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NAME: VULCAN 20-MM GATLING GUN DESCRIPTION: The 6-barreled M61A1 Vulcan 20-mm Gatling gun has been the standard internal gun armament on most US combat aircraft for over 30 years. (The self-powered GAU 4 is virtually identical.) The M61 operates on the Gatling principle. 6 20-mm barrels are mounted on a geared rotor that is driven by a 20-hp electric motor. As the motor turns the rotor, the cam follower on the bolt of each rotating barrel follows a fixed cam path in the gun housing, opening and closing the bolt once per revolution. Firing only once per revolution reduces each barrel's rate of fire to below that of most single-barrel revolver cannon. GE claims that this continuous rotary motion eliminates the impact loads on gun components and that sharing the thermal duty cycle among 6 barrels "significantly" increases barrel life. The use of external power eliminates jamming due to a misfired round. In aircraft with the double-ended, hydraulically driven link-less feed system, rounds stored along longitudinal rails within the drum are moved to the gun end by a helix; the helix is made of Fiber-Reinforced Plastic (FRP) in the F/A-18. A rotating scoop disc assembly transfers the rounds to a rotating retaining ring. The rounds travel partway around the ring to the exit unit, which puts the rounds into the chute that feeds the gun. Empty cases are returned to the drum for storage. STATUS: Initial operational capability on F-105 Thunderchief in 1958. Built by General Electric Company, Burlington, Vermont. In production and in service with all US armed force branches and with several foreign air forces as well. USERS/PLATFORMS (The M61 gun is in widespread use by the United States and many other nations on the following aircraft. Aircraft are listed by the country of manufacture.)
CHARACTERISTICS:
Phalanx CIWS: Modified M61 for shipboard anti-missile use. Built-in pulse-Doppler J-band fire control radar, and digital computer. See separate entry. Lightweight M61A1: Lighter weight, has linear link-less feed system, AIM-GUNS fire control software changes that expand the effective gun envelope, and PGU-28/B Semi-Armor-Piercing High Explosive Incendiary (SAPHEI) projectiles. Sea Vulcan JM-61-MB: M61 in open mount fitted on some Japanese maritime safety patrol craft.
M35 Armament sub-system:
Mounted under the Bell AH-1G Huey Cobra's left
sponson, the M35 has the XM-195 gun, which is an M61A1 gun modified with blast
deflectors. The system weighs 1,168 lb (530 kg) loaded, 595 lb (270 kg) empty
and carries about 950 rounds of ammunition which it fires at 4,500 shots/min.
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