Gryazev-Shipunov GSh-23 explained

GSh-23
Origin:Soviet Union
Type:Autocannon
Is Ranged:yes
Service:1965–present
Used By:See Users
Designer:KBP Instrument Design Bureau
Design Date:Early 1960s
Manufacturer:KBP Instrument Design Bureau
Variants:GSh-23L
Weight:GSh-23: 49.2kg (108.5lb)
GSh-23L: 50kg (110lb)
Length:GSh-23: 1387abbr=onNaNabbr=on
GSh-23L: 1537abbr=onNaNabbr=on
Part Length:1000mm
Caliber:23mm
Barrels:2
Action:Gast principle
Rate:3,400–3,600 rounds/min (alleged)
Velocity:715m/s

The Gryazev-Shipunov GSh-23 (Russian: ГШ-23)[1] is a twin-barreled 23 mm autocannon developed in the Soviet Union, primarily for military aircraft use. It entered service in 1965, replacing the earlier Nudelman-Rikhter NR-23 and Rikhter R-23.

The GSh-23 works on the Gast Gun principle developed by German engineer Karl Gast of the Vorwerk company in 1916. It is a twin-barreled weapon in which the firing action of one barrel operates the mechanism of the other. It provides a much faster rate of fire for lower mechanical wear than a single-barrel weapon.

Although it cannot match the sustained rate of fire of an electric Rotary cannon like the M61 Vulcan, it requires no external power source to operate, but is instead powered by the recoiling of the floating barrels, somewhat like the action of the German MG-42. The Gast principle has been little used in the West, but was used on a variety of weapons in the former Soviet Union.

The cannon comes in a basic GSh-23 variant, and the more popular GSh-23L (Russian: ГШ-23Л), differing mostly in adding a muzzle brake, lowering recoil force. This cannon was standard fit on late-model MiG-21 fighters (M, SM, MF, SMT, PFM, bis), all variants of the MiG-23, the SOKO J-22 Orao, the JF-17 Thunder, the HAL Tejas, the Aero L-39ZA Albatros and IAR 93, and the tail turrets of the Tupolev Tu-22M bomber and some late-model Tu-95MS and Tu-142M3. In the latter application, it had the unusual ability to fire infrared flares and chaff rounds, allowing it to function as both a weapon and a dispenser of anti-missile countermeasures. It is also mounted on late small series Mi-24VP helicopters (in the NPPU-23 movable mounting) and Polish W-3WA Sokół helicopter in fixed mounting. The cannon was also used on cargo aircraft; specifically, Russian/Soviet Ilyushin Il-76 aircraft were designed to accommodate twin GSh-23's in a tail turret.[2] An Il-76M with just such a configuration could be seen at the 2002 Ivanovo airshow.[3]

Some second generation MiG-21 models could carry the GSh-23L in an under-fuselage gondola designated the GP-9, carrying the cannon and 200 rounds of ammunition; this was replaced by a more streamlined semi-conformal installation in later variants. There are also several gun pods available for mounting on external hardpoints: UPK-23 for air-to-air use, with one or two fixed GSh-23 guns and 200–400 rounds of ammunition, and SPPU-22 pods with traversable barrels for strafing, from 0° to −30° and carried 280 rounds of ammunition in each (they were most often carried by the Su-17/-20/-22 as well as the Su-25/-39 in pairs).

Variants

Users

See also

References

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Born in the USSR: Russia's most vicious Soviet mini-artillery guns - Russia Beyond . 13 March 2018 .
  2. Web site: OKB-144 OKB-004 1/144 Ilyushin Il-76TD Soviet four-engined heavy commercial and military freighter. Model kits, Military and Technical Books and Magazines on www.Aviapress.com.. 26 November 2014. 30 July 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20210730020531/https://aviapress.com/viewonekit.htm?OKB-004. dead.
  3. Web site: WWW.FOXBAT.RU . 26 November 2014 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20160303180024/http://www.foxbat.ru/maks/ivan/index.php?picid=ivanovo10 . 3 March 2016 .
  4. Web site: 23mm Gryazev-Shipunov GSH-23.
  5. Book: Alexander Mladenov. Mil Mi-24 Hind Gunship. 2012. Bloomsbury Publishing. 978-1-84603-954-6. 23.
  6. Book: Yefim Gordon. Russian Gunship Helicopters. 2013. Pen and Sword. 978-1-4738-3139-1. 17.
  7. Web site: OFT develops Gen-X weapons. oneindia.com. 19 March 2007. 26 November 2014.
  8. Web site: cal. 23mm AIRCRAFT GUN GSh 23 TYPE . umcugir.ro . 19 May 2012 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20120531235735/http://www.umcugir.ro/cal.23%20mm%20Aircraft%20Gun%20GSh.html . 31 May 2012 .
  9. Web site: Su-25 M1 Frogfoot. redstar.gr. 9 September 2014. https://web.archive.org/web/20140726073652/https://www.redstar.gr/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=2266:su-25m1-frogfoot-attack-aircraft&catid=417&lang=en&Itemid=526. 26 July 2014. dead.