Typhoon to get the Mauser
 

Read today that the RAF will get ammunition, spares and maintenance equipment for the 27mm Mauser which is fitted to the Typhoons in a U-Turn over the Harrier not being fitted with a gun in Afghanistan.
Comes after the Paras (again) mentioned how effective the A-10 was with the GAU-8 when calling in support. And then with the Harrier which comes in using rockets only.

"At a conference last week, Air Vice-Marshal David Walker, the officer
commanding No 1 Group, which includes the Harrier and the newly-forming
Typhoon squadrons, said he had decided to proceed with the Typhoon gun,
buying ammunition, spares and maintenance equipment."

That was Tuesday's news in the Torygraph.

Maybe he was reading Tuesdays paper today..............:ugh:

Common sense puts in a belated and very uncommon appearance!

How many more times will this same lesson have to be relearned (Lightning, Phantom etc)? Though interesting that this time the driver seems to be the ground attack rather than the air to air requirement. Maybe they'll put in a tilt switch that stops it being used unless there's a distinct nose down attitude to prevent any top guns out there using their guns to supplement their AAMs? That way the powers that be could still lay claim to keeping their heads partly buried in the sand!

To be fair, in the case of the Lightning, the early marks (F1/F1A & F2/F2A) had cannon, but some twit decided to remove them from the F.3/F6, only to have to find a way of putting them back in the F.6 at the expense of badly needed fuel:rolleyes:

In the case of the Harrier, and thinking out loud, so excuse this old git of an engineer being not up to speed with current electro-whiz-bang technology, but what about jury rigging a pair of those self contained ex-F4 Gatling centreline pods....one each under a wing pylon....just thinking out loud about the old days of resourcefull adapdation of kit to fit a task.......but I suppose we wouldn't have any of them left in store anywhere now either:(

In the case of the Harrier, and thinking out loud, but what about jury rigging a pair of those self contained ex-F4 Gatling centreline pods....one each under a wing pylon.

I guess the wing pylon and wing attachment would have to be carefully watched/ inspected to look for stress fractures. There must be a hell of a need to disapate cyclic loads. What about the electrical & electronic control systems required to enable that fubctionality.

Your probably right, spec we can just tape the wires along the wing edge.

GeeRam

Now that would look seriously cool!!! :eek: Possibly like something from the set of 'Terminator'!!!

Might not be able to get airborne though. :hmm: Also, 5 sec of fire, and it would have the 'Hoover' flying backwards! (Like they do at airshows I suppose.....)

Still, would be worth it just for the PR pictures.

Advo

In the same article it stated that the Paras compared the Harrier and such with the A-10 of which having a '27mm rotory cannon' and proving great air support, which the RAF couldn't provide as they could only salvo a few rockets and not strafe.

Hmm, since when as the A-10 had a 27mm rotary cannon :ugh:

As for it being Tuesdays news, so bloody what? :rolleyes:

Well what calibre is the rotary cannon on the A-10?

I thought the A-10 was fitted with a GD GAU8/A 30mm cannon

30mm.


Advo

The A10 uses a GAU 8A 30mm Gatling gun, the rate of fire is impressive but the depleted uranium rounds caused the hippies to show undue concern for the recipients. Personally I don't think contamination with a bit of radioactive dust would be too high on my list of priorities if that thing was being fired in my direction.

It fires 30mm shells, can be depleted uranium for maximum damage.

http://www.military.cz/usa/air/in_se...u8/gau8_en.htm

Seen a pic somewhere showing the GAU-8 size comparison. The Ammo Drum is nearly the size of a Beatle car they put next to it for the comparison. Pilot only needs to the pull the trigger for a few seconds and the drum is empy.

doesn't the navy Goalkeeper use the same GAU-8 gun for CIWS on some of the RN ships?

Proper Typhoons had four 20mm Hispano cannons.

How does the single Mauser compare with these as regards rate of fire?

Looks like this highly agile interceptor will end up moving mud just like its older cousin.

Taken from Wikipedia, reference the Goalkeeper system:

Description

The system first acquires a target using the 2D X-Band search radar, which can track up to 18 targets at once. The engagement radar is then slewed to the heading indicated by the search radar. The engagement radar operates in both X-Band and Ka-Band, this enables the engagement radar to use the search radars signal to find the target quickly without additional searching, also data from the X-Band and Ka-Band return signals can be compared to increase resistance to ECM and clutter. The engagement radar is also backed up by an optical system.
The GAU-8/A Avenger 30 mm gun, as used by the A-10 Thunderbolt II was selected for the system, primarily because although the muzzle velocity and range are similar to the M61 Vulcan the projectiles are much heavier (430 grams compared to 100 grams). This is critical because supersonic missiles that are damaged may still have enough momentum to hit the ship—the only way to ensure the protection of the ship is either detonate the warhead of the missile or obliterate the missile.
The system's reaction time to a Mach 2 sea-skimming missile like the Russian SS-N-22 Sunburn from automatic detection to kill is reported to be 5.5 seconds with the engagement starting at a range of 1500 m and ending with a kill at 300 m.

The A10 30 mm round is the same size as the Aden round but the cartridge is like a milk bottle rather than a 30 mm candle. The training head also has greater mass.

Rather than DU it is possible that the head my have a tungsten/nylon composition.

Hi,

Wannabe military publications have always told me that depleted uranium ammunition is designed for its ability to throw a lot of kinetic energy at modern armour systems. Probably not what you'd want to throw at lightly- or un-armoured Afghanistan-style bad guys anyway, you'd have thought?

I think the concern with DU is not so much for the recipient but for more or less anyone who happens to be downwind for the next quarter of a million years.

Phil

Couple of Inert A-10 rounds for sale on E-bay

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...ory=36074&rd=1

Will the broom-handle of the Mauser be flush to the fuselage of the Typoon?

I'll get me coat.:O