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The General Electric GAU-8/A Avenger is a 30 mm hydraulically driven seven-barrel Gatling-type cannon that is typically mounted in the United States Air Force's Fairchild Republic A-10 Thunderbolt II. Designed specifically for the anti-tank role, the Avenger delivers very powerful rounds at a high rate of fire. The GAU-8/A is also used in the Goalkeeper CIWS ship weapon system, which provides defense against short-range threats such as highly maneuverable missiles, aircraft and fast maneuvering surface vessels. ==History== The GAU-8 was created as a parallel program with the ''A-X'' (or Attack Experimental) competition that produced the A-10. The specification for the cannon was laid out in 1970,〔(【引用サイトリンク】title= GAU-8/A Avenger )〕 with General Electric and Philco-Ford offering competing designs. Both of the A-X prototypes, the YA-10 and the Northrop YA-9, were designed to incorporate the weapon, although it was not available during the initial competition; the M61 Vulcan was used as a temporary replacement. Once completed, the entire GAU-8 assembly (correctly referred to as the A/A 49E-6 Gun System) represents about 16% of the A-10 aircraft's unladen weight. Because the gun plays a significant role in maintaining the A-10's balance and center of gravity, a jack must be installed beneath the tail of the plane whenever the gun is removed for inspection in order to prevent the aircraft from tipping rearwards. The gun is placed slightly off center in the nose of the plane with the front landing gear positioned to the right of the center line, so that the actively firing cannon barrel is directly on the aircraft's center line. The Russian Gryazev-Shipunov GSh-6-30 is a similar class of weapon; lighter with a higher rate of fire, though with a far lower muzzle velocity and tendency to overheat. The A-10 and its GAU-8/A gun entered service in 1977. It was produced by General Electric, though General Dynamics Armament and Technical Products has been responsible for production and support since 1997 when the division was sold by Lockheed Martin to General Dynamics.〔 The gun is loaded using Syn-Tech's linked tube carrier GFU-8/E 30 mm Ammunition Loading Assembly cart. This vehicle is unique to the A-10 and the GAU-8.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Turrets & Mounted Weaponry )〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「GAU-8 Avenger」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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