Rapid-fire weapons with a rotating block of barrels 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 “lawn mowers” have firmly established themselves as superweapons.
At the same time, cannons and machine guns operating according to the scheme American inventor Richard Gatling, have long been in service with a number of countries. Destructive Power multi-stemmed trees are truly amazing. RIA Novosti publishes a selection of the most formidable weapons with a rotating barrel block.
Artillery firing of an AK-630 installation © RIA Novosti / Ildus Gilyazutdinov
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 footage military chronicle from the Middle East they rarely do without this six-barreled colossus 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, fortifications. Still, six thousand rounds per minute is a serious argument in any critical situation.
Multi-barreled machine gun M134 Minigun © Photo: Lance Cpl. Randall A. Clinton
Contrary to stereotypes, Gatling weapons do not fire all barrels 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 - overheating of the weapon. 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 put on American combat aircraft, attack helicopters and land chassis. 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 installations AK-630 M-2 “Duet” is a modern modification of the Soviet six-barrel shipborne AK-630 systems. From predecessor new system It is distinguished primarily by 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 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.
Automatic ship artillery installation AK-630 on the Guards missile cruiser"Moscow", which arrived on the coast of Latakia for air defense district © RIA Novosti / Press service of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation
To date, AK-630 M-2 are installed in the stern of five small rocket ships project "Buyan-M", 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 aircraft cannon The GAU-8 Avenger is the primary 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. Actually, it is the gun that is the only reason why Thunderbolt II attack aircraft remain in service with the US Air Force - in their own way flight performance and on-board equipment they are significantly inferior to cars of the same class in other countries.
Seven-barreled automatic cannon GAU-8 Avenger on an A-10 Thunderbolt II aircraft CC BY 3.0 / Mrkoww or Matthew Zalewski
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, its specifics combat use provides for attacking the target in the upper hemisphere, which is least protected by armor. In Afghanistan and Iraq, attack aircraft armed with GAU-8 demonstrated good results. However, in a war with an enemy with advanced air defense, the chances of these subsonic aircraft to survive are rapidly decreasing.
American attack aircraft A-10 Thunderbolt II (A-10 Thunderbolt II) © Flickr / Samuel King Jr
The most heaped
Quadruple aircraft machine gun JakB 12.7 mm caliber was created in the late 70s specifically for the latest at that time attack helicopters Mi-24. Baptism of fire large-caliber Soviet Gatling guns took place 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 with a burst from a machine gun a bus leading a caravan of dushmans. 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.
YakB-12.7 machine gun on a Mi-24 at the National historical museum Bulgaria CC BY-SA 4.0 / Benjamín Núñez González /
It is this machine gun that holds a unique and still unbroken record. On the twenty-seventh of October 1982, during air combat An Iraqi Mi-24 was able to shoot down an Iranian F-4 Phantom II fighter with 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.
Andrey Kots
Follow us
ShKAS (Shpitalny-Komaritsky aviation rapid-firing) is the first Soviet rapid-firing aviation machine gun.
In 1920, while working as a mechanic at one of the factories, Shpitalny set out to make a high-speed machine gun. But at that time he did not have the necessary experience and lacked knowledge. After graduating from the Moscow Mechanical Institute, the young engineer began to implement his plan and soon presented a project for such a machine gun, which attracted attention with its exceptional courage in solving a number of complex design issues automatic weapons. When the project was ready, experienced weapons designer I. A. Komaritsky was seconded to help Shpitalny in finalizing the sample and speeding its production.
1930 The first sample of a high-speed aircraft machine gun was manufactured, created by Shpitalny with the participation of Komaritsky. It was the first in the world aviation system, which immediately put the USSR in first place in this area of weapons.
1932 The final debugging of the design was completed.
June 1932, the machine gun was presented to K. E. Voroshilov
On July 14, 1932, the machine gun was approved by the government, which decided to speed up its development and submit it for state testing.
On October 7, 1932, the Revolutionary Military Council approved the results field testing machine gun.
On October 11, 1932, he adopted a resolution to put it into service under the name “7.62-mm aviation rapid-fire machine gun of the Shpitalny-Komaritsky system, model 1932.”
Design Features
The system used the principle of automation based on the removal of part of the powder gases. Gases passing through a closed chamber exert pressure on a piston connected directly to the rod, which sets the system in motion. This principle of automation was later used to create a number of successful designs.
