Weapon of the century: small arms. Russian Navy: rain of fire. The most formidable multi-barreled weapon in Russia and the USA The fastest-firing gun

Rapid-fire weapon with a rotating barrel block - an essential element of science fiction action films and computer games. Movies often feature beefy Rambos with six-barreled machine guns spraying lead on villains. Thanks to Hollywood, these “lawnmowers” ​​have firmly established themselves as superweapons. At the same time, cannons and machine guns, working according to the scheme of the American inventor Richard Gatling, have long been in service with a number of countries. The destructive power of the "multi-barreled guns" truly amazes the imagination. RIA Novosti publishes a selection of the most formidable weapons with a rotating barrel block.

Most famous

The American M134 Minigun rapid-fire machine gun is perhaps the most famous Gatling gun in existence. Action films about brave US Marines or military footage from the Middle East rarely do without this six-barreled machine of 7.62 mm caliber. Since the 1960s, American gunsmiths have managed to introduce it wherever possible. M134s are installed in the hatches of army Hummers, on guard towers, patrol boats, helicopters, armored personnel carriers, and fortifications. Still six thousand rounds per minute - a serious argument in any critical situation.

Contrary to stereotypes in Gatling weapons, not all barrels fire at the same time. In the M134, the cartridge is sent into the lower, cooled barrel, the shot is fired from above, and the cartridge case is ejected from the right. Thus, the barrels fire one at a time and have time to reload and cool down while the remaining five are “working.” Such a scheme eliminates the main obstacle to an ultra-high rate of fire - weapon overheating. Most other machine guns with a rotating barrel block work in a similar way.

The M134's "big brother" is the M61 Vulcan 20mm six-barreled aircraft gun. For almost 60 years it has been installed on American combat aircraft, attack helicopters and ground landing gear. This system is capable of hitting both air and ground targets quite effectively. But, like the M134, today it is considered obsolete.

The fastest

Russian AK-630M-2 "Duet" installations are a modern modification of the Soviet six-barrel shipborne AK-630 systems. The new system differs from its predecessor primarily in the presence of two guns and complex electronic “stuffing”, which makes it possible to largely automate the process of targeting and tracking targets. One "Duet" is capable of unleashing a record ten thousand 30-mm shells per minute on the enemy. This is sufficient to destroy any air target at a distance of up to four kilometers and at altitudes of up to five kilometers. - be it a supersonic aircraft, a drone or a cruise missile. And at close ranges, naval “six-barreled guns” are capable of severely damaging or even destroying a small warship. The AK-630 family complexes are the last and strongest line of defense of the naval squadron.

To date, AK-630M-2 are installed in the stern of five small missile ships of the Buyan-M project, as well as on the large landing ship Ivan Gren, which is due to enter service with the Northern Fleet in November this year. In addition, the Ministry of Defense plans to re-equip a number of other ships carrying older AK-630s with Duets.

The most armor-piercing

The pinnacle of development of weapons with a rotating barrel block can perhaps be called the American GAU-8 Avenger aircraft gun - The main armament of the A-10 Thunderbolt II attack aircraft. Weight of the entire cannon installation with a cartridge feed system and a full drum of 30 mm shells - almost two tons, and the A-10, fueled and ready for takeoff, weighs ten tons. The plane is actually built around this three-meter, seven-barreled monster. Actually, the gun is the only reason why the Thunderbolt II attack aircraft remain in service with the US Air Force - in terms of their flight performance characteristics and on-board equipment, they are significantly inferior to machines of the same class in other countries.

The GAU-8 fires up to 4,200 armor-piercing sub-caliber projectiles with a depleted uranium core at a target per minute. Due to the colossal recoil and the danger of powder gases entering the air intakes, pilots usually fire short bursts of two to three seconds. This is enough to completely cover a column of a dozen heavy combat vehicles. The A-10 was conceived as an anti-tank aircraft; the specifics of its combat use involve attacking a target in the upper hemisphere, which is least protected by armor. In Afghanistan and Iraq, attack aircraft armed with GAU-8 showed good results. However, in a war with an enemy with advanced air defense, the chances of these subsonic aircraft to survive are rapidly decreasing.

