General > Discussion
regarding gatling/minigun
DanielOR:
A brief point on the "realism" of it - a smalle version of the gatling is not fisible for human for fundamental reasons. The weapon that Jessie Ventura caries in "Predator" would produce several tons (!) of recoil force. More of a personal propulsion system, really. To make that human-usable it would have to be slowed down lots, to the rate of fire that makes it any old machine gun. There is a nice article in wikipedia, if anyone is interested.
Now, anal-retantive realism aside, no reason not to have such a weapon, maybe requiring huge strength and a heavy armor. :)
Konraden:
--- Quote from: DanielOR on May 31, 2008, 01:57:52 am ---A brief point on the "realism" of it - a smalle version of the gatling is not fisible for human for fundamental reasons. The weapon that Jessie Ventura caries in "Predator" would produce several tons (!) of recoil force. More of a personal propulsion system, really. To make that human-usable it would have to be slowed down lots, to the rate of fire that makes it any old machine gun. There is a nice article in wikipedia, if anyone is interested.
--- End quote ---
Source please, and can you show the math for this? How much force is each bullet exerting? If chain\Gatling guns caused such massive recoil, they wouldn't be able to mount them on HUMVEE's, considering they aren't more than a few tons. Add to the fact that much torque force would roll the thing if fired perpendicular to the vehicles motion.
--- Quote ---Now, anal-retantive realism aside, no reason not to have such a weapon, maybe requiring huge strength and a heavy armor. :)
--- End quote ---
The Japanese have already devloped a working power-suit Powered Armor isn't only a possibility, it's a reality in UFOAI. What is it in the game, 2086? 78 years to perfect this stuff is pretty simple. Definitely should have massive Chain guns roaring up, blasting away.
Aiki-Knight:
--- Quote from: Konraden on May 31, 2008, 05:26:49 am ---If chain\Gatling guns caused such massive recoil, they wouldn't be able to mount them on HUMVEE's, considering they aren't more than a few tons.
--- End quote ---
I don't think actual rotary cannons like the phalanx are mounted on the HMMVW, but rather on much heavier tracked vehicles. However, I don't think the author means literally "tons" of recoil, but rather "too much recoil for a person", which I imagine is true. Certain helicopters like the Super Cobra and some gunships carry rotary cannons like that, as do some medium armored vehicles.
--- Quote from: Konraden on May 31, 2008, 05:26:49 am ---The Japanese have already devloped a working power-suit Powered Armor isn't only a possibility, it's a reality in UFOAI. What is it in the game, 2086? 78 years to perfect this stuff is pretty simple. Definitely should have massive Chain guns roaring up, blasting away.
--- End quote ---
Powered armor will be a reality, for sure, but I doubt the point will be to field such large weapons. Rotary cannons need a great deal of ammunition to be effective; no human could carry the load. Anyone who's been in the army knows that your pack, your webbing, weapon, and ammo already weigh a great deal, and lightening this load is likely the objective of powered armor, not to arm soldiers with weapons only vehicles can mount (and carry enough ammo for). Ultimately, it's just a game, but I just think it would detract from the game's excellent realism. There's advancement, and then there's science-fiction. I really like that UFO:AI doesn't have super-weapons that make the game somewhat irrelevant to the realities of squad tactics. Even if a soldier could carry the weapon and the ammo, he (/she) would not be very mobile with it, and special forces troops are typically meant to be highly mobile.
That being said, there's no reason why mini-tanks or even APCs couldn't carry such weapons. How great would it be to see a futurized Bradley IFV leading the charge against aliens? I doubt we'll see that, but mini-tanks could be made quite awesome with long-range grenade launchers, missile launchers, and rotary cannons.
Darkpriest667:
a minigun barrel(s) have to rotate for 3 to 5 seconds before the first round will fire
thats one thing to take into account when how many time units to be considered for a short burst (15 to 20 rounds) and a spray and pray of 5 seconds (200 to 600 rounds depending on the model of minigun)
That being said... the autocannon/heavy cannon idea needs to be brought back to the table and im glad someone is mentioning it.. I like the machine gun.. its a nice light machine gun..
I dont consider the machine gun a heavy weapon i consider it what it is.. a LSW(light support weapon) you allow soldiers to carry rocket launchers but not a minigun... the rocket launcher is almost useless unless you are firing at an aircraft (semi smart or smart missles) or a ground vehicle (laser guided or fire and forget) .. i dont see the use of a rocket launcher versus "people"(aliens) as much as i do the grenade launcher..
DanielOR:
I have to admit, i really meant "tons of force of recoil". I stand corrected on exact number, but not on spirit.
1. The Gatling guns (aka Vulcan, aka GAU family), of which a Minigun is a member, were mostly designed for aircraft and with high calibers DO produce recoil in access of 1 ton - with barrels rotating at 4,000 to 10,000 rpm. Talking about A-10 Thunderbolt here - the airplane has a second engine for the express purpose of maintaining airspeed whilst firing.
2. Flipping over a car. Great point. The high caliber ones would, for sure. The ones mounted on HUMV-s are 5.56 or 7.62 mm (.223 and .308 respectively) + the barrels rotate much slower.
3. Hand-held implementations. Tried. Primary problem - weight. The gun + thousands of round of ammo + motor for spinning the barrels + the batteries for said motor. Also, (see links) the "modest" 1,000 rpm of the barrels firing 5.56mm round produces 110kg of recoil.
Wikipedia on Minigun, with links to both craft using the weapon as well as variants of the weapon
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minigun
A great site on all firearms:
http://world.guns.ru/machine/minigun-e.htm
a couple more enthusiast sites
http://cerebralsynergy.com/e107_plugins/content/content.php?content.12
http://www.kitsune.addr.com/Firearms/Machine-Guns/GE_XM214_Minigun.htm
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