Six-barreled Vulcan machine gun. M61 Vulcan aircraft cannon - the rebirth of the Gatling system

Work on the creation of a multi-barreled machine gun began in the 40s of the twentieth century. This type of weapon, with the highest rate of fire and high fire density, was developed as a weapon for tactical jet fighters of the US Air Force.

The prototype for the creation of the first standard six-barreled M61 Vulcan was the German 12-barrel Fokker-Leimberger aircraft machine gun, the design of which was based on the Gatling revolving battery design. Using this scheme, a perfectly balanced design of a multi-barreled machine gun with a block of rotating barrels was created, while all the necessary operations were carried out in one revolution of the block.

The Vulcan M61 was developed in 1949 and adopted by the American Air Force in 1956. The first aircraft to have a six-barreled M61 Vulcan machine gun mounted into its fuselage was the F-105 Thunderchief fighter-bomber.

Design features of the M61 Vulcan gun

M61 Vulcan is a six-barreled aircraft machine gun(gun) having an air-cooled barrel and combat equipment with a 20 x 102 mm cartridge with an electric capsule type of ignition.

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Six-barreled ammunition supply system Vulcan machine gun without a link, from a cylindrical magazine whose capacity is 1000 rounds. The machine gun and the magazine are connected by two conveyor feeds, in which the spent cartridges are returned back to the magazine using a returnable assembly flow.

Conveyor belts are located in elastic guide sleeves with a total length of 4.6 meters.

The entire array of cartridges in the magazine moves along its axis, but only the central guide rotor, made in the shape of a spiral, rotates, between the turns of which the ammunition is placed. When firing, two cartridges are synchronizedly removed from the magazine, and with reverse side two spent cartridges are placed in it, which are then placed in the conveyor.

The firing mechanism has external circuit drive with a power of 14.7 kW. This type of drive does not require the installation of a gas regulator and is not afraid of misfires.

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The ammunition load can be: caliber, fragmentation, armor-piercing incendiary, fragmentation incendiary, sub-caliber.

Video: shooting from a Vulcan machine gun

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Mounted aircraft mounts for the M61 gun

In the early 1960s, General Electric decided to make special mounted containers (mounted cannon mounts) to accommodate the six-barreled 20mm M61 Vulcan. It was supposed to use them for firing at ground targets with a range of no > 700 m, and equip them with subsonic and supersonic attack aircraft and fighters. In 1963-1964, two PPU variants entered service with the US Air Force - SUU-16/A and SUU-23/A.

The design of the mounted cannon installations of both models has similar overall body dimensions (length - 5.05 m, diameter - 0.56 m) and unified 762-mm mounted units, allowing the installation of such a machine gun in the PPU on a variety of models of combat aircraft. The corresponding difference in the SUU-23/A installation is the presence of a visor above the receiver block.

The SUU-16/A PPU uses an aircraft turbine powered by an incoming air flow as a mechanical drive for spinning and accelerating the barrel block of the Vulcan machine gun. The full ammunition load consists of 1200 shells, the weight when equipped is 785 kg, the weight without equipment is 484 kg.

The drive of the SUU-23/A installation for accelerating the barrels is an electronic starter, the ammunition load consists of 1200 shells, the weight when equipped is 780 kg, the weight without equipment is 489 kg.

The machine gun in the hinged container is fixed and fixed motionless. An on-board fire adjustment system or a visual shooting sight is used as a sight when shooting. Extraction of spent cartridges during firing occurs outside, over the side of the installation.

The main tactical and technical properties of the Vulcan M61

• The total length of the gun is 1875 mm.
• Barrel length - 1524 mm.
• The mass of the M61 Vulcan cannon is 120 kg, with the feed system kit (without cartridges) - 190 kg.
• Rate of fire - 6000 rounds/min. Instances with a firing rate of 4000 rounds/min were produced.
• The initial speed of caliber/sub-caliber projectiles is 1030 / 1100 m/s.
• Muzzle power - 5.3 MW.
• The time to reach the highest rate of fire is 0.2 - 0.3 seconds.
• Vitality - about 50 thousand shots.

The Vulcan M61 rapid-fire submachine gun is currently installed on fighters - Eagle (F-15), Corsair (F-104, A-7D, F-105D), Tomcat (F-14A, A- 7E), "Phantom" (F-4F).

