Minigun
| Minigun | |
|---|---|
|
|
| general information | |
| Country of operation: | United States |
| Developer / Manufacturer: | General Electric |
| Furnishing | |
| Overall length: | 800 mm |
| Weight: (unloaded) | 16 kg |
| Barrel length : | 559 mm |
| Technical specifications | |
| Caliber : | 7.62 × 51 mm NATO |
| Possible magazine fillings : | up to 4000 cartridges |
| Ammunition supply : | Belt feed or loose via helix device |
| Cadence : | up to 6000 rounds / min |
| Fire types: | Continuous fire |
| Number of trains : | 4 per run |
| Twist : | right |
| Closure : | Scene controlled |
| Charging principle: | Electric drive |
| Lists on the subject | |
With Minigun one by which it is in the narrower sense Gatling principle working fully automatic firearm in the standard caliber 7,62 x 51 mm NATO designated. The term minigun only includes the M134 or GAU-2 and GAU-17 - different names for the same weapon. However, other Gatling guns are incorrectly referred to as miniguns in common parlance. In the Bundeswehr , the M134 version M134D-H has the designation MG6 .
development
During the Vietnam War, the US armed forces mainly used helicopters to transport soldiers and equipment to the operational area. However, they found that the unarmored helicopters were very vulnerable to enemy handguns and anti-tank handguns such as the RPG on approach . The helicopters were equipped with single-barrel machine guns to suppress enemy forces (especially with the M60 ), but they overheated very quickly or jammed . Therefore, in the 1960s, the US military began to develop modern, electrically powered variants of fully automatic weapons that function according to the Gatling principle as on-board weapons.
With the order to develop a weapon with higher reliability and rate of fire, the General Electric engineers downsized the existing 20 mm Gatling cannon M61 Vulcan to the NATO standard caliber 7.62 × 51 mm . The result was the six- barreled XM134 , which became known under the synonym "Minigun" ("(machine) gun" with rifle ammunition to distinguish it from "(auto) cannon", which fires grenades). The machine gun could fire 6000 rounds per minute without overheating because the thermal load is distributed over six barrels. Since unfired cartridges were mechanically ejected due to the Gatling principle, it did not block in the event of a misfire. The reloading function is carried out by an external electric motor; the direction of rotation is right. Each barrel has its own lock. The ammunition can be supplied with belts or beltless via a helix device (ammunition chamber with a screw conveyor belt ( flexible feed chute )).
The minigun was installed as an on-board weapon in various military aircraft. It was installed in the helicopters OH-6 Cayuse and OH-58 Kiowa as well as in the combat helicopter AH-1 Cobra in the side weapon carrier stations and as manually operated defensive armament ( Doorgunner ) in the transport helicopter UH-1 "Huey" Iroquois and other flying units .
Some larger aircraft were equipped with miniguns as side armament for close air support, for example the gunship aircraft AC-47 "Spooky" (also known as " Puff the Magic Dragon ", converted Douglas C-47s ), Fairchild AC-119 Gunships ( "Shadow" and "Stinger", converted Fairchild C-119 ), as well as the AC-130A Projekt Pave Pronto (Gunship II) (modified C-130A "Hercules" transport aircraft ), the CH-53 ( Sikorsky MH-53 ) , and the entire Sikorsky S-70 line of helicopters ( UH-60 Blackhawk / HH-60 Pave Hawk ) that were procured to replace the aging UH-1 Iroquois. The A-37 Dragonfly is the only fighter aircraft with a permanently installed minigun. The minigun was rarely mounted on tanks during the Vietnam War.
A gas pressure charger variant of the Minigun called the XM133 was also developed, but not mass-produced. Other Gatling weapons, especially the Russian models, are self-propelled via gas pressure or recoil.
variants
General Electric miniguns are used under various names in all major areas of the US armed forces. The original variant for the US Army was given the designation M134 , while the exact same weapon was called GAU-2B / A by the US Air Force . Later, a special edition of which was US Air Force as a defense weapon system for the helicopter UH-1N developed the GAU-17 / A was called. The GAU-17 / A is now also used by the US Navy and the US Marine Corps as a defensive armament for helicopters and hovercraft .
| US Army designation | US Air Force designation | US Navy designation | description |
|---|---|---|---|
| XM134 / M134 | GAU-2 / A | N / A | 7.62 × 51 mm NATO General Electric "Minigun", six-barrel machine gun |
| N / A | GAU-2A / A | N / A | GAU-2 / A further development, unknown changes |
| N / A | GAU-2B / A | Mk-25 Mod 0 | GAU-2A / A further development; unknown changes |
| N / A | GAU-17 / A | N / A | GAU-2B / A further development; optimized for flexible applications, uses MAU-201 / A or MAU-56 / A "delinking feeder" |
| XM196 | N / A | N / A | M134 / GAU-2B / A further development; Housing modified for an additional ejector gear; Application in the XM53 chin arm turret system of the AH-56 combat helicopter |
Dillon Aero markets a modernized M134 under the name M134D . According to the company, this is used by the armed forces of the USA and many other countries for combating ground targets, as a gun on light vehicles, for air defense on ships and by special forces. A lighter weight M134DT is also available.