The barrel bore is locked by tilting the bolt downwards. The trigger mechanism operates from a recoil spring. Trigger provides only continuous fire. It is equipped with a flag-type fuse that locks the sear. The cartridges are fed from a metal link detachable tape. The mechanism for feeding the tape to the drum-type receiver is driven by the bolt frame. Extraction of the spent cartridge case is carried out by the bolt legs, and its reflection is carried out by a movable reflector connected to the bolt frame rod. The machine gun is equipped with spring buffers for the bolt frame and bolt.
The high rate of fire in the ShKAS machine gun is achieved due to the short stroke of the moving parts of the automation and the combination of a number of reloading operations. To avoid dismantling the cartridge, its removal from the belt link is carried out in ten cycles of automatic operation, which is achieved through a screw groove on the gear casing. To soften the impacts of moving parts on the sear, during landing and after the end of the line, a buffer spring is installed.
Ammo
For the ShKAS machine gun, under the leadership of N. M. Elizarov, cartridges were developed that had tracer, incendiary and combined action armor-piercing incendiary bullets capable of igniting gasoline tanks protected by armor. In these cartridges, to prevent the cartridge from being dismantled (dismantled) at a huge rate of fire of 30-50 rounds per second, the walls of the cartridge case are thickened, the fastening of the primer in the socket is strengthened, and a double ring crimp of the bullet is introduced in the barrel of the cartridge case. At the bottom of the cartridge case for ShKAS machine guns, in addition to the standard designations, the letter “Ш” was placed. The capsule is painted red. Otherwise, the coloring is standard for the corresponding types of bullets. Cartridges intended for infantry weapons ShKAS machine guns could not be used. The cartridges for the ShKAS machine gun were the world's first aviation cartridges.
Unusual misfires
Unexpectedly, misfires occurred during shooting. A special commission was created to find out the reasons. It was headed by Chief Marshal of Artillery N.N. Voronov.
“We organized experimental shooting. They showed that all questionable cartridges in ordinary rifles, hand and heavy machine guns ground forces work flawlessly, and in aircraft machine guns continue to misfire. It also turned out that there are some batches of cartridges that do not misfire when fired from ShKAS. But no one could establish exactly which ones and why. At the next meeting of the commission, I drew attention to the samples of combat capsules lying on the table. I began to examine them carefully and discovered one detail: the foil at the attachment point with the capsule was coated with black or red varnish. The red varnish was imported, and the black varnish was domestic. New shootings were carried out. Capsules coated with imported varnish did not misfire. The second ones, on the contrary, misfired. All cartridges with primers coated with black varnish were immediately withdrawn from the Air Force and transferred for use in ground troops. Air Force began to be supplied with cartridges with primers coated with red varnish. The commission also proposed conducting a thorough study of domestic varnish. It turned out that our chemists did not finish the job: the varnish they proposed had a harmful effect on the foil. It was proposed to urgently eliminate this defect. Soon a new varnish was created that fully met the requirements for it. The misfires have stopped."
Modernization
With all the advantages of the ShKAS system machine guns, their first releases were made according to drawings prototype, had an insufficient resource - about 1500-2000 shots.
In March 1933 soviet government, giving an order for the first large batch of machine guns, suggested that the designers increase their survivability, bringing it to 5000 rounds.
In April 1933, Shpitalny and Komaritsky presented a model that differed from its predecessor not only in better survivability, but also in some changes that had a positive effect on the simplicity of the machine gun design. In the new model, its main part - the box - was significantly changed, five new parts were introduced instead of the thirteen that were eliminated. These alterations entailed significant amount changes in dimensions and tolerances of mating parts.
In July 1933, production of machine guns began according to new drawings.
On December 24, 1934, testing of the ShKAS machine gun with a twisted three-core return spring was completed. The previous recoil spring often failed, unable to withstand more than 2500-2800 rounds. We tried different types of steel, changed the diameter of the springs and the thickness of the wire, but nothing helped, and after a certain number of shots, the shooting had to be stopped to replace the spring. An original solution was found by Shpitalny, who proposed making the spring multi-stranded. Tests have shown that the survivability of a twisted three-core recoil spring is equal to 14,000 rounds.
In 1935-1936 K.N. Rudnev, V.N. Polyubin and A.A. Tronenkov developed a mechanical pairing of ShKAS machine guns, in which the total rate of fire of the two machine guns was increased to 6000-6400 rounds per minute.
On May 15, 1937, Shpitalny and Komaritsky completed the production of a prototype of the UltraShKAS machine gun. By using the principle of a moving barrel when moving forward, they achieved a rate of fire of 2800-3000 rounds per minute.