The most heaped

The YakB four-barrel aircraft machine gun of 12.7 mm caliber was created in the late 70s specifically for the Mi-24, the latest attack helicopters at that time. Large-caliber Soviet Gatling guns underwent their baptism of fire in Afghanistan. Army aviation pilots immediately fell in love with the new machine guns for their exceptionally high density of fire and nicknamed the YakB-12.7 “metal cutter.” This weapon justified its nickname more than once: in August 1982, near Kandahar, one helicopter “cut” in half a bus leading a caravan of dushmans with a burst from a machine gun. The Afghan militants were lucky that the Mi-24 fired across the column, and not along it - with a maximum rate of fire of 5,500 rounds per minute, it could riddled the entire caravan in one go.

It is this machine gun that holds a unique and still unbroken record. On October 27, 1982, during an air battle, an Iraqi Mi-24 was able to shoot down an Iranian F-4 Phantom II fighter from a YakB-12.7. This is the only documented case in the history of world aviation when a helicopter was able to destroy a supersonic jet using an onboard machine gun. This was largely achieved thanks to the excellent accuracy of the weapon. However, the YakB-12.7 had some problems with reliability. The experience of Afghanistan has shown that the machine gun is quite capricious and susceptible to contamination. This drawback was eliminated in the modification YaBKYu-12.7, which was put into service in 1988.

The fastest firing weapon in the world

The beginning of the quest to produce the fastest-firing weapons in the world can be considered the creation of a rapid-firing machine gun by Dr. Gatling in 1862. It was then that Richard Gatling patented the Revolving Battery Gun - a multi-barreled machine gun with rotating barrels. The rate of fire of this gun ranged from 400 (in early models with manual drive) to 3000 rounds per minute (in later models with electric drive). Almost 150 years have passed since then, and the principles used in this machine gun remain unchanged.

The principle of a rotary machine gun, which was used in the Gatling machine gun, was also in demand in the 20th century.

Some of the popular machine guns were the six-barreled XM 134 and XM 214, with calibers of 7.62 and 5.54 mm. Their rate of fire reached 10,000 rounds per minute. They had 30 kg of ammunition, which the machine gun could “spit out” in a minute of shooting, power was supplied to them via a cable, and the recoil of 110 kg did not allow them to be fired hand-held. Another similar “toy” was the 20 mm Vulcan aircraft gun, which weighed 136 kg and fired 6,000 rounds per minute.

But our analogue to imported models, the GSh-6-23M, with its rate of fire of 10,000 rounds per minute, turned out to be twice lighter and more reliable, since it is not an electric motor, but the energy of powder gases that is used to rotate the barrels. Its recoil recoil is 5 tons and its recoil is 3.5 tons. This gun is designed to destroy ground and air targets, including cruise missiles. Installed on MiG-31, Su-24 aircraft. This particular gun is the fastest-firing gun in the world, although not the fastest-firing weapon overall.

The next step in the world of rapid fire was the development of a rifle system with a combat rate of fire exceeding one million rounds per minute. Mike O Dwyer ( Mike O Dwyer) from the Australian company Metal Storm, a 36-barrel installation was invented in the late 1990s, which showed more than a million rounds per minute in test firing. Naturally, a million bullets were not fired, but nevertheless, the rate of fire record was recorded after 540 shots from this installation.

Conventional mechanisms and charges cannot operate at such a speed, so the installation from Metal Storm used special ammunition, which is a barrel in which bullets are placed sequentially, and between them is a flammable accelerating mixture. To fire a shot, an electronic ignition method is used, which makes it possible to achieve perfect accuracy of the delay between shots.

It is this installation from Metal Storm that is today the fastest-firing weapon in the world.

MOSCOW, September 24 – RIA Novosti, Andrey Kots. Rapid-fire weapons with a rotating barrel block are an essential element of science fiction action films and computer games. Movies often feature beefy Rambos with six-barreled machine guns spraying lead on villains. Thanks to Hollywood, these “lawnmowers” ​​have firmly established themselves as superweapons. At the same time, cannons and machine guns, working according to the scheme of the American inventor Richard Gatling, have long been in service with a number of countries. The destructive power of multi-barreled guns is truly amazing. RIA Novosti publishes a selection of the most formidable weapons with a rotating barrel block.

