On-board weapon

The Mauser BK-27 automatic cannon was designed as an on-board weapon for use in the Eurofighter

FN MAG as a helicopter gun with spade handles

A North American AT-6 training machine, open day at Uetersen Airfield . Note the equipment with the still existing on-board machine guns.

An on-board weapon is a barrel weapon that is either permanently installed in a weapon carrier such as an aircraft, ship or land vehicle or can be permanently connected to it.

On-board weapons can either be installed rigidly or movably connected to the carrier on a mount . Movable on-board weapons are usually aimed and fired by a gunner . This is done either directly by manual movement and triggering the trigger or indirectly by remote control. Rigid on-board weapons in aircraft, also called on-board cannons, are usually triggered by the pilot himself. On-board weapons are mostly fully automatic weapons such as machine guns or machine cannons .

In the era of propeller fighter aircraft, machine guns specially designed for this purpose were often equipped with a synchronization so that they could fire through the propeller circle. Universal machine guns, on the other hand, offer other options. On the one hand, the piston can be removed and replaced with a spade handle and thumb trigger ( butterfly trigger ). On the other hand, the weapons can not only be fired manually, but also by remote cable triggering.

Individual evidence

1. ^ Duden, entry: on-board weapon