Military industrial hegemony

Chapter 603 This is the Gatling Cannon

As for the other two Gatling machine guns, they have heavy firepower.Among them, this one was developed and designed according to the project proposed by Jiang Chen.Do you still remember the projectile-cannon integration system mentioned earlier? These two Gatlings were developed for this purpose.A 12.7mm heavy machine gun.The other one is a 20mm Gatling gun.Both guns, no, and the cannon, were developed for that.

First of all, let’s talk about this 12.7mm version, which is the heavy machine gun version.The research and development of this version does not mean that it is just about owning this anti-aircraft machine gun. In fact, it has a wide range of uses.The vision of the entire R&D team is to install this gun on this vehicle in the future and use it as a dual-purpose machine gun.It can also be used as a stationary weapon on a fortress position.Of course, because the weight of this gun is too heavy, it is not suitable for infantry handling and use.Although it can still be transported, it can be disassembled into several parts, transported separately, and assembled when needed.However, the ammunition it needs is a 12.7mm heavy machine gun. According to this weight, how much can each person carry.Even if you take too much, how can you withstand the consumption of the minimum firing rate of [-] per minute.Therefore, this gun is mainly specially developed for this vehicle-mounted weapon and the suppressive heavy firepower of the position.

But considering the power of this 12.7 is limited.Yes, although it is very powerful, it is still a bullet and a gun after all. It is more effective for infantry to deal with light targets on the ground, but its firepower is somewhat weak when used to deal with air targets.So under Jiang Chen's suggestion, the R&D personnel have developed a larger caliber Gatling machine gun, no, it should be called a Gatling gun.After comprehensive consideration, the R&D team chose 20 mm caliber as the caliber of the Gatling gun.A 20mm is the dividing line between a gun and a gun, and it can be said to be the lowest caliber gun.The other, the 20mm caliber, is also available in the world and is not original, so it is more suitable for the logistics supply needs of most countries, and it is more conducive to its promotion and sales in the international market.The reason why I chose it instead of the domestic 23mm caliber is mainly because of a sales relationship.Now the country is undergoing large-scale disarmament and vigorously developing the economy.Jiang Chen is not sure whether they need such weapons and equipment.So I still think to study the international version first. If there is a need in the country later, I will develop the domestic version, which can better avoid risks.

However, although the caliber was only increased by a few millimeters, the difficulty of such research has been greatly increased.Let’s talk about the 12.7 version first. Although it is only a few millimeters longer, the difficulty has increased several times.First of all, there is the issue of the material of this firearm. Different locations have different requirements for materials.For example, the barrel must be made of hard high-carbon steel.But everyone knows that our country has always been a shortcoming in the development of this special steel.Although we have the previous research and development experience and technical accumulation of the 12.7mm large-caliber sniper rifle, this is far from enough. The materials and requirements used by the sniper rifle are different from this heavy machine gun, especially at such a high shooting distance. At lower speeds, the test on materials will be more severe.Because a large-caliber bullet of 12.7mm is to be fired, this means that the bullet has more pressure, which generates stronger kinetic energy and doubles the pressure on the barrel.The velocity of the bullet is faster, which means that it corresponds to increased wear of the barrel ballistics.Therefore, if there is no excellent material, the rifling of a barrel may be smoothed after a few shots.The chamber pressure is an important factor that controls whether the bullet hits the target accurately. If this is gone, then the gun will not be able to explode for a long time.

There is also the issue of the strength of the gun body, which is also a difficult problem that cannot be ignored. A large caliber bullet of 12.7, which means that the bullet has more energy and thus more kinetic energy.This also means that its recoil will be stronger, and the force on the gun body will also be strengthened.Moreover, there are many transmission devices on this gun. Under such a large force, how can the transmission device and other parts be kept intact, and how to increase the mechanical strength of the gun body under the premise of reducing the weight of the gun body? , this is also a difficult question before Jiang Chen and the others.

Fortunately, when developing this large-caliber sniper rifle, a research and development idea was found in this material research and development laboratory.So since then, they have continued to conduct research on materials with greater strength, better toughness, more wear resistance, and high temperature resistance.During this period of time, certain achievements have been accumulated.Therefore, after encountering this dilemma, the gun laboratory contacted the material research and development laboratory in time, and quickly got their support.With the support of their materials, the development speed of this gun has been greatly increased, and it will be developed soon, and then related comprehensive performance tests will be carried out.

However, on this 20mm Gatling gun, the entire research and development work was not so smooth.Still the same, the strength of the material is not up to the requirement. The 20mm caliber anti-aircraft shell has more charges, so its range is longer, and the force acting on the gun is also stronger.Therefore, according to the accumulated technical achievements of the current materials laboratory, there is still a certain distance from reaching the standard.

It has to be said that the wisdom of our Chinese people is infinite. After encountering this technical bottleneck, they did not give up research, but took another path.What, that is to sacrifice weight to meet this strength requirement.This sacrifice does not mean discarding or losing, but a corresponding increase in weight and volume.This increases the robustness of the parts.But for this, it is a huge price to pay. The weight and volume of this Gatling have been greatly increased, which makes it lose the advantage of fast maneuvering.Therefore, researchers have continued to develop and emphasize larger materials, which are then used to reduce the weight and volume of this Gatling gun.

Of course, this is something that happened before. Recently, R&D personnel have made new breakthroughs in this regard.First of all, through technical exchange with other domestic research institutions, the material laboratory has obtained a relatively strong material.With the use of this material, the weight and volume of this 20mm Gatling gun will be further reduced.And another thing is the breakthrough of the material laboratory in alloy materials, which makes the firearms research and development laboratory also make similar attempts to replace more parts with stronger and lighter alloy materials. This 20mm Gatling gun is one of them.It is believed that with the use of this alloy material, this Gatling gun will be successfully developed faster and put into test equipment.

(End of this chapter)