A gun pod typically contains one or more guns, a supply of ammunition, and, if necessary, a power source. Electrically powered cannon, such as the M61 Vulcan, may be powered from the aircraft's electrical system or by a ram-air turbine.
Gun pods increase a vehicle's firepower without occupying internal volume. When not required for a specific mission they can be omitted to save weight.[1] On some vehicles they isolate delicate internal components such as radar from the weapon's recoil and gases, and for jet aircraft allow the weapons to be mounted away from the intakes of the engines, reducing problems of gun-gas ingestion, which may cause the engine to stall.
When designed to be suspension-mounted on a hardpoint on a typical post-WW II aircraft, gun pods are inherently less accurate than integral guns, or the type of "conformal" gun pods that are faired smoothly into or onto the nearby surfaces of an aircraft, because the "hardpoint" mounting is necessarily less rigid, so that the weapon's recoil produces more deflection. This problem is particularly acute with powerful cannon like the 30mm GPU-5 gun pod. Both hardpoint-mounted and conformal-mount gun pods also cause substantial drag on fast-moving vehicles such as fighter aircraft.
Gun pods are commonly carried on military helicopters, and are often fitted to light aircraft to equip them for counter-insurgency operations. Some air arms use gun pods for fighter bombers for use in strafing attacks. Since the Vietnam War, United States Air Force policy has been that the use of multimillion-dollar aircraft for strafing is not economically justified, but the Soviet Union, and subsequently Russia, have remained proponents of strafing, and have continued to develop systems for this purpose. Soviet experience in Afghanistan in the 1980s led to an unusual innovation in the form of the SPPU series of gun pods, which have traversable barrels allowing them to continue to fire on a fixed target as the aircraft passes overhead. Lessons learned during the Vietnam War showed the effectiveness of guns. Then expensive fighter jets such as the F-4 didn't even carry an internal cannon. Missiles (thought to be superior) -- in particular radar-guided missiles—had notoriously poor combat track records in air-to-air combat. Engineers and air crews quickly created a solution by attaching rotary cannons in a cut-out fuel drop tank, creating an impromptu gun pod suitable for attacking ground targets.[citation needed]
In World War II the Third Reich's Luftwaffe made use of many different, and most often rigidly mounted, conformal and suspended-mount gun pod systems usually called Waffenbehälter (prefix of WB, literally 'weapon container') or Waffenträger (prefix of WT, literally 'weapon carrier'), and carrying anything from rifle caliber MG 81 machine guns, all the way up to the enormous Bordkanone anti-tank cannon based ordnance weapon series, ranging from 37 to 75mm in caliber, though the usual underwing conformal gun pods fitted to Bf 109 and Fw 190 single engined fighters used either the MG 151/20 or MK 108 in gun pod mounts.
Other countries also used gun pods on their aircraft; the U.S. SBD Dauntless could be equipped with two gun pods on each wing, each with two M2 Browning machine guns.
The Bristol Blenheim Mk.1F of the Royal Air Force was a night fighter conversion of the twin engine light bomber equipped with airborne interception radar and armed with four .303 in (7.7 mm)Browning machine gun in a special gun pack under the fuselage. The Mk.IVF was a long range fighter version armed with the same gun pack.
A Mark IID Hurricane of 6 Squadron at Shandur, Egypt (1942)
The RAF Hawker Hurricane Mk.IID of 1942 was an early and extremely successful example of tank busting aircraft of the North African campaign armed with two 40 mm (1.57 in) Vickers S gun with 15 rounds mounted in gondola-style pods, one under each wing.
Media related to Aircraft gun pods at Wikimedia Commons
^Quaile, John E. (1958). "New Military Methods and Devices: Electronics • Aviation • Weapons". The Military Engineer. 50 (338): 451. ISSN 0026-3982.
