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28January1955

hadnotpreviouslybeenacdoptedinsuchacalibre. There-
1edweaponwastheMG-213Candwasthefirstmodern
resolvercannonoraircraft

wasgas-operated;butthe
WO-stagerecaprocatingmer
beltandramthemintooneas
•takecartridgesoutofthe
acylinderidentical

(anti-clockwise,seenfromtherear),by. diagonal
atingslideandacurfollowerca
MostMG-213swerefittedforleft-
handfoodand consequently
intothechamberat
redfromtherear,thebeltbeinggraderoyareceiviseron
cylindershalt.
tothe12oclockposition,
norosterasarrien

inlinewiththebarrel,andfiredbyanelectricigniter.
Atthemomentoffiring,thecartagewasheldsoldybythe
нessen whichwasrenderedras-tentoyrackine

casewassupportedbearigidbreechbody
inwhichthecylinderwasmounted. Thegastappingforoperating
orcechwasnotopenedbyrotationofthecylinderandalsoowing
olthemovingparts)itwaspossibleforthe
mcchanisentobeinfullmotionbeforethecroiechlehadleftthe
barrelandwhilethegaspressurewasstillextremely AdevtioomentmodelM.soontest.firingoflongronoeinthsopen

alonepermittedasignificantincrease worthnotingaretheammunitionfeedandelectricignition
Wits proboblytokenduring
throughthewholecycleofoperationsbeforethenextcyclecould
begin,forintherevolvercannontherearealwaysat BothhavealayoutsimilartotheGermangun,with
roundspassingthroughtheguntogether,cachatadifferentpoint marriesn

firingcycle firingandextraction) theroundbeingfiredisindexedatthe12o'clockposition.

advantagesothearrangementarethatcoolingiseasierandthat BoththeOerlikonweaponsarefiredbyabeltleft-or•right-hand
thecalloreofdesioncanbechangedmorereadiethancanthat
weapon. cylinderisloadedbyatwo-stage
Sofarasisknown,theMG-213Cwasneverusedinaircombat tothegas-operatedslidewhiichturnsthecylinder.
butthereisnodoubtthatitwasyearsaheadofanyotheraircraft Theguncasingisrigidlyattachedtotheairframeandcarriesan
Infacttherewasnocomparableweapon.
cagagedthealtenconolarmamentexpertseverywhere. Earlyversionsofthegunswere UiDDedfor
Cosin losgansthe
devclopmicalofwasrunarelosemodern206RKand302RI arecockedbyaspeciallydeveloped
whichhavetakenplaceinthiscountry,Switzerlandandthecartridgedevice,amagazineof12electricallyignitedcartridges
beingavailableforonemission.Ignitionofthemainammunition
OfBritishwork,littlecanyetbedisclosed.Inthespringof isalsoelectric,andwhenthegunceasesfiringoneroundisleft
lastyear,Mr.DuncanSandys,thenMinisterofSupply,made
ofhicialreterencetoanewcannonknownastheAdenacontrace
inthefiringposition.
ThethirdimportantdescendantoftheMG-213Cisacannon
tionof"ArmamentDevelopment,Enfield")withaboreof30mm. whichisrapidlycomingintolarge-scaleservicewiththeU.S.A.F
Ministermadethefollowingstatementatthattime:"With otherAmerican designationM=39
thispowerfulcannon,theSwift capable agingtobea OriginaldevelopmentfromtheMauser
againstanenemyaircrafteighttimesmorehighexplosivethanwas ArmorResearchFoundationoftheIllinoisInstituteofTech-
possiblewithearliertypesofguns.Itsrevolutionarydesigngives nologyassistedbytheSpringfield(Mass)Armory, Various
theAdencannonabouttwicetherateoffireofthe20mmHispano weapons(modelsA,B,CandD)wereproduced
gun,whichhasbecaourstandardhanterweapon and,inthecourseofdevclopment,aboreof20mmwas
rovedthattheAden,withitsadrancedtypeotasfinalandtheGermanmechanismwaspartlyinverted,theaxis
inflictingoftheM-39cylinderbeingabovethatofthebarrel.
Theintroduction TheoutbreakofwarinKorcacausedtheworktobeurgently
andterrificfirepower,isamilestone
intheprogressofbritamsaldeicace. intomodusethe-39bandassistinfurther

Itwasprobablyaverywisemovetostandardizethecalibreofsompanyformedaspecialweaponderelopmentgroupunder
theAdenat30mm,althoughthecorrespondingAmericanweaponRayL.Morrissey(ascoutpilotintheGreatWarandacannon
Nodetailsofthegunhavebeenreleased productionexpertinWorldWar2),whopromisedtohaveawork
forpublication,butthemerefactthatdevelopmenthastaken inemodelreadeinfourmonths.
Poorecionarcis anbetakenasindicativeotitsquality. toolanddieplant,thefirstgunfromth
incidentallythefirstwhollyBritishgunsincetheGreatWartowascompletedonemonthcarly,inJune,1951. Thisweapon

December,deveraloftheimprovedguns,
Anamentnine
BromtheMinister's

statement,itwouldseemthatasingleSwiltofHunterwith designatedM-39E,had
idenscanbringtobearroughlythesamefirepowerascanawholebeendelivered.
TheArty
squadronoldieteors. Incidentally,theinitialair-fringtaisand OrdnanceDepartment,whoareresponsible.
thedevelopmentoftheAdenwerecarriedoutwiththe U.S.AF.guns,themdecidedthatthiswastheanswertotheir
wraponmountedinMetcoraurames Prototype searchforanewrapid-fireaircraftcannon,andFordwereawarded
theMinistry Supply Roval developmentcontractforseveralhundredM-39Esfo
Rectories,andthemunisnowrinlarge-scaleproduction,aprincipal testpurposes. Thecompanybuiltaspecialfig
contractorbeingtheB.S..company. Rougefactory,ateststandbeingillustratedoverleaf.Latein1952,
InSwitzerland,therenownedOerlioncompanyaremaintain- severalM-39EswereinstalledinF-36FSabresand,afterashake
ingtheirpositionasoneoftheworld'sprincipalsuppliersof A.F.B,wereshipped
FromtheMG-213Ctheyhavedevelopedru
mmaconte dbeMai.RamondE.Evans,oftheU.S.A.F.
superbrevolver the206RKo

Standard1958productionM-39,arrangedforright-hand

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