M45 quad mount
| M45 quad mount | |
|---|---|
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| general information | |
| Manufacturer country: | United States |
| Weapon Category: | Machine gun |
| Furnishing | |
| Barrel length : | 1654 mm |
| Technical specifications | |
| Caliber : | 12.7 × 99 mm NATO |
| Cadence : | 2400 rounds / min |
| Fire types: | Continuous fire |
| Visor : | Reflex sight |
| Lists on the subject | |
The M45 Quadmount is an American quadruple MG in .50BMG caliber . It was used by the United States Army and its allies during and after World War II .
description
Colloquially also called Maxson Mount , it was a mount with four Browning M2 machine guns.
Three systems were used as a standard mobile platform:
- the M55 Machine Gun Trailer Mount on a single-axle trailer type M20, which was pulled by a light truck (on the road also by a jeep ),
- the M51 Multiple Machine Gun Carriage on a trailer with a tandem axle of the type M17 (originally a platform trailer for a headlight), pulled by a medium or heavy truck or a tractor unit.
In the firing position, the gun platform was stabilized by means of four supports that were attached to the corners of the trailer.
- the M16 Multiple Gun Motor Carriage , mounted on an M3 half-track.
In addition, there was the possibility of placing the carriage on the ground. If required, other variants (e.g. in-house work) such as assembly on a truck were used.
The vertical and lateral directions were carried out by means of electric motors. Two batteries and a battery charger were included for power supply. The gunner sat between the machine guns arranged in pairs and was able to cover the elevation range from 0 ° to + 60 ° within a second. The change of the side direction occurred at a similarly high speed.
The ammunition was fed mechanically (in some test models also electrically) via box magazines. Each contained 200 rounds of belted ammunition (soft core or armor piercing). A marine reflex sight was used as the aiming device.
Despite the small caliber for an anti-aircraft gun, it was an effective weapon, as a large number of projectiles could be brought into the air through the four tubes. The weapon remained - mostly as the M16 - in use by the armies of various countries until the 1970s. The M16A1 variant was part of the initial equipment of the Bundeswehr .
Further development
Israel developed the TCM-20 anti - aircraft gun from the M45 , in which the four machine guns were replaced by two 20 mm Hispano-Suiza HS.404 automatic cannons . This was then replaced in the 1970s by the M163 Vulcan air defense system . However, some reserve units still had the TCM-20 until the 1980s, which were also exported to various third world countries.
Technical specifications
| Maxson Mount | |
|---|---|
| Type: | Quadruple anti-aircraft machine gun |
| Carriage: | Center pivot mount |
| Caliber: | .50 BMG |
| Pipe length: | 1654 mm |
| Shot height eff .: | about 1000 m |
| Muzzle velocity: | 884 m / s |
| Weight of the carriage: | 1087 kg |
| Side straightening circle: | 360 ° |
| Elevation range: | - 5 ° to + 85 ° |
| Rate of fire: | 2400 rounds / min. (cyclically all weapons) |
Pulled platforms
Trailer M20
Trailer M17
swell
- Chris Bishop: Weapons of World War II. Bechtermünz, Augsburg 2000, ISBN 3-8289-5380-8 .
- Gordon L. Rottman : Browning .50-Caliber Machine Guns. Osprey Publishing, 2010, ISBN 978-1-84908-331-7 , pp. 19-20.