The Russian fleet has grown "Pantsir". Others won't have it for long"Pantsir-ME" reliably protects the ship within a radius of 20 kilometers (the height of the air defense dome is 15 kilometers) from all modern means of air attack: cruise missiles, supersonic anti-ship missiles, aerial bombs and drones.

The most famous

The American M134 Minigun rapid-fire machine gun is perhaps the most famous Gatling gun in existence. Action films about brave US Marines or military footage from the Middle East rarely do without this six-barreled machine of 7.62 mm caliber. Since the 1960s, American gunsmiths have managed to introduce it wherever possible. M134s are installed in the hatches of army Hummers, on guard towers, patrol boats, helicopters, armored personnel carriers, and fortifications. Still, six thousand rounds per minute is a serious argument in any critical situation.

To replace the Makarov: Kalashnikov introduced a new pistolThe PL-15K is created on the basis of the full-size PL-15 pistol and has similar internal mechanisms and operating principles of automation. The weight of the pistol without cartridges was 0.72 kilograms. Magazine capacity - 14 rounds.

Contrary to stereotypes, Gatling weapons do not fire all barrels at the same time. In the M134, the cartridge is sent to the lower, cooled barrel, the shot is fired from above, the cartridge case is ejected — on right. Thus, the barrels fire one at a time and have time to reload and cool down while the remaining five are “working.” Such a scheme eliminates the main obstacle to an ultra-high rate of fire — weapon overheating. Most other machine guns with a rotating barrel block work in a similar way.

The M134's "big brother" is the M61 Vulcan 20mm six-barreled aircraft gun. For almost 60 years it has been installed on American combat aircraft, attack helicopters and ground landing gear. This system is capable of hitting both air and ground targets quite effectively. But, like the M134, today it is considered obsolete.

The fastest

Russian AK-630M-2 "Duet" installations are a modern modification of the Soviet six-barrel shipborne AK-630 systems. The new system differs from its predecessor primarily in the presence of two guns and complex electronic “stuffing”, which makes it possible to largely automate the process of targeting and tracking targets. One "Duet" is capable of unleashing a record ten thousand 30-mm shells per minute on the enemy. This is sufficient to destroy any air target at a distance of up to four kilometers and at altitudes of up to five kilometers - be it a supersonic aircraft, a drone or a cruise missile. And at close ranges, naval “six-barreled guns” are capable of severely damaging or even destroying a small warship. The AK-630 family complexes are the last and strongest line of defense of the naval squadron.

To date, AK-630M-2 are installed in the stern of five small missile ships of the Buyan-M project, as well as on the large landing ship Ivan Gren, which is due to enter service with the Northern Fleet in November this year. In addition, the Ministry of Defense plans to re-equip a number of other ships carrying older AK-630s with Duets.

The most armor-piercing

The pinnacle of development of weapons with a rotating barrel block, perhaps, can be called the American GAU-8 Avenger aircraft cannon - the main weapon of the A-10 Thunderbolt II attack aircraft. The mass of the entire cannon installation with a cartridge supply system and a full drum of 30-mm shells is almost two tons, and the A-10, fueled and prepared for takeoff, weighs ten tons. The plane is actually built around this three-meter, seven-barreled monster. In fact, the cannon is the only reason why Thunderbolt II attack aircraft remain in service with the US Air Force - in terms of their flight performance and on-board equipment, they are significantly inferior to machines of the same class in other countries.

The GAU-8 fires up to 4,200 armor-piercing sub-caliber projectiles with a depleted uranium core at a target per minute. Due to the colossal recoil and the danger of powder gases entering the air intakes, pilots usually fire short bursts of two to three seconds. This is enough to completely cover a column of a dozen heavy combat vehicles. The A-10 was conceived as an anti-tank aircraft; the specifics of its combat use involve attacking a target in the upper hemisphere, which is least protected by armor. In Afghanistan and Iraq, attack aircraft armed with GAU-8 showed good results. However, in a war with an enemy with advanced air defense, the chances of these subsonic aircraft to survive are rapidly decreasing.

