Heligun EX17.pdf - Forgotten Weapons

HTC-AD 66-29
Being new, the growth possibilities of this gun cycle are still being explored.
The Heligun is one such growth example, generating from the basic 20mm
gun, the Mk 11. Additional growth possibilities exist in other calibers,
For example, a 5. 56mm caliber Heligun would weigh 15 pounds and fire
8000 shots per minute.
An analogy to the Heligun may be found in engine development. As the
power requirements for aircraft engines went up, the reciprocating engine
was stretched to its limits but could not meet the need. The turbine
engine, with a new principle, did. By comparison, the Heligun dispenses
with all mechanism traditionally used to ram, lock, extract, and eject the
ammunition -- the parts that give trouble in a gun (Gun Cycle Description,
Appendix B, pp 1 - 6). This stroke of simplification provides a breakthrough
similar to that of the turbine engine,
The armament for the OH-6A helicopter is a case in point. The utmost
care in weight reduction resulted in a 115-pound unit with the XM-134 gun.
Only by use of an advanced self-powered weapon such as the Heligun can
the more desirable weight of 85 pounds be achieved,
The Heligun has growth potential.
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