GAU-19
GAU-19/A | |
---|---|
Type | Heavy machine gun |
Place of origin | United States |
Service history | |
Used by | See History |
Production history | |
Designer | General Electric |
Manufacturer | General Dynamics |
Produced | 1983–present |
Variants | 3-barrel or 6-barrel |
Specifications | |
Weight | With feeder and transfer unit:139 lbs. (63 kg) |
Length | 53.9 in. (1,369 mm) |
Barrel length | 36 in. (914 mm) |
Width | 13.5 in. (343 mm) |
Height | 15 in. (381 mm) |
|
|
Cartridge | .50 BMG (12.7×99mm NATO) |
Barrels | 3 |
Action | Electric |
Rate of fire | 1,000 or 2,000 rounds per minute |
Muzzle velocity | 2,910 fps (887 m/s) |
Effective firing range | 1,800 m |
Maximum firing range | 6,000 m |
Feed system | linkless or M9 linked belt |
The GECAL 50, officially designated by the United States military as the GAU-19/A, is an electrically driven Minigun that fires the .50 BMG (12.7×99mm) cartridge.
Contents
Technical specifications
The GAU-19/A is designed for a linkless feed, but can be fed from a standard M9 linked belt if a delinker feeder is used. The rate of fire is selectable to be either 1,000 or 2,000 rounds per minute. The Humvee armament kit version fires at 1,300 rounds per minute. The average recoil force when firing is 2.2kN. In January 2012, General Dynamics announced they would be delivering a new version designated GAU-19/B. It provides the same firepower in a lighter platform, weighing 48 kg.[1]
History
The GECAL 50 was first manufactured by General Electric, then by Lockheed Martin, and now by General Dynamics. Design work began in 1982. Early prototypes had six barrels, but a three-barreled configuration is now standard. The GAU-19/A was originally designed as a larger, more potent version of the M134 Minigun. Due to the loss of nine helicopters in Grenada GE started building prototypes of the weapon in both a three-barreled and a six-barreled configuration. The six-barreled version was designed to fire 4,000 rounds per minute, and could be adapted to fire up to 8,000 rounds per minute. The GAU-19 takes 0.4 seconds to reach maximum firing rate.[2] Soon it was recommended as a potential armament for the V-22 Osprey.[3] The magazine would be located underneath the cabin floor and could be reloaded in-flight. However, plans to mount the gun were later dropped.[4] In 2005, the GAU-19/A was approved to be mounted on the OH-58D Kiowa helicopter. It also could have been used on the Army's now cancelled ARH-70.[5] In January 2012, the U.S. Army ordered 24 GAU-19/B versions for use on helicopters. All were delivered by the next month.[1]
In 1999, the United States sent 28 GAU-19s to Colombia.[6] Oman is known to use the GAU-19/A mounted on their HMMWVs. The navy of Mexico uses MDH MD-902 series helicopters with the GAU-19/A system mounted for anti-narcotics operations.[7]
Users
Colombia: Used by Drug Enforcement troops, and the Colombian national police
Japan: Used by Japan Coast Guard, on PC Kagayuki class
Mexico: Used by the Mexican Air Force and the Mexican Navy in Humvees, UH-60 Black Hawks and the MD Explorer
Oman: Used on Army HMMWV.
United States
See also
Non-NATO:
- Yak-B 12.7mm machine gun—a Soviet-designed 12.7 mm aircraft gun.
- Slostin machine gun—firing large 14.5×114mm Soviet caliber.
- Hua Qing Minigun
General:
Notes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 GD delivers GAU-19/B - General Dynamics
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
References
- Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- General Dynamics Fact Sheet PDF (401 KB)