30 mm Apache Cannon

[Guest profgunner]

I want one of these!

Edited April 27, 2012 by profgunner

[TripleDigitRide]

Hell to the yizeah!

[Alleycat72]

GET SOME!!!!

[Guest Nologic]

Ouch

[Will H]

I wonder just how much weight the roof of my car will support.... Turrets are cool.

[DMark]

Hmmmmm...., I have a few of those tapes to reminisce with.

Its a Great Gun. Early on we had serious feeding issues with it, but with enough of the taxpayer's money....., Boeing finally fixed it.

BTW - - - A little know fact, its the same round as used by the USMC's AV8 Harrier.

[gjohnsoniv]

I like the delay in the time from the firing to the rounds hitting.

[DMark]

I wonder just how much weight the roof of my car will support.... Turrets are cool.

Its a bit heavy.

Being a cannon round with a HEDP (High Explosive Dual Purpose) warhead...., its slow. At one time (USSR era) we had real concerns about using it as an Air-To-Air weapon. At max range the "arch" is such that the round will come down on top of the target. We found that tanks could be taken out with the gun using a max range shot that had rounds impacting the engine deck.

Edited May 15, 2012 by DMark

[gjohnsoniv]

Interesting...

So would you fly more or less parallel in a sense to a tank and fire versus flying over top and firing closer to straight down?

Edited May 15, 2012 by gjohnsoniv

[DMark]

.... So would you fly more or less parallel in a sense to a tank and fire versus flying over top and firing closer to straight down?

You could be at a low hover 2-3 km away and fire.

After lasing for range the weapon computer would calculate the correct elevation reference for the gun as you fired. The rounds would reach a max trajectory and then the projectiles would fall in a near vertical drop onto the target. In the case of most all armored vehicles, the top armor is the thinnest. The 30mm HEDP warhead has a shaped-charge liner which allows for the penetration of thin armor plate (such as a tank's engine deck). During Desert Strom several crews figured this out and it became a contest among them to see who could get the longest range kill on a tank using only the gun.

The Apache's computer can also do the "range-rate" math while it (and the target) is moving.

In the video example, the Apache's crew is employing another tactic that allows it to fly at an airspeed and an altitude where those on the ground won't be able to hear it.

My favorite part of this tape has always been the way the dog reacts right before the rounds impact. The Pup knew something was "In The Air."

30mm M789 HEDP.

[gjohnsoniv]

Very interesting.

[mcurrier]

Oopsy!

[I_Like_Pie]

I am trying to figure out the relation to the "tracers" for lack of a better word on the HUD and bullet impact. They appear to be the actual projectiles, but how they move on the screen doesn't make much sense. Anyone else here know what is going on.

[DMark]

... I am trying to figure out the relation to the "tracers" for lack of a better word on the HUD and bullet impact. They appear to be the actual projectiles, but how they move on the screen doesn't make much sense. Anyone else here know what is going on.

Its a night shot.

What you are seeing is the heat of the warheads as the sensor being used in that shot is the FLIR (Forward Looking InfraRed). There is no tracer with the 30mm M789 round.

The movement of the rounds across the screen is an optical illusion. The images of the rounds differ from the objective reality because of the magnification being used by the Co-Pilot/Gunner. The CPG is firing using the TADS (Target Acquisition Designation Sight) which has both a Day TV, direct view optic and the FLIR. The laser rangefinder / designator is also in the TADS. The display is either on one of the panels in the cockpit or on the integrated helmet mounted display worn by both the pilot and copilot / gunner.

In this picture the FLIR is on the left side of the picture and the day sensors are on the right. The Pilot's Night Vision Sensor (PNVS), which is also a FLIR, is the ball looking sensor on the top. All of the sensors are driven by the movement of the crew's helmets which are boresighted to the aircraft. Wherever you look is where the sensor (and 30mm cannon) looks. Its sort of like having your eyeball 4 feet down and 9 feet out front of you while flying.

[JPS]

Wow. I was sitting in my back yard in La Vergne this weekend watching the Blue Angels fly over for the airshow - thinking about the weapons and technology the US can bring to a conflict. You'd think that just the thought of something like this cannon or the sound of an F18 coming in with you as a target would scare the sh*t out of them.

[Grunt67]

That is one wicked animal. I love watching those things work out. Far cry from the old Huey gunships we had in 'Nam.

[kwe45919]

Years ago, back in the late 90's when I worked for KnoxAir, I used to love refueling the Apaches'. KnoxAir having the military refueling contract allowed me to fuel F18's, F16's, Harriers', A-10's and many other fighter jets along with just about every branch of trainer aircraft and all choppers from all branches of the military. It really was a sweet job.

......those were the days....

[Guest tswenka]

Ahem...back in the day. Love watching the tomcats do strafing runs. We would tow a Target off the fantail about half a klick away. You would see them start their run, dive into it, see this massive gout of smoke from the cannon, he would then climb, like a bat out of hell, then you see the rounds hit the Target, and then hear all of it. How does this work you may ask? Well from the way it was explained to me, the plane starts outrunning his own sound. Best way I can describe the sound of that cannon firing, is God ripping apart sheets of canvas.

Ahhh good times.

Point is, you might see the plane coming at you, but doubt you would hear it, or know what is going on till tooooooooooooooooooooooooo late.

Doppler effect in action baby.

Edited August 18, 2012 by tswenka

[Guest tswenka]

Although it tickled me that the rotary wings just kind of hang out and watch for a while, maybe humming a little tune, and the bad guys are none the wiser. LOL. What can I say...I have a messed up sense of humor.