First Aerial Firing of the F-35's gun

Test footage of the first firing of the F-35's GAU-22/A 25mm gun took place recently. Firing a burst of 30 rounds then 60 and then another 60 rounds.

F-35 test pilot Maj Charles "Flak" Trickey fires the first aerial gun test burst of the GAU-22/A 25mm gun from F-35A aircraft AF-2. The gun will provide operational F-35A pilots the ability to engage air-to-ground or air-to-air weapon targets, in addition to beyond visual range air-to-air missiles and precision-guided air-to-ground weapons

a reply to: Sammamishman

could you give us laymen a size equivalent to this 25mm shell, with some type of common item?

a reply to: jimmyx

A quarter is 0.95" in diameter. 1 inch is 25.4 mm.

originally posted by: JIMC5499
a reply to: jimmyx

A quarter is 0.95" in diameter. 1 inch is 25.4 mm.

thanks, and the length is how many inches?....and is it an explosive charge?.....one other thing, the rounds seem to be coming from either the front of the wing close to the body, or off the main body wing-high, which one?....is firing this in a "high-G turn" dangerous to the pilot if it's so close to the main body of the craft?

a reply to: jimmyx

It's in the shoulder of the wing, right in the wing root. That's the normal location for the gun in Air Force fighters.

The muzzle velocity is so high that it's clear of the aircraft before the aircraft can turn into it.

originally posted by: Zaphod58
a reply to: jimmyx

It's in the shoulder of the wing, right in the wing root. That's the normal location for the gun in Air Force fighters.

The muzzle velocity is so high that it's clear of the aircraft before the aircraft can turn into it.

thanks zaph....it would be logical that it was figured out beforehand, but I had to ask due to the unknown top speed of the craft and the agility of being fly-by-wire.

a reply to: jimmyx

The biggest problem with it has been the targeting software development. It's on track but people have freaked out because it won't be released for a couple years.

a reply to: jimmyx

Maybe this will put it into perspective:

originally posted by: Zaphod58
a reply to: jimmyx

The biggest problem with it has been the targeting software development. It's on track but people have freaked out because it won't be released for a couple years.

What with nuclear weapons and the unprotected electrical grid in the US, the war could be over by then.

a reply to: TonyS

And it's almost irrelevant. Since Vietnam I can count the number of air to air gun kills on one hand. The amount of rounds it carries isn't going to make a big difference in air to ground either.

a reply to: Zaphod58

Yes and no. If you have a loitering platform, for CAS, plenty of ammo is pretty much a requirement.

its one of the reasons I wish DARPA had stuck to their plan with PCAS to make the A-10 a UCAV. However, I am sure since the US Air Force wants to get rid of them is why they changed the effort.

a reply to: anzha

I agree, but with only 180 rounds you're not going to see the gun used much, even in the CAS role. They'll burn through that in three passes.

a reply to: anzha

I think the AF is looking past the days of the gun slinger. They want to replace guns and unguided munitions with miniature smart weapons and DEW's with deep magazines. The F-35 and future platforms will be able to do this eventually while maintaining survivability in a peer state's airspace, the A-10 can not.
As much as I love the A-10, it's doomed in the AF's eyes. It can't survive in a modern A2/AD theater plus that little AF's fighter mafia thing.

originally posted by: jimmyx
a reply to: Sammamishman

could you give us laymen a size equivalent to this 25mm shell, with some type of common item?

Cucumber.

For surgical strikes I can see it perform better than spray and pray..The A10 is great because of its slower speed and accuracy and with a good pilot can put rounds in danger close to support troops on the ground.