What is the fire rate of a GAU-8?

1,800 rounds per minute
According to some sources, the GAU-8 fires 1,800 rounds per minute, with the higher 4200 rd/min rate having been deleted in the 1980s. However, the A-10 can only fire in high rate, which is 3900 rounds per minute.

How accurate is the Gau-8?

3,900 rounds per minute
The GAU-8/A is extremely accurate and can fire up to 3,900 rounds per minute without complications. The 30-mm shell has twice the range, half the time to target, and three times the mass of projectiles fired by guns mounted in comparable close air support aircraft.

What does Gau stand for in Gau-8?

Gatling AUtocannon
8 GAU is an acronym for “Gatling AUtocannon”, “Gun, AUtomatic”, or “Gun Aircraft Unit”?

How big is the Gryazev GSh-6-30 machine gun?

The Gryazev-Shipunov GSh-6-30 weighs half as much as the GAU-8 and has an even higher fire rate. Its thrust-to-weight ratio approaches 40, which means if you pointed one at the ground and fired, not only would it take off in a rapidly expanding spray of deadly metal fragments, but you would experience 40 gees of acceleration. This is way too much.

How many rounds per minute does the GAU-8 Avenger fire?

The GAU-8/A is extremely accurate and can fire 4,200 rounds per minute without complications. The 30-mm shell has twice the range, half the time to target, and three times the mass of projectiles fired by guns mounted in comparable close air support aircraft. The GAU-8/A Avenger Gatling gun next to a Volkswagen Beetle.

What is the recoil force of a GAU-8 Avenger?

The average recoil force of the GAU-8/A is 10,000 pounds-force (45 kN), which is slightly more than the output of each of the A-10’s two TF34 engines of 9,065 lbf (40.3 kN). While this recoil force is significant, in practice a cannon fire burst slows the aircraft only a few miles per hour in level flight.

Is the GAU-8 equalizer the same size as the M61?

Some of the GAU-8/A technology has been transferred into the smaller 25 mm GAU-12/U Equalizer, which was developed for the AV-8B Harrier II aircraft. The GAU-12 is about the same size as the 20 mm M61.