Automatic device - clock Nerf Vulcan

German student Michelson using the popular Nerf toy blaster gun Vulcan systems designed a rather funny, but very useful automatic device, excellent for protecting the area.

Using several additional drives, conventional electronics and computer programs, a Nerf guard weapon can automatically recognize, track a target, and then hit it. With all this, the owner of the weapon can be in shelter.

The trigger mechanism of the mechanized Nerf Vulcan device is connected to a laptop and hardware-software (integrated circuit) Arduino Uno with processors. It is triggered when a web camera monitoring and scanning the area around it detects the movement of an unwanted object. In this case, the webcam is installed on the front panel of the laptop, and the computer program is configured for movement.

In machine gun mode With the advent and constant modernization of aviation weapons, including missiles, part of the nomenclature of which today belongs to a full-fledged class precision weapons, the need for traditional small arms and cannon weapons on aircraft has not disappeared. Moreover, this weapon also has its advantages. These include the ability to be used from the air against all types of targets, constant readiness to fire, immunity to electronic countermeasures. Modern types of aircraft guns are actually machine guns in terms of rate of fire and at the same time artillery pieces in caliber. The principle of an air cannon is similar to a machine gun automatic shooting. At the same time, the rate of fire of some domestic models aviation weapons is a record even for machine guns. For example, the GSh-6-23M aircraft gun developed at TsKB-14 (the predecessor of the Tula Instrument Design Bureau) is still considered the fastest-firing weapon in military aviation. This six-barreled gun has a rate of fire of 10 thousand rounds per minute! They say that during comparative tests of the GSh-6-23 and the American M-61 “Vulcan”, the domestic gun, without requiring a powerful external energy source for its operation, showed almost twice as much rate of fire, while having half the own mass. By the way, in the six-barreled gun GSh-6-23, an autonomous automatic gas exhaust drive was used for the first time, which made it possible to use this weapon not only on an aircraft, but also, for example, on ground firing installations. A modernized version of the GSh-23-6 with Su-24 front-line bombers are still equipped with 500 rounds of ammunition: this weapon is installed here in a suspended movable cannon container. In addition, the MiG-31 supersonic all-weather long-range fighter-interceptor is armed with the GSh-23-6M cannon. The six-barrel version of the GSh cannon was also used for the cannon armament of the MiG-27 fighter-bomber. True, a 30-mm cannon is already installed here, and for a weapon of this caliber it is also considered the fastest-firing in the world - six thousand rounds per minute. A barrage of fire from the sky It would not be an exaggeration to say that aircraft weapons bearing the “GS” brand have essentially become the basis of this type of weapon for domestic combat aviation. In single-barrel and multi-barrel versions with the use of innovative technologies for ammunition of various calibers and purposes - in any case, the Gryazev-Shipunov guns have earned their recognition among pilots of many generations. The development of aviation small arms and cannon weapons in our country has become 30 mm caliber guns. Thus, the famous GSh-30 (in a double-barreled version) is equipped with the no less famous Su-25 attack aircraft. These are machines that have proven their effectiveness in all wars and local conflicts since the 70-80s of the last century. One of the most acute disadvantages of such weapons - the problem with the “survivability” of the barrels - has been solved here by distributing the burst length between the two barrels and reducing the rate of fire per barrel. At the same time, all the main operations for preparing fire - feeding the tape, chambering the cartridge, preparing the shot - occur evenly, which provides the gun with a high rate of fire: the rate of fire of the Su-25 reaches 3500 rounds per minute. Another project of the Tula aviation gunsmiths is the GSh-30- gun 1. It is recognized as the lightest 30 mm gun in the world. The weight of the weapon is 50 kilograms (for comparison, a “six-wolf” of the same caliber weighs more than three times more). Unique Feature This gun is equipped with an autonomous water evaporative cooling system for the barrel. There is water in the casing here, which turns into steam during the firing process when the barrel is heated. Passing along the