guns. "…features new lightweight gun system is the General Dynamics M61A2, which has a switchable firing rate of 4,000 or 6,000 shots per minute and a fully integrated linkless ammunition feed system", Toperczer (MiG-17/MiG-19 Units) pp. The most notable traits of the minigun are its incredibly large ammo pool of The F-4 was originally designed without a cannon as it was believed that missiles had made guns obsolete. American fighters with .50 cal main armament, such as the P-51 and P-47, had to be close to the enemy in order to hit and damage enemy aircraft. The next generation of fighters built post-Vietnam incorporated the M61 gun internally. NOTE: The M163 "Vulcan Air Defense System" (VADS) is a related, self-propelled version of the towed M167 detailed in this article, the gun portion being set atop a modified version of the ubiquitous M113 Armored Personnel Carrier (APC). An unmounted M61 Vulcan. A quick and accurate burst can send targets into flames and the incredible rate of fire allows for some spray-and-pray, which is especially helpful considering how difficult it can be to get guns on target in this aircraft. The higher speeds of jet-powered fighter aircraft meant that achieving an effective number of hits would be extremely difficult without a much higher … The initial M61 used linked, belted ammunition, but the ejection of spent links created considerable (and ultimately insuperable) problems. [citation needed], A variant with much shorter barrels, designated the M195, was also developed for use on the M35 Armament Subsystem for use on the AH-1G Cobra helicopter. A lesson of World War II air combat was that German, Italian, and Japanese fighters could attack American aircraft from long range with their cannon main armament. [2], In 1946 the Army issued General Electric a contract for "Project Vulcan", a six-barrel weapon capable of firing 7,200 rounds per minute (rpm). [citation needed]. ... trading projectile weight for rate of fire and muzzle velocity. At the end of World War II, the United States Army began to consider new directions for future military aircraft guns. The Army wanted something better, combining extremely high rate of fire with exceptional reliability. Both pods contained 1,200 rounds of ammunition, with a loaded weight of 1,615 and 1,720 pounds (733 and 780 kg) respectively. The first aircraft to carry the M61A1 was the C model of the F-104, starting in 1959. Campbell & Hill p. 43/photo of his F-105 plate # 213, AN/FPS-133 Air Force Space Surveillance System (AFSSS), AN/FSQ-114 Ground-Based Electro-Optical Deep Space Surveillance (GEODSS), Rapid Attack, Identification, Detection, and Reporting System (RAIDRS), AIM-120B/C Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missile (AMRAAM), Articles with unsourced statements from September 2014, Articles incorporating text from Wikipedia, semi-armor piercing high explosive incendiary, http://www.fas.org/man/dod-101/sys/ac/equip/m61.htm, http://img294.imageshack.us/img294/2433/eleckeygatling.jpg, https://web.archive.org/web/20080921095536/http://tri.army.mil/LC/CS/csa/aagatlin.htm, "PGU-27A/B TP/PGU-28A/B SAPHEI/ GU-30A/B TP-T", http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/systems/munitions/pgu-28.htm, https://web.archive.org/web/20041017182625/https://tercel.mugu.navy.mil/drlog/awcap/volumes/vol8/ammo/v348_prob.pdf, https://web.archive.org/20140819195104/http://maic.jmu.edu:80/ordata/, "PGU-27A/B TP/PGU-28A/B SAPHEI/PGU-30A/B TP-T", http://books.google.com/?id=k9cNAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA115, "Evolution of the M61 Vulcan Gatling Gun", http://tri.army.mil/lc/cs/csa/aagatlin.htm#M61, http://www.gd-ots.com/armament_systems/mbw_M61A1.html, "M61 A1 Vulcan - 20 mm Gatling gun system", http://www.f-16.net/f-16_armament_article5.html, AC-130H/U/J/W Spectre/Spooky II/Ghostrider/Stinger II, MC-130E/H/J/P Combat Talon I/Combat Talon II/Commando II/Combat Shadow, RC-135S/U/V/W COBRA BALL/Combat Sent/Rivet Joint, Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP), Defense Satellite Communications System (DSCS), AN/FPQ-16 Perimeter Acquisition Attack