Keywords: M61A1 Vulcan side view.jpg The 20mm M61A1 Vulcan built by General Electric was a standard aircraft gun used by the USAF Based on the premise of the multi-barrel gun first generated by Dr Gatlin in the nineteenth century the Vulcan was equipped with a rotary action and was tied into the aircraft's hydraulic or electrical system The Vulcan fired about 6 000 rounds per minute and had a high muzzle velocity of 1 036 meters per second Initially the ammunition was fed into the cannon on a belt but the reliability was low and there were problems with the link disposal So GE designed the Vulcan cannon with a linkless feed system The ammunition drum could hold around 1 000 rounds and was attached to the cannon by an ammunition conveyor belt Canon 20mm M61A1 Vulcan construit par General Electric http //www hill af mil/museum/photos/coldwar/m61 htm Harald Hansen PD-USN M61 Vulcan Conveyor belts Hill Aerospace Museum |