Autocannon
An
autocannon is a projectile
weapon with a larger
caliber (bore) than a
machine gun, but smaller than
field gun or other artillery. They have mechanisms to automatically load the ammunition and have a faster rate of fire than
artillery.
The term
cannon was used during
WWII to describe guns used in aircraft, where the distinction was that the
shells were explosive. After the war similar guns were used with non-explosive rounds in the anti-tank role, and the name autocannon started to become popular. Autocannon today are typically distinguished by their incorporation of some method of automated loading and firing.
Examples of an autocannon are the 25 mm
M242 Bushmaster mounted on the
M2 Bradley, the
Bofors 40 mm anti-aircraft gun, or the 30 mm
GAU-8 in the
A-10 Warthog close air support airframe.
Autoloading equipment had been used on anti-aircraft guns and for other guns (such as the
Molins gun) during the
Second World War. Modern
tank guns (around 120 mm calibre) have been fitted with automatic loading systems (typically
Soviet Union and
Russian main battle tanks, along with French have used these for reasons of space) and although they might be considered to be autocannon they are not referred to as such.