screw groove on the barrel, it cools it and then comes out. The GSh-30-1 gun is equipped with the MiG-29, Su-27, Su-30, Su-33, Su-35 aircraft. There is information that this caliber will also be the main one for the small arms and cannon armament of the fifth generation T-50 fighter (PAK FA). In particular, as the KBP press service recently reported, flight tests of the modernized rapid-fire aircraft gun 9A1-4071 (this is the name this gun received) with testing of the entire ammunition load in various modes were carried out on the Su-27SM aircraft. After completion of the tests, development work is planned to test this gun on the T-50. "Flying" BMP Tula KBP (TsKB-14) became the “Homeland” of aviation weapons for domestic rotary-wing combat vehicles. It was here that the GSh-30 cannon appeared in a double-barreled version for Mi-24 helicopters. Main feature This weapon is the presence of elongated barrels, due to which the initial speed of the projectile is increased, which is 940 meters per second. But on the new Russian combat helicopters - Mi-28 and Ka-52 - a different cannon armament scheme is used. The basis was the well-proven 2A42 gun of 30 mm caliber, mounted on combat vehicles infantry. On the Mi-28, this gun is mounted in a fixed movable gun mount NPPU-28, which significantly increases maneuverability when firing. Shells are fired from two sides and in two versions - armor-piercing and high-explosive fragmentation. Lightly armored targets on the ground can be hit from the air at a distance of 1500 meters, air targets (helicopters) - two and a half kilometers, and manpower - four kilometers. The NPPU-28 installation is located on the Mi-28 under the fuselage in the bow of the helicopter and operates synchronously with the sight (including the helmet-mounted one) of the pilot operator. The ammunition is located in two boxes on the rotating part of the turret. The 30-mm BMP-2 gun, also placed in a movable cannon mount, is also adopted for service on the Ka-52. But on the Mi-35M and Mi-35P, which essentially became a continuation of the legendary Mi-24 series of helicopters, they again returned to the GSh cannon and the 23rd caliber. On the Mi-35P the number of firing points can reach three. This happens if the main guns are placed in two universal cannon containers (placed on pylons on the sides of the vehicle), and another gun is installed in a non-removable bow movable cannon mount. The total ammunition load of aircraft cannon armament for 35-series helicopters in this version reaches 950 rounds. Shooting...with a break for lunch They do not abandon cannon weapons when creating combat vehicles in the West. Including ultra-modern fifth generation aircraft. Thus, the F-22 fighter is equipped with the above-mentioned 20-mm M61A2 Vulcan with 480 rounds of ammunition. This rapid-firing six-barreled gun with a rotating block of barrels differs from the Russian gun in a more primitive cooling system - air rather than water, as well as pneumatic or hydraulic drives. Despite all the shortcomings, including, first of all, a small caliber, as well as an archaic link feed system shells and limited ammunition at a very high rate of fire (four to six thousand rounds per minute), the Vulcan has been the standard weapon on US combat aircraft since the 50s. True, the American military press has reported that delays in the ammunition supply system have now been dealt with: a linkless ammunition supply system seems to have been developed for the M61A1 cannon. The AH-64 “Apache”, the main one, is also equipped with an automatic cannon. attack helicopter US Army. Some analysts call it the most common rotorcraft of its class in the world, without, however, citing any statistical data. On board the Apache is an M230 automatic cannon with a caliber of 30 millimeters and a rate of fire of 650 rounds per minute. A significant drawback of this weapon is the need to cool its barrel after every 300 shots, and the time of such a break can be 10 minutes or more. For this weapon, the helicopter can carry 1200 shells, but only if the vehicle does not have an additional fuel tank installed. If it is available, the volume of ammunition will not exceed the same 300 rounds that the Apache can fire without the need for a “break” for mandatory cooling of the barrel. The only advantage of this weapon can be considered the presence in its ammunition of shells with an armor-piercing cumulative element. It is stated that with such ammunition the Apache can hit ground targets equipped with 300 mm of homogeneous armor. Author: Dmitry Sergeev Photo: Russian Ministry of Defense/Russian Helicopters/
Instrument Design Bureau named after. Academician A. G. Shipunov