The most heaped

The YakB four-barrel aircraft machine gun of 12.7 mm caliber was created in the late 70s specifically for the Mi-24 attack helicopters, the latest at that time. Large-caliber Soviet Gatling guns underwent their baptism of fire in Afghanistan. Army aviation pilots immediately fell in love with the new machine guns for their exceptionally high density of fire and nicknamed the YakB-12.7 “metal cutter.” This weapon justified its nickname more than once: in August 1982, near Kandahar, one helicopter “cut” in half a bus leading a caravan of dushmans with a burst from a machine gun. The Afghan militants were lucky that the Mi-24 fired across the column, and not along it - with a maximum rate of fire of 5,500 rounds per minute, it could riddled the entire caravan in one go.

It is this machine gun that holds a unique and still unbroken record. On October 27, 1982, during an air battle, an Iraqi Mi-24 was able to shoot down an Iranian F-4 Phantom II fighter from a YakB-12.7. This is the only documented case in the history of world aviation when a helicopter was able to destroy a supersonic jet using an onboard machine gun. This was largely achieved thanks to the excellent accuracy of the weapon. However, the YakB-12.7 had some problems with reliability. The experience of Afghanistan has shown that the machine gun is quite capricious and susceptible to contamination. This drawback was eliminated in the modification YaBKYu-12.7, which was put into service in 1988.

Country: USA

Developed: 1959

Weight: 2.88−3.4 kg (depending on modification)

Length: 986−1006mm

Caliber: 5.56 mm

Rate of fire: 700−900 rds/min

Initial bullet speed: 948 m/s

M16

The rifle was developed by the American company Armalite, in 1959 the Colt company began its production, in 1961 the US military department purchased an experimental batch of rifles, and in 1964 it entered service with the US Army. To this day, the M16 remains the main weapon of the American infantry. It underwent its first serious baptism of fire in Vietnam, and was subsequently used in all armed conflicts involving the United States. This is a 5.56mm automatic rifle; its automation is based on the use of the energy of powder gases. Today, there are more than 20 modifications and varieties of the rifle, and it is produced not only in the USA, but also in Canada, South Korea, China, Iran, and Germany.

The most famous machine gun: Maxim machine gun

Country: Great Britain (modification - Russia)

Developed: 1883 (modification - 1910)

Weight: 64.3 kg (44.23 - machine with shield)

Length: 1067 mm

Caliber: 7.62 mm

Rate of fire: 600 rds/min

Initial bullet speed: 740 m/s

It is difficult to say that the Maxim is included in the list of the best small arms over the past 100 years, because the Anglo-American inventor Hiram Maxim received the first patents for individual elements of the new weapon in the summer of 1883, and in October 1884 he demonstrated the first working model. But one of the most famous varieties of Maxim appeared in 1910, which allows it to “fit” into the century.

Maxim machine gun

The principle of operation of the Maxim is simple and is based on the use of barrel recoil. Powder gases from the shot throw the barrel back and activate the reloading mechanism: the cartridge is removed from the belt and goes into the breech, while the bolt is cocked. The canvas belt held 450 rounds of ammunition, and the machine gun's rate of fire reached 600 rounds per minute. True, the powerful weapon was not flawless. Firstly, the barrel overheated greatly and required constant changes of water in the cooling casing. Another drawback was the complexity of the mechanism: the machine gun jammed due to various problems with reloading.

In Russia, production of the machine gun began in 1904 at the Tula plant. The most famous Russian modification of the Maxim was the 7.62 mm heavy machine gun of the 1910 model (the original caliber of the machine gun was 303 British or 7.69 mm in the metric system). In the same year, the designer, Colonel Alexander Sokolov, designed a wheeled machine gun for a machine gun - it was this machine that gave the weapon a classic look. The machine greatly simplified the issues of marching and moving a heavy machine gun from position to position.

But the total weight of the machine gun with the machine was still large - more than 60 kg, and this does not count the supply of cartridges, water for cooling, etc. Therefore, by the 1930s, the formidable weapon was rapidly becoming obsolete. The Soviet-style machine gun underwent its last modernization in 1941 and was produced in Tula and Izhevsk until the very end of World War II; it was replaced by a 7.62-mm Goryunov machine gun.

"Maxim" had many modifications: Finnish M/32−33, English "Vickers", German MG-08, 12.7 mm (large-caliber) for the British Navy, etc.