Characterization System (PARCS), AN/FPS-132 Upgraded Early Warning Radar (UEWR), AGM-84H/K Standoff Land Attack Missile - Expanded Response, AGM-86B/C/D Air-Launched Cruise Missile (ALCM), AGM-88A/B/C High-speed Anti-radiation Missile (HARM), AGM-114 Hellfire Air-to-Surface Missile (ASM), AGM-158 Joint Air-to-Surface Stand-off Missile (JASSM), AGM-176 Griffin Joint Air-to-Surface Stand-off Missile (JASSM), https://military.wikia.org/wiki/M61_Vulcan?oldid=5223884, Pages using duplicate arguments in template calls, M61A1: 248 pounds (112 kg) without feed system, 6-barrel (progressive RH parabolic twist, 9 grooves). It was also adopted as standard in the "teen"-series air superiority fighters, the Grumman F-14 Tomcat, the McDonnell Douglas F-15 Eagle, General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon and McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Hornet. M61 Vulcan and other designs. During service in the Vietnam War the pods proved to be relatively inaccurate: the pylon mounting was not rigid enough to prevent deflection when firing, and repeated use would misalign the pod on its pylon, making matters worse. Elevation was limited to +80 and -5 and effective range was out to 5 kilometers depending on ammunition type. The original Gatling gun had fallen out of favor because of the need for an external power source to rotate the barrel assembly, but the new generation of turbojet-powered fighters offered sufficient electric power to operate the gun, and electric operation was more reliable than gas-operated reloading. Hydraulically operated, electrically fired, 3,450 feet per second (1,050 m/s) with PGU-28/B round. A variety of Armor-Piercing Incendiary (API), High Explosive Incendiary (HEI), and training rounds are available. The PGU-28/B has not been without problems, however. [citation needed] In 1947, the Air Force became a separate branch of the military. [citation needed], In 1993, General Electric sold its aerospace division, including GE Armament Systems along with the design and production tooling for the M61 and GE's other rotary cannon, to Martin Marietta. Incorporating the same basic principle invented by Richard J. Gatling in the 1860s, the M61A1 multiple gun barrels rotate rapidly to allow a high rate of, In order to avoid using the few hundred rounds carried in a matter of a single trigger pull, a burst controller is generally used to limit the number of rounds fired at each trigger pull. McCarthy Jr. pp. The M61 is a six-barreled 20mm rotary cannon that fires at up to 6,600 rounds per minute. The M61 and its derivatives have been the principal cannon armament of United States military fixed-wing aircraft for sixty years. [17] It was integrated into the newer F-4E Phantom II variants. 58th TFS; First kill at supersonic speed (Mach 1.2); Major Phil Handley/WSO 1LT J. J. Smallwood, AN/FSQ-224 Morón Optical Space Surveillance (MOSS). While captured German designs (principally the Mauser MG 213C) showed the potential of the single-barrel revolver cannon, the practical rate of fire of such a design was still limited by ammunition … 248 pounds (112.5 kg) 202 pounds (light barrel), 228 pounds (heavy barrel) (91.6, 103.4 kg) Rate of fire. 8 milliradians diameter, 80 percent circle. Combat experience in Vietnam showed that a gun could be more effective than guided missiles in many combat situations and that an externally carried gun pod was less effective than an internal gun; the first generation of gun pods such as the SUU-16 were not oriented with the sights of the fighter. [26] It was integrated into the newer F-4E Phantom II variants. The self-powered Vulcan weighs about 10 pounds (4.5 kg) more than its electric counterpart, but requires no external power source to operate, except for an electric, inertia starter to initiate gun rotation, allowing the first rounds to be chambered and fired. Tran Hanh, and the only survivor from the four MiGs, reported that U.S. jets had pursued them and that F-105s had shot down three of his aircraft, killing Lieutenants Pham Giay, Le Minh Huan, and Tran Nguyen Nam. The 20mm Hispano carried by the