Since 1936, machine guns of the ShKAS system have occupied a dominant position in the weapon system of Soviet aviation.
In 1920, while working as a mechanic at one of the factories, Shpitalny set out to make a high-speed machine gun. But at that time he did not have the necessary experience and lacked knowledge. After graduating from the institute, the young engineer began to implement his plan and soon presented a project for such a machine gun, which attracted attention with its exceptional courage in solving a number of complex issues in the design of automatic weapons. When the project was ready, experienced weapons designer I. A. Komaritsky was seconded to help Shpitalny in finalizing the sample and speeding its production.
1930 The first sample of a high-speed aircraft machine gun was manufactured, created by Shpitalny with the participation of Komaritsky. It was the world's first aviation system, which immediately put the USSR in first place in this field of weapons.
The system used the principle of automation based on the removal of part of the powder gases. Gases passing through a closed chamber exert pressure on a piston connected directly to the rod, which sets the system in motion. This principle of automation was later used to create a number of successful designs.
The barrel bore is locked by tilting the bolt downwards. The trigger mechanism operates from a recoil spring. The trigger mechanism ensures only continuous fire. It is equipped with a flag-type fuse that locks the sear. The cartridges are fed from a metal link detachable tape. The mechanism for feeding the tape to the drum-type receiver is driven by the bolt frame. Extraction of the spent cartridge case is carried out by the bolt legs, and its reflection is carried out by a movable reflector connected to the bolt frame rod. The machine gun is equipped with spring buffers for the bolt frame and bolt.
The high rate of fire in the ShKAS machine gun is achieved due to the short stroke of the moving parts of the automation and the combination of a number of reloading operations. To avoid dismantling the cartridge, its removal from the belt link is carried out in ten cycles of automatic operation, which is achieved through a screw groove on the gear casing. To soften the impacts of moving parts on the sear, during landing and after the end of the line, a buffer spring is installed.
For the ShKAS machine gun, under the leadership of N. M. Elizarov, cartridges were developed that had tracer, incendiary and combined action armor-piercing incendiary bullets capable of igniting gasoline tanks protected by armor. In these cartridges, to prevent the cartridge from being dismantled (dismantled) at a huge rate of fire of 30-50 rounds per second, the walls of the cartridge case are thickened, the fastening of the primer in the socket is strengthened, and a double ring crimp of the bullet is introduced in the barrel of the cartridge case. At the bottom of the cartridge case for ShKAS machine guns, in addition to the standard designations, the letter “Ш” was placed. The capsule is painted red. Otherwise, the coloring is standard for the corresponding types of bullets. Cartridges intended for infantry weapons could not be used in ShKAS machine guns. The cartridges for the ShKAS machine gun were the world's first aviation cartridges.
Despite all the advantages of the ShKAS system machine guns, their first releases, manufactured according to prototype drawings, had an insufficient service life - about 1500-2000 rounds.
* In March 1933, the Soviet government, giving an order for the first large batch of machine guns, suggested that the designers increase their survivability, bringing it to 5000 rounds.
* In April 1933, Shpitalny and Komaritsky presented a model that differed from its predecessor not only in better survivability, but also in some changes that had a positive effect on the simplicity of the machine gun design. In the new model, its main part - the box - was significantly changed; five new parts were introduced instead of thirteen abolished. These alterations entailed a significant number of changes in dimensions and tolerances of mating parts.
* In July 1933, production of machine guns began according to new drawings.
* On December 24, 1934, testing of the ShKAS machine gun with a twisted three-core return spring was completed. The previous recoil spring often failed, unable to withstand more than 2500-2800 rounds. We tried different types of steel, changed the diameter of the springs and the thickness of the wire, but nothing helped, and after a certain number of shots, the shooting had to be stopped to replace the spring. The original solution was found by Shpitalny, who proposed making the spring multi-core, twisted. Tests have shown that the survivability of a twisted three-core recoil spring is equal to 14,000 rounds.
* In 1935-1936 K.N. Rudnev, V.N. Polyubin and A.A. Tronenkov developed a mechanical pairing of ShKAS machine guns, in which the total rate of fire of the two machine guns was increased to 6000-6400 rounds per minute.
* On May 15, 1937, Shpitalny and Komaritsky completed the production of a prototype of the UltraShKAS machine gun. By using the principle of a moving barrel when moving forward, they achieved a rate of fire of 2800-3000 rounds per minute.
