Boeing

The Boeing-led team of international ordnance companies that developed the advanced 27mm aircraft cannon for the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) is unveiling a new gun pod at the Paris Air Show this week.

The pod, complete with a 27mm cannon and ammunition feed system, will be on display at the U.S. Department of Defense corral throughout the show. This is the public debut of the gun pod, which can be mounted on virtually all modern fighter aircraft that meet the pod's fuselage or wing-mount requirements.

Mauser-Waffensysteme, The Boeing Company, Western Design and Sargent Fletcher, Inc., developed the pod and weapon system. The Advanced 27mm Cannon is the same weapon selected by both Boeing and Lockheed Martin for their JSF aircraft and by the multinational Eurofighter consortium for its aircraft.

The gas-operated 27mm cannon fires at a rate of 1,800 shots per minute. A blast bottle is incorporated in the system for gun gas management and reduced signature.

The revolver breech provides reliability and reduced parts costs for greater affordability and reduced maintenance. The ammunition feed system for the pod uses a cost-effective, highly reliable Linear Linkless design. The system features high-density, compact ammunition storage and includes restoration of spent cases to the magazine. The pod can be reloaded in less than five minutes.

The pod is hard-mounted to the aircraft using a specially designed hardback adaptor, providing firing-point accuracy and repeatability. Its design allows the cannon to be positioned within the pod for air-to-air or air-to-ground operations by cockpit-selected positioning to +1-degree elevation or -3-degree depression of the gun firing line. Designed for subsonic or supersonic flight, the gun pod is equipped with pylon adapters that provide rigid mounting and firing accuracy. The pod features easy accessibility to the cannon for loading and maintenance and can be installed on the aircraft in less than 10 minutes.

The Advanced 27mm gun pod provides highly accurate, lethal rounds on target from standoff ranges and could be available to customers as early as 18 months after receipt of order.

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