P-38 while formidable against propeller driven planes was deemed a relatively low velocity weapon in the age of jets, while other cannon were notoriously unreliable. The Phalanx is based around a single 20mm M61 Vulcan rotary cannon. The round is fired by an electric priming system where an electric current from a firing lead passes through the firing pin to the primer as each round is rotated into the firing position. [5], The Vulcan's rate of fire is typically 6,000 rounds per minute, although some versions (such as that of the AMX and the F-106 Delta Dart) are limited to a lower rate, and others (A-7 Corsair) have a selectable rate of fire of either 4,000 or 6,000 rounds per minute. The report estimated that the current PGU-28/B had a potential failure rate 80 times higher than USAF standards permit.[7]. A linkless ammunition feed system was developed for the upgraded M61A1, which subsequently became the standard cannon armament of U.S. [12][13][14], The first confirmed Vulcan gun kill occurred on 29 June 1966 when Major Fred Tracy, flying his F-105 Thunderchief with the 421st TFS, fired 200 rounds of 20mm into a MiG-17 that had just fired a 23mm shell through one side of his cockpit and which exited out the other side. If you are on Mac, copy this airplane ID to the clipboard and press CMD+L while in the designer in SimplePlanes to download this airplane. The M61 Vulcan is a 20mm hydraulically or pneumatically driven, six-barreled, air-cooled, electrically fired Gatling-style autocannon with an extremely high rate of fire. [10], The feed system must be custom-designed for each application, adding 300–400 lb (140–180 kg) to the complete weapon. The main types of combat rounds and their main characteristics are listed in the table below. The idea of powering a Gatling gun from an external electric power source was not a novel idea at the end of World War II, as Richard Jordan Gatling himself had done just that with a patent he filed in 1893. General Electric didn’t simply scale up its 20-millimeter M61 Vulcan system, as that would have resulted in a gun that far exceeded the Air Force’s maximum weight requirement. The M61 Vulcan is a hydraulically, electrically or pneumatically driven, six-barrel, air-cooled, electrically fired Gatling-style rotary cannon which fires 20 mm rounds at an extremely high rate (typically 6,000 rounds per minute). The Vulcan first entered aerial combat on 4 April 1965 when four North Vietnamese Air Force MiG-17s (J-5s)[20] attacked a force of 10 escorting North American F-100 Super Sabres (2 of which were assigned weather reconnaissance duties) and 48 Vulcan-armed and "bomb-laden" F-105 Thunderchiefs, shooting down two of the latter. The higher speeds of jet-powered fighter aircraft meant that achieving an effective number of hits would be extremely difficult without a much higher volume of fire. A disadvantage of the M61 is that the bulk of the weapon, its feed system, and ammunition drum makes it difficult to fit it into a densely packed airframe. [citation needed] The size of the airframe and available internal space limits the size of the ammunition drum and thus limits the ammunition capacity. According to the manufacturer, General Dynamics the API, HEI, and practice shells all have the same size, weight, muzzle velocity, and accuracy. The new PGU-28/B round was developed in the mid-1980s. The self-powered Vulcan weighs about 10 lb (4.5 kg) more than its electric counterpart, but requires no external power source to operate. The rotor and housing have also been modified to remove any piece of metal not absolutely needed for operation and replaces some metal components with lighter weight materials. Technically not a “machine gun” in the modern sense, it was spring-loaded and hand-cranked. Click on Picture to enlarge M61 ammo belt The initial M61 used linked, belted ammunition, but the ejection of spent links created considerable (and ultimately insuperable) problems. [citation needed]. No tracer or self-destruct. 