Looking like something out of a Toho movie, the new Russian twin artillery piece just begs for a Kaiju or alien invader to shoot at.
Actually the weapon is a massive 6 inch (152mm) auto-cannon capable of 18 rounds a minute. I'm unsure if this is per barrel or for the whole mount. I assume the latter. While such a ROF is not unheard ( both the UK and Sweden produced naval mounts with 15-20RPM firing rates) this is not a shipboard mount but a self propelled artillery piece, with no access to, say water cooling or other whistles and bells. The gun is reportedly not actually a linked twin weapon like some of the soviet aircraft weapons but two seperate weapons linked hydraulically. I don't know if this means one can fire if the other is disabled. It carries 50 rounds on mount.
Big tip of the hat to Anthony G. Williams who actually knows what he's talking about and has the scoop here
The vertical twin arrangement looks wierd but I imagine it cuts down on the size of the turret ring, which is, I suppose, a big plus for an AFV. It was used in at least 1 other weapon I know of, an Italian 3" gun from the '60s, for that reason.
There is purportedly a naval variant in the works, and with its space economizing it might be able to fit in a gun pit only a little larger than the big twin 130mm weapon on the Soveremmennys, but I seriously doubt they are truely interchangeable. Something like this would make sense for destroyers and frigates.....the big AGS of the DD1000 actually weighs more than many battleship rifles and requires as much ship as a battleship gun does. (which is one reason the DD1000 is so big...it's a 2 gun dreadnaught ) A weapon similar to this one would give smaller vessels good hitting power, albiet with about half the range and shell weight.
While we are on the subject of naval guns, Anthony Williams has updated his naval cannon page here.
Now all we need are some maser tanks and Markalites and then we'll be set.
Update: Welcome Murdoc Online Readers!!
1 comment:
Wow! Linked.
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