In the early 50s. The US government announced a competition to develop a cannon for arming aircraft for the period until 1975. This competition was won by General Electric, which proposed the six-barreled M61A1 Vulcan cannon. The first sample of the M61 cannon of 20 mm caliber was produced by General Electric in 1957. The M61A1 Vulcan cannon had a simple design, the feeding and firing mechanism was driven by an external drive with a power of 26 kW (according to other sources - 14.7 kW). Barrel length 1524 mm, total length of the gun 1875 mm. The weight of the gun itself is 120 kg, the weight of the gun with the feed system, but without cartridges is 190 kg. Rate of fire 6000 rounds/mip. Some of the guns also had a reduced rate of fire - 4000 rounds/mip for firing at ground targets. The time to reach the maximum rate of fire is 0.3 s.

The gun is fed linkless from a cylindrical magazine with a capacity of about 1000 rounds. The magazine is connected to the gun using one or two conveyor belts located in elastic guide sleeves. With one conveyor belt, spent cartridges were reflected outward, however, in cases where reflection of cartridges outward was unacceptable, the installations provided a return conveyor for spent cartridges. In a cylindrical magazine, the cartridges were located between radial partitions. The central rotor, made in the form of an Archimedean screw, gradually moved cartridges from the magazine to the conveyor.

The external drive for feeding cartridges is a shaft connected to the hydraulic drive of the gun. Feed type - two-conveyor: spent cartridges are returned to the magazine. The total length of the guide sleeves is 4.6 m.

The M61A1 cannon was fired with standard “20 x 102” cartridges, the same as the M39 cannon. The cartridges are equipped with armor-piercing incendiary, sub-caliber, fragmentation incendiary and fragmentation shells. Since the early 1990s. Most projectiles are equipped with plastic driving belts. Initial speed caliber projectile 1030 m/s, sub-caliber projectile - 1100 m/s, effective firing range up to 1000m. A sub-caliber projectile with steel core at a distance of 800 m, it normally penetrates 16 mm armor.

When firing from an aircraft gun, resonant vibrations occur, sometimes leading to disruption of the normal operation of on-board electronic equipment. For example, when firing an M61A1 Vulkan cannon installed on an F-16 aircraft (September 1979), vibrations disrupted the normal operation of the navigation computer. During training flights at an altitude of 4200 m, unauthorized turns of the aircraft were observed when firing from a cannon. A solution was found in a slight change in the rate of fire, which eliminated the appearance of resonant oscillations.

The M61A1 gun has the GAU-4A variant, the main difference of which is the absence of an external gun drive. The GAU-4A uses powder gases exhausted from three barrels to rotate the barrel block. The initial spin-up of the barrel block is ensured by an inertial starting device with electric motor. All of the listed characteristics of the M61A1 are identical to the GAU-4A gun.

The first aircraft equipped with the M61A1 Vulcan cannon was the F-105 Thunderchief fighter-bomber. The cannon was built into the fuselage of the aircraft. Since 1961, M61A1 guns began to be equipped with Phantom F-4C fighters, which were initially armed only with missiles. The F-4C fighter carried two cannons in suspended mounts with 1,200 rounds of ammunition each. However, during air combat, the effectiveness of suspended installations turned out to be insufficient due to the influence of vibration on shooting accuracy. It was concluded that the optimal placement of the gun was along the longitudinal axis of the aircraft or close to it. Therefore, a built-in cannon was adopted to arm the F-4E, F-14A, F-15 and F-16 fighters. The M61A1 cannons were used to arm the F-111A, F-104 fighter-bombers and A-7D and A-7E carrier-based attack aircraft.

The M61A1 gun was the last gun to be used in the rear defensive installations of American bombers. The Vulcan cannons were equipped with stern (tail) installations strategic bombers B-52 and B-58. In addition, on the basis of the Vulcan aircraft cannon, shipborne 20-mm Vulcan-Phalanx installations were created, as well as a number of self-propelled anti-aircraft installations.

For the 20-mm M61A1 and GAU-4 guns, the USA developed suspended containers SUU-23A and SUU-16A, intended for mounting on sub- and supersonic fighters and attack aircraft. The main purpose of the guns is to fire at ground targets at a distance of up to 700m.

To eliminate the supply of electricity for rotating the block of barrels from the aircraft carrying the container, the automation of the M61A1 cannon is driven by an air turbine operating from the oncoming air flow. The turbine is mounted on a hinged panel of the container, which, when lowered, exposes the turbine to the air flow. The use of an air turbine results in a rate of fire limitation at aircraft speeds less than 650 km/h and an increase in air resistance compared to the air resistance experienced by the SUU-23A container with the GAU-4 cannon. An electric starter is used to accelerate the GAU-4 gun barrel block before each burst of shots.

The guns in the containers are fixed motionless. If desired, on the ground the cannon can be given an angle of “1” horizontally and vertically from the axis of the container. During firing, containers (guns) are aimed using a gun sight or fire control system. The spent cartridges are thrown out. After releasing the firing button, the gun discharges automatically, so self-ignition of cartridges is practically excluded. When the gun is unloaded, it is thrown out small quantity live ammunition.