1 History 1.1 Project Vulcan 1.2 VADS 1.3 Phalanx 2 Design details 3 Ammunition 4 Variants 4.1 M61 4.2 VADS 4.3 Phalanx 5 Gallery 6 … 35th TFS; The F4E was the first Phantom II to enter the war with an internal Vulcan gun. At the end of World War II, the United States Army began to consider new directions for future military aircraft guns. A linkless ammunition feed system was developed for the upgraded M61A1, which subsequently became the standard cannon armament of U.S. The gun rotor, barrel assembly and ammunition feed system are rotated by a hydraulic drive motor through a system of flexible drive shafts. M61 A1 Vulcan installation in a BAF F-16B, with all access panels open. The General Electric M61A1 Vulcan is a 6-barrel 20mm cannon of the gatling-type. Lockheed Martin Armament Systems was later acquired by General Dynamics, who currently produce the M61 and its variants. A lighter version of the Vulcan, the M61A2, was developed for use on the F-22 Raptor, which is mechanically the same as the M61A1 but with thinner barrels to reduce overall weight to 93 kilograms (202 pounds), allowing it to reach a slightly higher maximum rate of … General Electric took up “Project Vulcan” in 1946 to develop the 20mm rotary cannon that could be capable of firing 7,200 rounds per minute. Dispersion. Mean time between jams or failures is in excess of 10,000 rounds, making it an extremely reliable weapon. fighters. The original Gatling gun had fallen out of favor because of the need for an external power source to rotate the barrel assembly, but the new generation of turbojet-powered fighters offered sufficient electric power to operate the gun, and electric operation was more reliable than gas-operated reloading. The M61 was originally produced by … This variant fed from ammunition boxes fitted to the landing skid and was developed to provide the AH-1 helicopter with a longer-range suppressive fire system before the adoption of the M97 Universal Turret mounting the M197 cannon. The General Electric M61A1 Vulcan is a 6-barrel 20mm cannon of the gatling-type. The M61 Vulcan is a hydraulically or pneumatically driven, six-barrel, air-cooled, electrically fired Gatling-style rotary cannon which fires 20 mm rounds at an extremely high rate (typically 6,000 rounds per minute). The PGU-28/B is a "low-drag" round designed to reduce in-flight drag and deceleration, and has a slightly increased muzzle velocity of 3,450 feet per second (1,050 m/s). A lesson of World War II air combat was that German, Italian and Japanese fighters could attack American aircraft from long range with their cannon main armament. Around 1988 a new round was introduced, the PGU-28/B,[6] which is now standard for US Navy and Air Force aircraft. $12.99. Both are considered inadequate for current missile and aircraft threats, and are being replaced by surface-to-air missile (SAM) systems like the FIM-92 Stinger and RIM-116 Rolling Airframe Missile. The F/A-18E/F Super Hornet also uses this version. Used on a wide variety of vehicles and aircraft, it’s the perfect addition to your builds! The firing rate is selectible at 4,000 spm or 6,000 spm. Both pods contained 1,200 rounds of ammunition, with a loaded weight of 1,615 and 1,720 pounds (733 and 780 kg) respectively. Bursts of from two or three up to 40 or 50 can be selected. 2 m effective radius to produce casualties to exposed personnel. Used initially during the Vietnam war, the M168 was a 20 mm air-cooled rotary cannon attached to a small turret on the M163. The M61 mounted on an Israeli M163 armored vehicle. This proved to cause serious aerodynamic drag at higher speeds, while speeds under 400 miles per hour (640 km/h) did not provide enough airflow for the maximum rate of fire. The success of the Vulcan Project and its subsequent progeny, the very-high-sp… 35th TFS; The F4E was the first Phantom II to enter the war with an internal Vulcan gun. Eventually, the 20×102 mm cartridge was determined to have the desired balance of projectile and explosive weight and muzzle velocity. The MiG Leader, Capt. Practically no powered rotary cannon is supplied with sufficient ammunition for a full minute of firing, due to its weight.
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