M230 chain gun
M230 Cannon | |
---|---|
Orbital ATK (2015–2018)[2] | |
Produced | Since 1975[1] |
Variants | M230LF |
Specifications | |
Mass | 59.5 kg (130 lb)[3] |
Length | 2,181 mm (85.9 in)[3] |
Width | 277.2 mm (10.9 in)[3] |
Height | 288.8 mm (11.4 in)[3] |
Shell | 30×113 mmB
|
Caliber | 30 millimetres (1.18 in) caliber |
Action | Open bolt |
Rate of fire | 625±25 rpm[3] |
Muzzle velocity | 805 m/s (2,641 ft/s) |
Effective firing range | 1,500 m (1,640 yd)[4] |
Maximum firing range | 4,000 m (4,370 yd)[5] |
The M230 Cannon is a 30 mm (30×113 mm), single-barrel electrically-driven autocannon, using external electrical power (as opposed to recoil or expanding gas generated by the firing cartridge) to cycle the weapon between shots. It was designed and manufactured originally by Hughes Helicopters in Culver City, California.[1] As of 2019[update], it is produced by Northrop Grumman Innovation Systems.[3]
Development
In 1972, Hughes Helicopters began a company-funded research effort to design a machine gun to fire the U.S. Army's M50 20 mm round.[6] By April 1973, the program had fired test rounds of more powerful 30 mm WECOM linked ammunition, from a prototype (A model). In January 1975, a model C was added, a linkless version for the proposed Advanced Attack Helicopter YAH-64; the helicopter was eventually adopted as the AH-64 Apache, with the model C as standard armament. The linked ammunition version was intended for use on the AH-1S Cobra as the M230E1, but was later dropped.[1]
Design
Apache and DAP mounts
The M230 Chain Gun is used on the MH-60L Direct Action Penetrator. It is also the Area Weapon System on the Boeing AH-64 Apache attack helicopter, mounted on the chin turret. It uses a 2 hp (1.5 kW) electric motor to fire 30 mm (1.2 in) linkless ammunition at a rate of 625±25 rounds per minute. The air-cooled gun's practical rate of fire is about 300 rounds per minute with a 10-minute cooling period.[7] The gun has a positive cook-off safety for open bolt clearing, and double ram prevention. Spent casings are ejected overboard through the bottom of the gun.
The mount on the AH-64 uses secondary hydraulics to move the gun. The elevation is provided via a single hydraulic actuator on the gun's centerline just forward of the pivot point. The gun is spring-loaded to return to its centerline stowed position with the barrel angled up about 11 degrees if hydraulic power is lost. This allows the gun, which is mounted below the copilot station, to collapse into a space between the pilots' stations in a hard landing.
The Apache can carry up to 1,200 rounds for the gun in a device known as the 12-PAK, designed and manufactured by Meggitt Defense Systems, Inc. However, U.S. Army Apaches can carry only 300 because they also have a special internal fuel tank, the Robertson IAFS (known as the "Robby Tank" to the crews).[8] Ammunition is loaded into the Apache by armament personnel using specialized ground support equipment: an aircraft-mounted motorized loader and special ammunition handling tray.[9]
The M230 can fire the 30×113 mm rounds used in the ADEN cannon and DEFA cannon, although U.S. Apaches use Lightweight 30 mm rounds made with a lighter alloy than brass (ADEN) or steel (DEFA) cases. The M230 rounds cannot be fired by weapons designed for the ADEN or DEFA rounds. The Lightweight 30 mm rounds come in three varieties: the M788 rounds, which have a blue band near the nose, the M789 with a yellow stripe atop a black band, and the M799 with a red stripe atop a yellow band.[10][11] The M799 HEI round is not used by the U.S. Army because of the danger of a round exploding in the gun barrel.
The M789 is the U.S. Apache's main tactical round, a High Explosive Dual Purpose (HEDP) ammunition cartridge. Each round contains 21.5 g (0.76 oz) of explosive charge sealed in a shaped-charge liner. The liner collapses into an armor-piercing jet of metal that can penetrate 1 in (25 mm) of rolled homogeneous armour at 500 m. The shell is also designed to fragment upon impact, killing unprotected, standing people up to about 5 ft (1.5 m) away under optimum conditions.
