Cannons Post 1900: M61 Vulcan

The M61 is a hydraulically driven, six barreled, air cooled, and electrically powered Gatling style-cannon. It is the main cannon attachment for U.S. fixed wing aircraft, and has been for the past 50 years.

The M61 was developed after World War II as the brainchild of the United States Army. They began to think of the future of military aircraft guns. Their plan: to combine an extremely high rate of fire with exceptional reliability. The problem was that the high speeds of a jet-engine fighter aircraft would make it much more difficult without a much higher volume of fire. It was inspired by the designs of the Mauser MG213C, among other German guns.

In 1946, the Army issued General Electric Armament Division a contract for what was called “Project Vulcan”. It was to be a six-barreled weapon capable of firing 6,000 rounds per minute. The first aircraft to adopt this cannon was the F-104 Starfighter.

The M61 did suffer problems with the linked ammunition, as it was prone to foreign object damage and misfeed. They corrected it with a linkless feed  system for the newer M61A1, which became the standard armament of U.S. fighter aircraft.