Gryazev-Shipunov GSh-23

The Gryazev-Shipunov GSh-23 (Russian: ГШ-23) 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 cannon.

GSh-23 displayed in the Egyptian Military museum

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 Gatling gun like the M61 Vulcan GAU, because it doesn't need to spool up, its initial rate of fire is higher. 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 popular in the former Soviet Union on a variety of weapons. It is reported to be a very reliable, robust weapon easily maintained in the field.

The cannon comes in a basic GSh-23 variant, and the more popular GSh-23L (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, bis), all variants of the MiG-23, the SOKO J-22 Orao, the HAL Tejas and IAR 93, and the tail turrets of the Tupolev Tu-22M bomber and some late-model Tu-95s. In that 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-23L's in a tail turret.^[1] An Il-76M with just such a configuration could be seen at the 2002 Ivanovo airshow.^[2]

Some 2nd 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).

Users

•  Brazil - Used on Mi-35M
•  Bulgaria
•  Bangladesh YAK-130,Mi-17,Mi-171Sh, JL-08W
•  China
•  Croatia
•  India Manufactured at Ordnance Factories Board^[3]
•  Iraq on Iraqi aircraft type su-25
•  Pakistan
•  Poland
•  Romania - manufactured locally by SC Uzina Mecanică Cugir as GȘ-23.^[4]
•  Russia
•  Serbia
•  Soviet Union
•  Vietnam
•  Ukraine on SU-25M1^[5]
•  Tunisia - Used on L-59T Super-Albatross
•  Egypt - Used on L-59T Super-Albatross

See also

• Gast Gun
• Silin gun
• List of Russian weaponry
• List of multiple barrel firearms

References

1. ↑ "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.". Retrieved 26 November 2014. 
2. ↑ "WWW.FOXBAT.RU ==". Retrieved 26 November 2014. 
3. ↑ "OFT develops Gen-X weapons". www.oneindia.com. Retrieved 26 November 2014. 
4. ↑ "cal. 23mm AIRCRAFT GUN GSh 23 TYPE". umcugir.ro. Retrieved 19 May 2012. 
5. ↑ "Su-25 M1 Frogfoot". redstar.gr. 

• Koll, Christian (2009). Soviet Cannon - A Comprehensive Study of Soviet Arms and Ammunition in Calibres 12.7mm to 57mm. Austria: Koll. p. 155. ISBN 978-3-200-01445-9.