Installation options
The designers were tasked with adapting the ShKAS system machine gun for use in various points aircraft as a turret, synchronous and wing aircraft.
Turret and Wing variants
They were created at the beginning of 1934. The installation for the turret machine gun was developed by N.F. Tokarev, and in March 1934 it was put into service. Previous attempts to install ShKAS machine guns on old turrets intended for Degtyarev aircraft machine guns, a much weaker weapon, were unsuccessful due to the strong dispersion of bullets. The wing ShKAS machine gun was interchangeable with the turret one. The reloading handle in it is replaced by a cable mechanism, and the control handle is replaced by a feeder mechanism.
Synchronous option
Synchronization of the machine gun was carried out in 1936 by designers V.N. Salishchev, K.N. Rudnev and V.P. Kotov. Distinctive feature The design of the synchronous mechanism of this machine gun is to transfer all its main parts, with the exception of the firing pin and cocking lever, from the bolt to the receiver.
By 1936, machine guns of the ShKAS system occupied a dominant position in the weapon system of Soviet aviation.
Country: USSR, Russia
Type: Aviation machine gun
Designer: Shpitalny, Boris Gavriilovich, Komaritsky, Irinarkh Andreevich
Date of issue: 1930
In service: October 11, 1932-1945
Cartridge: 7.62 mm
Operating principle: Removal of powder gases
Rate of fire: 1800/1800/1650 rounds per minute
Initial bullet speed: 775-825/775-825/800-850 m/s
Weight (without magazine): 10.5/9.8/11.1 kg
Length: n/a
Barrel: n/a
Charging system: belt
Sight: n/a
Types: SHVAK
Issued: approximately 151,127
Cartridges for the ShKAS machine gun
Cartridge for the ShKAS machine gun with an ordinary light bullet produced by TPZ. The characteristic double crimp of the bullet along the height of the cartridge case neck is visible. |  There are two known types of loose metal belts for the ShKAS machine gun: with and without stiffening ribs. |
 Sections of 7.62 mm cartridges. The cartridge case for the ShKAS machine gun (on the left), in contrast to the usual one (on the right), has thicker walls and a bottom partition. |  Scheme of fastening a bullet in cartridges produced by Podolsk (1) and Tula (2) cartridge factories |
Bullets for 7.62 mm ShKAS cartridges  1 - L, light; 2 - D, heavy long-range; 3 - B-30, armor-piercing; 4 - B-32, armor-piercing incendiary; 5 -T-30 (T-46), tracer; 6 - BT, armor-piercing-tracer, 7 - BZT, armor-piercing-incendiary-tracer; 8 - modernized BZT (ZB-46); 9 - ZP (PZ), sighting and incendiary | Samples of marking (stamping) of ShKAS cartridge cases  Plant No. 46 was located in Kuntsevo (Moscow region). With the outbreak of the war, it was partially evacuated to the city of Novaya Lyalya, where it was later merged with plant No. 529 |
The main weight-dimensional and ballistic parameters of cartridges for the ShKAS machine gun correspond to the parameters of land rifle cartridges with the same types of bullets
| Characteristics of 7.62 mm cartridges for the ShKAS machine gun | |||||
| Characteristic | Ammo type | ||||
| L | B-32 | PZ | BZT | T-30 (T-46) | |
| Cartridge weight, g | 21,75 | 21,75 | 22,2 | 21,23 | 21,7 |
| Bullet weight, g | 9,6 | 9,5...10,0 | 9,7...10,4 | 9,0...9,2 | 9,4...9,6 |
| Charge mass, g | 2,25 | 3,25 | 3,25 | 3,25 | 3,25 |
| Weight of the sleeve, g* | 18,7 | 18,7 | 18,7 | 18,7 | 18,7 |
| Beginning bullet speed, m/s** | 860 | 860 | 820 | 855 | 850 |
| Chuck length, mm*** | 75,2 | 77,2 | 77,2 | 77,2 | 77,2 |
| Sleeve length, mm | 53,7 | 53,7 | 53,7 | 53,7 | 53,7 |
| Bullet length, mm | 28,4 | 37,8 | 38,5 | 40,1 | 37,8 |
| * The weight of the steel bimetallic sleeve ShKAS is given | |||||
| ** Bullet speed when shooting from a rifle | |||||
| *** Length of the ShKAS cartridge with a mod. 1908 produced by TPZ | |||||
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 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.
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 can perhaps 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.
Loading...
