【Military Subplane】Author: Lu Zhi
The U.S. Air Force recently officially confirmed that the F35A fighter's 25mm cannon has finally reached a usable level, and it is also officially named the GAU-22/A weapon system. But because this cannon F35A is mired in controversy, it seems that equipping the F35A with this cannon that does not make much sense is a historical step backwards.
▲ Image source: Internet
This cannon is installed above the left air intake of the F35A, and since the F35A is a stealth fighter, a stealth cover that can be opened is also designed for the installation of this cannon, and an obvious bulge structure has also appeared above the air intake of the air intake. The F35B and F35C do not have a fixed cannon, and can carry a cannon pod in the belly of the aircraft according to the actual situation, but under normal circumstances, there is no need to carry this pod, but it will greatly increase the radar reflection area of the fighter.
▲ Image source: Internet
The reason why this 25mm cannon has attracted a lot of controversy is mainly because of its performance. The prototype of this cannon on the F35A is actually the 7-barreled 30mm cannon mounted on the A10 attack fuselage, but because the prototype cannon is too heavy and too large, it is impossible for other fighters to use. Therefore, General Electric modified the cannon, first reducing the barrel to five barrels, and at the same time reducing the caliber to 25 mm, named GAU-12, which is not yet fully retired in the United States. In order for the F35A to carry this cannon as well, GE further streamlined the five-barrel to the four-barrel, while the other aspects of the emphasis were lowered, and the main ammunition used was armor-piercing incendiary shells, so they could be used to attack armored vehicles on the ground.
▲ Image source: Internet
Although the Gatling cannon has a high rate of fire, for the tasks that the F35A needs to perform, a single-barreled 30mm cannon with more ammunition may be a more suitable choice than a multi-barreled cannon, one is that the structure is simpler and the size is smaller, and the other is that the power of a single shot is also greater, and the duration of firepower is also better. You must know that although the F35A is equipped with a Gatling gun, it can only carry 180 25mm shells, compared to the A10 attack aircraft can carry up to 1174 rounds of 30mm shells, both in terms of power and fire continuity are completely incomparable to the F35. It is precisely because of the A10 attack aircraft that this 4-barreled 25mm cannon looks particularly chicken. After watching the whole process, everyone should feel that the US Air Force's approach is completely to add more water to all areas, and although the historical status of attack aircraft has been significantly reduced, the significance of attack aircraft is still very great, and part-time attack aircraft cannot be exhaustive.
▲ Image source: Internet
The biggest feature of attack aircraft is not a simple multi-barreled Gatling cannon, the vast majority of attack aircraft also use ordinary single-barreled double-barreled guns, attack aircraft rely more on cheap and easy-to-use weapon systems to attack, such as rockets, simple guided rockets or bombs, etc. However, the United States has ignored the main characteristics of attack aircraft, and instead put the cannon in the first place, and the discerning people also know that installing a cannon with a reserve of only 180 shells for stealth fighters will play a very small role in actual combat, and it is not as direct as adding some precision-guided munitions. At the same time, for the sake of this stealth cannon, the F35A project was delayed, and the additional funds spent were even more. If you really want to replace the status of the A10 attack aircraft, manned stealth fighters are more likely to perform precise ground attack missions, while ordinary ground licking missions can be handed over to more and more advanced UAVs or even suicide swarm UAVs, and high-speed helicopters are also a good direction. For the mainland, we can greatly reduce the cost of these drones, and there is no need for personnel to go to the battlefield in person.
▲ Image source: Internet
The U.S. approach to forcibly installing a cannon for the F35A is very similar to hoping that the tank state hand will exercise as much as possible or select a stronger person, or even take illegal drugs for a short period of time to increase their loading capacity, and the better way is to switch to unmanned turrets and automatic loaders. This kind of thing that ignores the fundamental characteristics of things is very common in the US military, perhaps because of the thinking of many classical schools in the US military, or it may be because of money.
▲ Image source: Internet