The installation is powered from the aircraft's on-board network: alternating current - 208 V, 400 Hz, three-phase - current consumption of the SUU-16A container - 7A; SUU-23A container - 10 A. Installation of the SUU-23A container can also operate on 28 V DC; the current consumption is 3 A. Projectile dispersion: 80% fit into a circle with a diameter of 8 milliradians.

The dimensions of the SUU-16A and SUU-23A containers are the same. Length 560 mm, diameter 560 mm. Ammunition capacity: 1200 rounds. The weight of the SUU-16A (SUU-23A) container without cartridges is 484 kg (489 kg), with cartridges 780 kg (785 kg).

Caliber, mm 20
Number of trunks 6
Rate of fire, rds/min 4000-6000
Gun weight, kg 190
Cartridge weight, g 250
Projectile weight, g 1100
Initial bullet speed, m/s 1030-1100
Length, mm 1875
Barrel length, mm 1524

The idea of ​​multi-barreled rapid-fire weapons arose in the 15th century and was embodied in some samples of that time. Despite its obvious advantages, this type of gun did not catch on and was, rather, an exotic illustration of the development of design ideas than a real effective firing system.

In the 19th century, inventor R. Gatling from Connecticut, who worked on agricultural machinery and later became a doctor, received a patent for a “revolving battery gun.” He was kind person and believed that having received so much terrible weapon, humanity will come to its senses and, fearing the numerous victims, will stop fighting altogether.

The main innovation in the Gatling gun was the use of gravity to automatically feed cartridges and extract casings. The naive inventor could not have imagined that his brainchild would become the prototype of a super-fast-firing machine gun in the middle and second half of the 20th century.

Development of technical thought after Korean War led to the emergence of new weapons for aviation. The rapid speeds of the MiGs and Sabers left the pilots too little time for careful aiming, and the number of cannons and machine guns could not be very large. The rate of fire was limited by the fact that the barrels overheated. The way out of this engineering impasse was the six-barreled Vulcan M61 machine gun, which arrived just in time for a new massacre, the Vietnam War.

With each passing decade, the duration of combat contact between opponents is decreasing. The one who managed to fire more charges and started shooting first has a better chance of surviving. Mechanical devices simply cannot cope in such an environment, so the Vulcan machine gun is equipped with an electric drive with a power of 26 kW, which rotates the barrels that fire 20-mm projectiles in turn, as well as an electric system for igniting the capsules. This solution allows firing at a speed of up to 2000 rounds per minute, and in “turbo” mode - 4200.

The Vulcan machine gun is quite massive and is intended primarily for aviation, although it can also be used in ground-based air defense systems. Initially it was installed on Lockheed Starfighters, but later they began to equip it on A-10 attack aircraft. It was also suspended under the fuselage of the Phantom F-4 as an additional artillery container, after it became clear that missiles alone could not be used in maneuverable air combat. The weight of 190 kg is no joke, and this is without ammunition, which at such a rate of fire requires a considerable amount, so children's toys, the Vulcan nerf machine gun, which shoots arrows, have little in common with the prototype.

This weapon is relatively easy to maintain; the design is made as practical as possible. To load the Vulcan machine gun, you need to remove it, but this is easy to do. Problems arose in the 50s, when survey work was carried out. Large quantity shells create powerful recoil, which results in difficulties with piloting.

In the USSR, the creation of multi-barreled aircraft weapons began a good ten years later than in the United States. The answer to the Vulcan machine gun was the 6K30GSh, AK-630M-2 and other anti-aircraft automatic guns artillery installations with high fire density. Some improvements in the creation of initial and operating torques provide certain technical and operational advantages, but the design is still based on the same Gatling principle.

In the century before last, gunsmiths had the idea to increase the rate of fire (and therefore the efficiency) of small arms by including several barrels in the design. Even revolvers were created according to this scheme, and the most famous example is the Gatling canister (as this machine gun was called in Russia). Later the idea found its way further development However, it was used for slightly different reasons. Examples include numerous systems such as the M134 Minigun, GAU-8/A Avenger and, of course, the Vulcan electric machine gun. The gloomy glory of this weapon is inextricably linked with military history the turbulent 20th century, in particular its second half.