February 10, 2024
this, article, needs, additional, citations, verification, please, help, improve, this, article, adding, citations, reliable, sources, unsourced, material, challenged, removed, find, sources, news, newspapers, books, scholar, jstor, january, 2024, learn, when,. This article needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed Find sources Gun pod news newspapers books scholar JSTOR January 2024 Learn how and when to remove this template message A gun pod is a detachable pod or pack containing machine guns autocannons revolver cannons or rotary cannons and ancillaries mounted externally on a vehicle such as a military aircraft which may or may not also have its own guns One of the first American attempts at a gun pod was the 50 calibre machine gun conformal mount blister pod on the B 25 Mitchell Contents 1 Description 2 World War II 3 Common gun pods 3 1 United States 3 2 USSR Russia 3 3 France 4 External linksDescription editA gun pod typically contains one or more guns a supply of ammunition and if necessary a power source Electrically powered cannon such as the M61 Vulcan may be powered from the aircraft s electrical system or by a ram air turbine Gun pods increase a vehicle s firepower without occupying internal volume When not required for a specific mission they can be omitted to save weight 1 On some vehicles they isolate delicate internal components such as radar from the weapon s recoil and gases and for jet aircraft allow the weapons to be mounted away from the intakes of the engines reducing problems of gun gas ingestion which may cause the engine to stall When designed to be suspension mounted on a hardpoint on a typical post WW II aircraft gun pods are inherently less accurate than integral guns or the type of conformal gun pods that are faired smoothly into or onto the nearby surfaces of an aircraft because the hardpoint mounting is necessarily less rigid so that the weapon s recoil produces more deflection This problem is particularly acute with powerful cannon like the 30mm GPU 5 gun pod Both hardpoint mounted and conformal mount gun pods also cause substantial drag on fast moving vehicles such as fighter aircraft Gun pods are commonly carried on military helicopters and are often fitted to light aircraft to equip them for counter insurgency operations Some air arms use gun pods for fighter bombers for use in strafing attacks Since the Vietnam War United States Air Force policy has been that the use of multimillion dollar aircraft for strafing is not economically justified but the Soviet Union and subsequently Russia have remained proponents of strafing and have continued to develop systems for this purpose Soviet experience in Afghanistan in the 1980s led to an unusual innovation in the form of the SPPU series of gun pods which have traversable barrels allowing them to continue to fire on a fixed target as the aircraft passes overhead Lessons learned during the Vietnam War showed the effectiveness of guns Then expensive fighter jets such as the F 4 didn t even carry an internal cannon Missiles thought to be superior in particular radar guided missiles had notoriously poor combat track records in air to air combat Engineers and air crews quickly created a solution by attaching rotary cannons in a cut out fuel drop tank creating an impromptu gun pod suitable for attacking ground targets citation needed World War II edit nbsp A Bf 109G 6 of the WW II Luftwaffe s JG 27 in Reichsverteidigung service armed with two MG 151 20 underwing gun pods In World War II the Third Reich s Luftwaffe made use of many different and most often rigidly mounted conformal and suspended mount gun pod systems usually called Waffenbehalter prefix of WB literally weapon container or Waffentrager prefix of WT literally weapon carrier and carrying anything from rifle caliber MG 81 machine guns all the way up to the enormous Bordkanone anti tank cannon based ordnance weapon series ranging from 37 to 75mm in caliber though the usual underwing conformal gun pods fitted to Bf 109 and Fw 190 single engined fighters used either the MG 151 20 or MK 108 in gun pod mounts Other countries also used gun pods on their aircraft the U S SBD Dauntless could be equipped with two gun pods on each wing each with two M2 Browning machine guns The Bristol Blenheim Mk 1F of the Royal Air Force was a night fighter conversion of the twin engine light bomber equipped with airborne interception radar and armed with four 303 in 7 7 mm Browning machine gun in a special gun pack under the fuselage The Mk IVF was a long range fighter version armed with the same gun pack nbsp A Mark IID Hurricane of 6 Squadron at Shandur Egypt 1942 The RAF Hawker Hurricane Mk IID of 1942 was an early and extremely successful example of tank busting aircraft of the North African campaign armed with two 40 mm 1 57 in Vickers S gun with 15 rounds mounted in gondola style pods one under each wing Common gun pods editUnited States edit Main article U S aircraft gun pods GPU 2 A Gun pod with M197 cannon GPU 5 A Gun pod with GAU 13 A cannon M18 SUU 11 A Gun pod with M134 GAU 2 A machine gun M12 SUU 16 A Gun pod with M61A1 cannon M25 SUU 23 A Gun pod with GAU 4 A cannon USSR Russia edit GUV 8700 Gun pod 9A624 2 GShG 7 62mm 9A622 and 1 Yak B 12 7mm 9A624 GUV 8700 Gun pod 9A669 similar as above 1 9A800 version of AGS 17 30mm automatic grenade launcher in the same pod UPK 23 250 Gun pod GSh 23L twin barreled 23mm SPPU 22 Depressible gun pod GSh 23L twin barreled 23mm SPPU 6 Fully mobile gun pod GSh 6 23 six barreled 23mm SPPU 687 Depressible gun pod 9A 4273 GSh 30 1 high velocity 30mm prototype France edit CC420 Gun pod with 30mm DEFA 552 552A 553 or 554 cannon CC422 Short gun pod with 30mm DEFA 553 cannon CC630 Gun pod with two 30mm DEFA 554 cannons External links edit nbsp Media related to Aircraft gun pods at Wikimedia Commons Quaile John E 1958 New Military Methods and Devices Electronics Aviation Weapons The Military Engineer 50 338 451 ISSN 0026 3982 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Gun pod amp oldid 1197959573, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