Variants
M230LF and MAWS
The M230LF, offered by
The MAWS (Modular Advanced Weapon System) lightweight gun system, developed in partnership with the
In February 2015,
Australian company Electro Optic Systems also utilises the M230LF for its "Slinger" defensive system. The system is planned for usage against drones by using a radar and a variety of sensors to track and destroy targets with a single shot.[17] All together it weighs less than 400 kg (880 lb) and can be mounted on a flatbed truck, allowing for a more cost effective way of destroying drones compared to missile based systems. On October 2, 2023 it was confirmed that EOS would send an undisclosed number of Slingers to Ukraine to combat the growing drone threat.[18][19]
In SHORAD-use
Stryker A1 M-SHORAD
On 28 February 2018, the
MADIS
In September 2020, the
Agnostic Gun Truck
On 4 April 2023, the United States included "counter-Unmanned Aerial System 30 mm gun trucks" as part of
Aircraft use
- Boeing AH-64 Apache
- AgustaWestland Apache
- Sikorsky MH-60L/M Direct Action Penetrator (DAP)
- CASA/IPTN CN-235
See also
- M242 Bushmaster 25mm chain gun
- Bushmaster II 30mm chain gun
- Bushmaster III 35/50mm chain gun
- Bushmaster IV 40mm chain gun
- Shipunov 2A42 30mm automatic cannon
- 2A7230mm automatic cannon
References
- ^ a b c d e f Chinn, George M., 1987, pp. 453–454.
- ^ a b c d e "Trademark Assignment Abstract of Title". United States Patent and Trademark Office. 12 November 2018. Retrieved 28 April 2019.
- ^ a b c d e f "Northrop Grumman M230 30mm chain gun fact sheet" (PDF). 2018. Retrieved 28 April 2019.
- ISBN 978-0-275-99536-2.
- ^ "M230 Chain Gun". www.deagel.com. Retrieved 3 November 2017.
- ^ Richardson & Peacock, 1992, pp. 38–40.
- ^ "M230 Automatic Gun". globalsecurity.org. 2013. Retrieved 13 October 2013.
- ^ "Robertson Aviation: Apache". Archived from the original on April 20, 2009. Retrieved 30 September 2011.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link) - ^ "New Boeing Apache Ammunition Loading System Enters Service – December 15, 1998". boeing.mediaroom.com. 2013. Retrieved 13 October 2013.
- ^ "30mm Cannon Ammunition". Federation of American Scientists. 8 January 1999. Retrieved 13 October 2013.
- ^ Williams, Anthony G. (July 2010). "Military Cartridge Relationships". Military Guns & Ammunition. Archived from the original on 25 October 2012. Retrieved 13 October 2013.
- ^ "Northrop Grumman 30mm M230LF Chain Gun" (PDF). 2018. Retrieved 28 April 2019.
- ^ "Home" (PDF). www.atk.com. Archived from the original (PDF) on November 4, 2011.
- ^ "Mk 51 MAWS" (PDF). National Defense Industrial Association (NDIA): Joint Armaments Conference, Exhibition & Firing Demonstration. May 2010. Archived from the original (PDF) on 21 February 2015. Retrieved 13 October 2013.
- ^ Oshkosh, Orbital ATK, EOS unveiled strong integration capabilities during live fire demonstration - Armyrecognition.com, 19 February 2015
- ^ Gun Truck: Oshkosh Unveils 30mm Chaingun JLTV For Army Recon - Breakingdefense.com, 9 September 2016
- ^ "Defence Slinger | Electro Optic Systems".
- ^ "Australian company to deliver counter-drone system to Ukraine". 3 October 2023.
- ^ "EOS demonstrates counter-drone systems - Australian Defence Magazine".
- ^ US Army’s interim short-range air defense solution crystallizes. Defense News. 29 June 2018.
- ^ Army Anti-Aircraft Stryker Can Kill Tanks Too. Breaking Defense. 10 July 2018.
- ^ Contract for Kongsberg USA to qualify XM914 30mm remote weapon station for US Marine Corps. Army Recognition. 21 September 2020.
- ^ "Marine Corps Restores Priority to Ground-Based Air Defense". Seapower Magazine. 23 September 2020. Archived from the original on 9 July 2021.
- ^ "U.S. MARINE CORPS C-UAS PROGRAM KICKS OFF U.S. PRODUCTION". Kongsberg. 25 May 2022.
- ^ U.S.-Made Counter-Drone Trucks Head for Ukraine. National Defense Magazine. 22 May 2023.
Works cited
- Richardson, Doug & Peacock, Lindsay (1992). Combat Aircraft: AH-64 Apache. London: Salamander Books. ISBN 0-86101-675-0.
- Chinn, George M., 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 28 April 2019.