Forum: F-35 Armament, Stores and Tactics

Don't Gatling guns just cycle dud rounds all the way through, and stash them with the spent casings?

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count_to_10 wrote:

Don't Gatling guns just cycle dud rounds all the way through, and stash them with the spent casings?

Depends on the "Gatling" system and firing platform.

I am certain the US F-35 retain cycled cartridges including duds. Ejecting spent cartridges or links might damage the aircraft. The primers are electrically activated and mitigate risk of post-cycle detonation, although with tail-end charlies passing through heated barrels and banging against mechanicals there may be instances of retained duds exploding after they are stored, I have vague recollection something like this happened in the 1980's to an F-15 or -16 and the skin got perforated but not much else, if true I would have read about it in AWST that era.

A pilot cannot reverse M-61. His options are 'arm' and 'fire' in terms of the cannon itself.

Quote:

Still, why being used by F16’s in Afghanistan that much? As well the British noticed they need a cannon in their Typhoons for ground attack?
When not that useful, what about an A10 or Apaches?

A-10s are golden in Afghanistan. I always felt great when they were loitering around and things usually stayed calm. Alternatively, we sometimes had British Harriers which had a very short duration on station.

Apaches (which were awesome in Iraq) are near useless in Afghanistan because in the thin air, their fuel/payload has to be greatly reduced.

Forum: F-35 Armament, Stores and Tactics

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