7.62 mm Shpagin submachine gun

The most legendary weapon of the Second World War: 7.62 mm Shpagin submachine gun

Country: USSR

Designed: 1941

Curb weight: 5.3 kg with drum

magazine, 4.15 kg with sector magazine

Length: 863 mm

Caliber: 7.62 mm

Rate of fire: 900 rds/min

Sighting range: 200−300 m The predecessor of the Kalashnikov assault rifle in the arsenal of the Soviet army was the Shpagin system submachine gun (PPSh). Created to replace the Degtyarev submachine gun, the PPSh was primarily designed to simplify production as much as possible and entered service in 1941. And although the Sudaev model 1942 design (PPS) is often considered the best submachine gun of World War II, it was the PPSh that became an integral part of the image of the Soviet soldier as the only mass-produced automatic weapon of the Soviet army in the first year of the war.

Metal Storm MK5

Fastest firing weapon: Metal Storm MK5

Country: Australia

Developed: 2004

Number of barrels: 36

Caliber: 9 mm

Estimated rate of fire: 1,080,000 rounds/min

Theoretical maximum rate of fire: 1,620,000 rounds/min

The ultra-high-speed weapon of the Australian company Metal Storm Limited is unlikely to ever go into mass production, but it cannot be ignored. The founder of the company, James Michael O'Dwyer, invented and patented a rapid fire system, the theoretical rate of fire of which reaches 1,000,000 rounds/min. The Metal Storm machine gun has no moving mechanical parts, each barrel simultaneously holds several cartridges, and shots are fired via an electronic pulse. The critical problem that the developers faced was the impossibility of supplying such a number of cartridges in a timely manner. Therefore, the rate of fire shown in tests is calculated, and the functionality of the “iron storm” is nullified when used in real combat. However, the company is developing in various directions and is using Metal Storm technologies in weapons that have a more realistic chance of being included in the series.

Colt M1911

Most popular pistol: Colt M1911

Country: USA

Designed: 1911

Weight: 1.075 kg

Length: 216 mm

Caliber: 45

Initial bullet speed: 253 m/s

Sighting range: 50 m

One of the most popular pistols in the world is the M1911 designed by John Browning and chambered for the .45 ACP cartridge (11.43 x 23 mm). This weapon was in service with the US Army from 1911 to 1990, and the pistol has not undergone any modernization since 1926. Despite the name of the developer, the pistol was produced by Colt factories and went down in history as the “Colt M1911.” Its main advantage was its design simplicity and fault tolerance. The pistol was in service in more than 40 countries around the world and is extremely popular to this day.

Reck Miami 92F

The most multi-shot gas pistol: Reck Miami 92 F

Country: Germany

Weight without cartridges: 1.14 kg

Length: 215 mm

Caliber: 8, 9, 15 mm

Food: magazine for 11 (for the 9 mm version), 18, 20, 24, 28 rounds

RECK Miami 92F is a gas pistol manufactured by the German company Umarex, which is an exact copy of the classic Beretta 92 pistol. RECK gas pistols come in 8 and 9 mm calibers. The 9mm version has a completely ordinary magazine with a capacity of 11 rounds, but 8mm RECK Miami magazines can hold from 18 to 28 (!) rounds, depending on the modification. Apart from prototypes, oddities and a 40-round magazine for the Mauser, the RECK Miami 92F has no competitors in the field of multi-charging.

M134 Minigun

Fastest-firing production weapon: M134 Minigun

Country: USA

Designed: 1962

Weight: 24−30 kg (machine gun body with electric motor and power mechanism)

Length: 801 mm

Caliber: 7.62 mm (0.308)

Rate of fire: from 300 to 6000 rounds/min (effective -

Initial bullet speed: 869 m/s

Of course, prototypes can be much faster-firing, but among production weapons, the aircraft machine guns of the M134 Minigun series are considered to be among the record holders for this indicator. These 7.62 mm six-barreled machine guns operate in a Gatling design and are capable of firing up to 6,000 rounds per minute. A new cartridge is fed into the upper (cooled) barrel, and the shot is fired from below. The rotation of the barrels is provided by an electric drive. The M134 received its baptism of fire in the Vietnam War. By the way, contrary to misconceptions, in “Predator” and “Terminator” it is not this machine gun that is used, but its younger brother, the XM214 Microgun, which did not go into production.

