The weapon was originally intended as a replacement for the coaxial weapon in the American M60 tank. The weapon was evaluated by both the US Army and the US Naval weapon center, who reported that the performance of the weapon was outstanding during all phases of testing. [2] However, neither chose to adopt the weapon. The above (excellent) article reminds us that we sent our warships into mortal combat during 1982 with hopelessly outdated gunnery AAW defences – and payed a heavy price for that grave policy error arguably. One fears we may be making exactly the same mistake again today. The only multiple barrel firearm that could be described as a chain gun would be the Johnston machine gun as it uses a chain drive to rotate the barrels. The L94A1 performs nearly identically to the L8A1 and FN MAG, having the same rate of fire and ballistic performance.

The Mk.44 is a great weapon and it saddens me to see the Army not adopting it for their AFV fleet. I have spent the last 15 years working with chain guns of differing calibres and uses but they all look virtually identical on the inside. The Northrop Grumman Bushmaster II Mk 44 30mm is part of a family of chain guns originally developed for armoured fighting vehicles but adapted for naval use. The gun itself weighs 154.6 kg and is 3.4m in length. Chinn, George M. (Lt.Col., USMC, Retd), ed. (1987). The Machine Gun: History, Evolution, and Development of Manual, Automatic, and Airborne Repeating Weapons (PDF). Vol.V. Ann Arbor, Michigan: Edward Brothers Publishing Co . Retrieved 19 March 2019. {{ cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: editors list ( link)

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How much money could the Army have saved for its woeful vehicle programmes by being more pragmatic? (Saying that I am still trying to fathom why the refurbished Warrior needs a cannon. Why not a RWS with a HMG and / or 40mm grenade launcher and no turret?) But we buy woeful Ajax instead……….Again as I often with naval matters I look to the wonderfully conducted Australian vehicle programmes. They will probably end up buying Lynx to compliment their Boxers… Because of its extremely high rate of fire, the Endless Musket Pouch should be used in regular combat to save more valuable shots for important boss fights.

The new gun is expected to increase the rate of fire that is seen now on the Apache. The company is taking experience from its suite of advanced ammunition technologies, like the 30mm ammunition line, to develop 20mm projectiles “with significantly improved lethality against a range of targets including troops, [unmanned aerial vehicles], rotary- and fixed-wing assets, and other assets in the deep battlespace,” Canole said. Naturally I welcome the news that HMS Queen Elizabeth will receive her 30mm outfit before her first operational deployment later this year. The shell can just be seen leaving the barrel – travelling at approx 1,000m per second. This is HMS Kent in 2008, like all Type 23 frigates she was subsequently retrofitted with the DS-30M Mk II mount. Stop-gap: the BMARC GCM-AO3-2 mount for twin Oerlikon 30mm, each capable of 650 rpm. These were fitted across the fleet in the mid-late 1980s to replace the 40mm Bofors and provide better close in air-defence or until more Phalanx CIWS mounts were available. Bolt operation. Probably the greatest benefit of a chain gun is the fact it can fire both open and closed bolt. You get the benefit of open bolt operation, better cooling and rate of fire or you can switch to closed bolt operation for more accurate fire.

Chlorophyte Bullets pair well with the Chain Gun, as their homing ability negates the gun's singular weakness of accuracy. Gunners on a Type 21 frigate during the 1980s operating the same weapon used by their grandfathers in the war – the Oerlikon 20mm Mk 7A. This was a crude but reliable weapon with a rate of fire between 500-800 rounds per min. The cylindrical drum magazine was changed by hand. Northrop Grumman is producing a 30mm x 113mm high-explosive proximity round that detects and detonates in proximity of a drone, defeating the threat without having to make a direct hit," explains McCollum. "If the round doesn't detect a target during flight, it self-destructs in the air at maximum range, protecting those on the ground. This makes the M230LF used in conjunction with proximity ammunition ideal for use against unmanned aerial threats." Losing Weight, Adding Stability and Safety