The Ford-Philco GAU-7/A was an abortive program initiated by United States Air Force in the late 1960s to develop a new cannon to replace the M61 Vulcan on the then-upcoming F-15 Eagle. The GAU-7/A was a 25 mm Gatling gun using telescoped ammunition with a combustible case.[1][2][3] It was intended to have greater range and hitting power than the 20 mm Vulcan, while the caseless ammunition would have alleviated the problems of either storing or ejecting spent cartridges, both of which present considerable problems for jet aircraft.[4]

Despite great expenditure, the project and its ammunition proved to be a failure, and it was canceled in 1974. The F-15 therefore retained the M61A1 cannon, as have most U.S. fighter aircraft since 1956.

See also

References

  1. ↑ Fisher, Edward B. (1 June 1972). "2.2 GAU-7/A Design, II Computer Simulation Development". Basic design analysis of GAU-7/A telescoped ammunition (Final Report March 71-January 72) (PDF). Air Force Armament Laboratory (Report). Eglin Air Force Base (AFB), Florida, United States of America: Armament Development and Test Center (United States Air Force). pp. 2–3. AFATL-TR-77-107. Archived (PDF) from the original on June 24, 2021.
  2. ↑ Williams, H.; Gilbert, K. (6 January 1972). Development and Test of Storage and Feed System for GAU-7/A Gun (Final rept. Mar 71-Jan 72) (PDF). Emerson Electronics and Space Division/Defense Technical Information Center (DTIC) (Report). Fort Belvoir, Virginia, United States of America: Emerson Electric Co./United States Department of Defense. pp. 3–71. Archived from the original on August 6, 2020.
  3. ↑ Davis, Dale M. (1 January 1984). "XIII: GAU-7 Projectiles". Historical Development Summary of Automatic Cannon Caliber Ammunition: 20-30 Millimeter (Final Report: 1952 - 1983) (PDF). Air Force Armament Laboratory (Report). Eglin Air Force Base (AFB), Florida, United States of America: Armament Development and Test Center (United States Air Force). pp. 102–112. Archived (PDF) from the original on May 8, 2021.
  4. ↑ "Caseless ammunition". NationMaster. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |url= (help)
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