Mauser C96

The most officer's pistol: Mauser C96

Country: Germany

Designed: 1896

Weight without cartridges: 1.13 kg

Length: 288 mm

Cartridge: 7.63 x 25 mm, 9 mm x 25 mm, etc.

Initial bullet speed: 425 m/s

Sighting range: 150−200 m without stock

The Mauser C96 evokes in us a strong association with a man in a leather jacket and the abbreviation Cheka. This model began to be produced in Germany in 1896; the pistol stood out for its excellent accuracy, high effective firing range, and “survivability”; Its main disadvantages were bulkiness and serious mass. What is surprising is that the Mauser was not officially in service with any army in the world (maximum - partial local use), while more than a million copies were produced, and officers from different countries preferred it as a personal weapon to all competitors.

M1 Garand

The most famous repeating rifle: M1 Garand

Country: USA

Developed: 1936

Weight: 4.31−5.3 kg (depending on modification)

Length: 1104 mm

Caliber: 7.62 mm

Initial bullet speed: 853 m/s

Effective firing range: 400 m

The American M1 Garand rifle is the first self-loading rifle adopted as the main infantry weapon. It took a long time to implement: in 1929, designer John Garand built the first prototype, but it only reached serial production and service in 1936; Numerous modifications did not give the desired effect, and the new weapon constantly failed. Only the M1 generation, which was modified and put into production in 1941, gained popularity. It is still used as a sporting weapon to this day.

Kalashnikov assault rifle

Most common weapon: Kalashnikov assault rifle

Country: USSR

Developed: 1974 (modification of AK-74)

Curb weight: 3.5−5.9 kg

Length: 940 mm (without bayonet)

Caliber: 5.45 mm

Rate of fire: about 600 rds/min

Sighting range: 1000 m

The Kalashnikov assault rifle, the most widely used small arms in the world, has gained extraordinary popularity due to its reliability and ease of maintenance and has been produced in quantities of more than 100 million copies. There are several dozen of its modifications; in the original version (AK-47) it had a caliber of 7.62 mm, but the AK-74 modification uses a 5.45 mm cartridge, and in the “hundredth” series variants it also uses a 5.56 mm cartridge. In addition to the USSR, the machine gun was produced in Bulgaria, Hungary, East Germany, China, Poland, North Korea, Yugoslavia, and it was used in almost all countries of the world and in almost all armed conflicts of the second half of the 20th century.

The effectiveness of shooting depends on a number of characteristics. Among them, the rate of fire is of particular importance. This indicator determines how many shots a weapon is capable of firing per unit of time.

The fastest-firing machine guns are multi-barreled. They give a slower rate of fire from one barrel. However, the overall speed is much higher than the average for single-barreled guns.

What is the rate of fire:

• Real. Combat rate of fire takes into account the need to reload weapons and aim.
• Technical. When calculating this parameter, only the total number of shots that the weapon can fire per minute matters.
• It is also worth distinguishing the rate of fire. This is the technical speed achieved when opening fire in automatic mode. Leads to overheating of the gun and increased waste of ammunition.

The maximum rate of fire is shown by multi-barrel guns made according to the Gatling scheme:

• technical - up to 10,000 rounds per minute;
• combat - up to approximately 2,000 rounds per minute.

In recent decades, it has been considered more promising to invest in the development of shooting range and accuracy. High-velocity machine guns have a very high ammo consumption, making them too expensive to use.

M 134 Minigun

M 134 is a famous American machine gun built on the Gatling principle. Shoots at speeds from 3,000 to 6,000 rpm. The problem of barrel overheating in this system is solved by air cooling. Rotation accelerates the air, which reduces the temperature of overheated elements.

Officially, the M 134 is the fastest firing machine gun in the world. This is recorded in the Guinness Book of Records.

This is a smaller version of the Vulcan aircraft machine gun. Its light weight made it possible to equip not only attack aircraft, but also other aircraft.

The supply of cartridges is linkless, or from a loose belt using the “delinker” mechanism. The rotation of the barrels is started by an electric drive. The reliability of the device and high rate of fire made this weapon the most popular machine gun.

