"Brett" wrote in message ...
"Tony Williams" wrote:
Alan Minyard wrote
...
The F-35 is optimized for air to ground, while the F-18 and F-22 are
optimized for air to air. Different targets, different guns. The GAU-12
is also used in ground to air.
Agreed. However, every other nation obviously believes that 27-30mm
guns are nowadays the optimum for fitting to air superiority fighters
as well as for air-to-ground.
Every other nation that has "signed up" for the JSF would appear to have has
also signed up for an internal or pod version of the 25mm GAU-12/U. That
includes the UK whose current views also include that the BK-27 carried by
their Typoons is only there as ballast :-)
That's hardly surprising as the cost of developing a different gun
installation would be enormous. For the same reason, the 20mm M61 is
in widespread foreign use simply because US fighters come with it as
standard, not because anyone specifically chose that gun. The only
recent example I can think of, of any non-US maker willingly choosing
a 20mm gun, is the new Korean AT-50, which uses what is essentially a
three-barrel version of the M61A2; but that is a light trainer/attack
plane. Before that, there was the Italian version of the AMX light
strike plane, which fits the M61 presumably because Italy already had
it in service in the F-104; the Brazilian version of the AMX has 30mm
cannon.
Don't talk to me about the RAF's attitude :-( The kindest
interpretation I can put on it is that they offered up the Eurofighter
gun as a saving, knowing they could always add it back later...
Tony Williams
Military gun and ammunition website:
http://www.quarry.nildram.co.uk
Military gun and ammunition discussion forum:
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