Prototype invented by Gatling

It was in 1862, when an American inventor named Gatling received his patent. The document confirming priority was about a firing system that fired up to two hundred bullets per minute. The principle of operation was to rotate a block that included six barrels arranged in a circle in such a way that after each shot the next cartridge ended up at the next muzzle channel, while there was only one breech. Muscular force was used to rotate 60 degrees. At its core, it was a six-barreled revolver-type machine gun with an axis of rotation, parallel line shot, with the difference that instead of feeding the cartridge to the barrel, on the contrary, the barrel was fed to the cartridge. Well, it’s hard to deny the elegance of the technical solution to the author of the invention, although soon weapon designers abandoned this method of moving ammunition, preferring belt and disk magazines, which ensured a higher rate of fire and ease of reloading. Even the improvement of the Gatling model in 1866 provided only a slight improvement in performance. The system continued to remain cumbersome, however, this did not prevent it from being in service with the US Army until the beginning of the 20th century.

The birth of Vulcan

Multi-barreled weapons were remembered at the beginning of the era of jet aviation. At transonic speeds dogfight became fleeting, and conventional submachine guns simply did not have time to fire the number of charges required to achieve success. They fired no faster than 1,400 rounds per minute, and the simplest calculations indicated that if the pace were increased, any weapon could melt. They tried to cool the machine guns, but they still spent their resources very quickly. And then they remembered about old Gatling. The American company General Electric took the multi-barrel principle as a basis and solved the problem of overheating. An electric motor was used to rotate the working unit. The six-barrel M61 Vulcan with a 20 mm caliber entered service in 1956.

Multi-purpose system

The scope of application of the new weapon turned out to be quite wide. The rate of fire was useful for both sailors and anti-aircraft gunners, although GE primarily fulfilled the request of the US Air Force. To operate, the Vulcan machine gun requires connection to the on-board electrical or hydraulic system of a ship, aircraft, helicopter, car, armored vehicle or other mobile carrier. It became the basis anti-aircraft systems, such as the land M161 and M163 and the sea Vulcan-Phalanx. The rate of fire can be adjusted up to 6 thousand rounds/min. This system was widely used by the US Army and the armed forces of other countries in various conflicts, including during the Vietnam War. The Vulcan machine gun was installed as standard armament on helicopters and airplanes.

What is "Minigun"?

In conditions local conflicts American army a weapon with a high rate of fire was required, but at the same time compact enough to be mounted on relatively small aircraft, such as Iroquois or Cobra helicopters. Others also mattered combat characteristics: the mass of ammunition (and it was required to be large - several thousand rounds, otherwise there was no point in starting this whole business), as well as recoil, which exceeded during firing standard sample a hundred kilograms of force. GE has developed a system that fires conventional NATO rifle cartridges (7.62 mm), which significantly reduces weight. At its core, it was the same Vulcan machine gun, only smaller and lighter.

What about us?

Soviet gunsmiths closely followed the achievements of their American colleagues, but preferred to act in their own way. It was considered unnecessary to copy a six-barreled machine gun in the USSR. The GSh-23 cannon (the number is the caliber in mm) is half the weight of the Vulcan, and it can fire up to 3-4 thousand rounds per minute, which is usually quite enough. There is also a heavier 30-mm version of the GSh-30, which is armed with Su-25 aircraft and Mi-24P helicopters. By the way, both guns are double-barreled.

Domestic gunsmiths used rotating blocks in the design of the YakB-12.7 and GshG-7.62 machine guns (the numbers mean the same thing), but in this case there are fewer barrels - only four. And finally, about six-barreled Soviet guns GSh-6-23, developed for the Mig-27 and shipborne anti-aircraft systems AK-230 and AK-630. Their rate of fire is slightly higher than Vulcan's - it is 10 thousand rounds/min.

By the way, domestic systems do not require an external power source; the rotation of the barrel blocks is carried out by the energy of the powder gases.

Toys and movies

The six-barreled monster just begs to be taken into the hands of a Hollywood blockbuster hero, but this directorial move is due only to wild imagination. Even if we discard such a convention as the need for a power source (27V, 400A, which in terms of power that everyone understands is 4 hp), then there is still a lot of ammunition left, which is about 25 kg per minute. And even the recoil... In general, the Vulcan is as useful in your hands as a pie in the sky.

But there is no need to despair, there is always a place for heroism in life. You can simply buy a Vulcan Nerf gun (usually sold in the toys and sports accessories department). And, of course, the developers of computer shooting games did not ignore the M61.