M 214 Microgun

The lightweight version of the XM 134 was designed to create high-density fire in infantry formations. With its help it was planned to arm small helicopters and cars. When mounted on a machine, it fired 4,000 bullets per minute. Potentially developed a rate of fire of up to 6,000.

However, this weapon did not become widespread. Practical application was complicated by numerous shortcomings of this development. The project remained realized only in the movies; according to the story, Arnold Schwarzenegger appears in the film “Terminator” with this weapon.

The high rate of fire made it difficult for the electrical unit to control the fire. The weight of the gun still remained significant, especially when assembled - with a machine tool, cartridges and battery. Strong recoil at a fast rate of fire reached up to 110 kg. This destroyed the fastenings, which complicated the process of managing the installation. In addition, the creators were never able to achieve good effective firing range indicators.

6K30GSh

6K30GSh is an anti-aircraft gun that fires up to 5,000 rounds per minute. It is a modification of the GSh-6-30K gun made by Gryazev-Shipunov.

When created, the Gatling principle was used, based on the rotation of a block of barrels. The cooling principle is evaporative, due to accelerated air. The weapon was intended to be installed on aircraft, so the entire system is controlled remotely.

The cartridges are fed via a linkless system. To start firing, an electric charge is sent to the cartridge. The independent drive operates on powder gases. The life limit of the shots is 8,000. The weapon was installed on ships for missile defense.

M61 Vulkan

General Electric developed its product in 1949 as part of a competition to create an aircraft machine gun. The design of the Vulcan was simple, but it marked a new milestone in the development of the Gatling system.

The M61A1 is the standard machine gun in service with American aircraft. In its most promising modification, it began to be used in 1956. It is distinguished by its reliable design and fires up to 6,000 – 6,000 bullets per minute.

Each barrel has its own chamber and bolt. The movement of the latter is possible due to rollers moving along a groove in the stem box. The cartridges come from the magazine using a linkless system.

Electro-capsule ignition. The drive system is usually external, hydraulic. In some modern modifications, the block is spun by an electric motor.

GSh-6-23

The Gryazev-Shipunov GSh-6-23 design used the Gatling system. This is a 6-barrel aircraft machine gun that fires 9,000 bullets per minute. Rotating barrels with bolts are combined into one block. It rotates in a fixed casing, along with the central star.

The shutters slide along the star, simultaneously making reciprocating movements. For each revolution they are recharged. The barrels at the same time fire a series of successive shots.

Acceleration is provided by a cassette pyrostarter with 10 squibs. The automation operates on the gun’s own powder gases. They enter the engine from the barrels through special holes.

Due to the high feed speed of the cartridges, the belt jerks and the links burst. Strong recoil loosens the mounts, knocks down the sight and has a bad effect on aircraft equipment. It is more effective to fire in short bursts. Reliability life – 18,000 shots.

MetalStorm

Australian and American specialists jointly developed a machine gun with a colossal rate of fire. A million or more rounds per minute are fired by the Metal Storm machine gun, created according to the O’Dwyer principle. This is the highest rate of fire for machine guns. At the same time, 1 barrel shoots about 45,000 rounds/min.

The traditional system of mechanical strikers cannot provide this. It was replaced by starters, which ignite charges due to electrical impulses. Several rounds are fed at a time - from 3 to 6 at a time. The intervals between shots were reduced to a fraction of seconds. All moving parts from the structure were removed, the only exception being the trigger. The creator also experimented with the number of rifled barrels.

Place	Name	Caliber	Rounds/min	A country
1	9	1 million - 1.62 million	Austria
2	TRW HIVAP	7,87	30 000 — 60 000	USA
3	GSh -6-23	23	9000	USSR
4	M61 Vulkan	20	6000 — 6600	USA
5	6K30SH	30	4500 — 5000	RF
6	M214 Microgun	5,56	4000 — 6000	USA
7	M134 Minigun	7.62	3000 — 6000	USA
8	Twin bullet MSSh	7,62	6000 — 6400	USSR
9	JakB	12,7	4000 — 4500	USSR
10	GAU-8	30	3900 — 4200	USA