The weapon is operated with an ammunition container with a capacity of 4400 cartridges and fires 3000 rounds per minute. A service life of around 100,000 rounds is specified for the barrel set, the service life of the system is around 1 million rounds. According to the manufacturer, the weapon blocks an average of every 30,000 rounds and can be made operational again in less than a minute.
The gun gained some notoriety through the television series Monster Garage . In one episode, one of the protagonists destroys a failed car conversion with a Dillon M134D.
Garwood Industries also manufactures a refined version of the minigun under the name "M134G".
Gun container and attachment
The General Electric minigun in caliber 7.62 × 51 mm was installed by the US armed forces in weapon containers and in special devices in the aforementioned gunship aircraft. Until special holding devices were developed, the miniguns were attached to the available weapon holders.
| US Army designation | US Air Force designation | US Navy designation | description |
|---|---|---|---|
| XM18 | SUU-11 / A | N / A | Gun container with the GAU-2 / A 7.62 mm |
| XM18E1 / M18 | SUU-11A / A | N / A | SUU-11 / A variant; various innovations, for example second external drive source and adjustable rate of fire (2000 or 4000 rounds per minute) |
| M18E1 / A1 | SUU-11B / A | N / A | SUU-11A / A variant; Changes unknown |
| N / A | MXU-470 / A | N / A | Emerson Electric bracket for mounting the GAU-2B / A minigun; used in the AC-47, AC-119G / K and C-130A / E / H aircraft |
| N / A | N / A | Mk-77 Mod 0 | Device for mounting the GAU-2 / Mk-25 Mod 0 / GAU-17 series as deck armament |
Various copies of the minigun were also installed as additional armament in helicopters, with most of these systems being developed in the USA.
Other uses
While the minigun is mainly used in airplanes and helicopters, it was occasionally mounted on land vehicles. Since the beginning of the development of the minigun, the US military tried to incorporate the weapon as an on-board weapon for vehicles and as an infantry weapon. This resulted in weapons like the XM214 Microgun with a smaller caliber 5.56 × 45 mm NATO .
It is possible for a physically strong person to carry and fire a minigun. However, this is not only a problem because of the very poor accuracy. Apart from the enormous recoil force of about 1113 N (113.5 kp), an M134 with 2000 cartridges and the required battery pack would weigh about 80 kg. In addition, a minigun shooter with 2000 cartridges only had about 20 seconds of continuous fire, which would have a devastating effect on stationary targets, but would hardly appear useful in modern war scenarios. If a minigun is used, infantrymen who fire this weapon use a mount .
Technical comparison
| Surname | drive | caliber | cadence | Muzzle velocity |
Gun weight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| mm | rpm | m / s | kg | ||
| Miniguns | |||||
| XM214 | External drive | 5.56 | 6000 | 990 | 12.25 |
| M134, GAU-2, GAU-17 | External drive | 7.62 | 4000 | 854 | 16 |
| Comparable Gatling guns | |||||
| GSchG-7.62 | Gas pressure charger | 7.62 | 6000 | 850 | 19th |
See also
- List of hand weapons of the Bundeswehr
- Gatling (weapon class)
- Gatling repeater gun
- GSchG-7.62
- JakB-12.7
- M61 Vulcan
- XM214
- M197
literature
- Tom Gervasi: Information on the XM214. In: Arsenal of Democracy III. America's War Machine. Grove Press, New York 1984.
- Chris McNab: Small arms. Kaiserverlag, Klagenfurt 2007, ISBN 3-7043-1440-4 .
Web links
- http://users.bigpond.net.au/minigun/specs.htm ( Memento from September 19, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) - Specs on a variety of minigun models
- Flash animation of a Gatling cannon
- Manufacturer site
- Promotional videos Dillon Aero
- The MG6 machine gun - the Bundeswehr's first mini-gun (M134D-H as MG6, YouTube video, June 11, 2019)
Individual evidence
- ↑ FPSRussia: FPSRussia - THE MINIGUN. September 22, 2011, accessed November 13, 2016 .