GAU-12U (25 mm)

The 25 mm GAU-12U on the LAV-AD turret.

Description

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Vehicles equipped with this weapon

• LAV-AD

General info

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Available ammunition

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Comparison with analogues

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Usage in battles

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Pros and cons

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Pros:

Cons:

History

The GAU-12/U Equalizer is a 25 mm variant of the larger 30 mm GAU-8/A Equalizer that was famously used on the A-10A Thunderbolt II. Developed for the Lockheed AC-130H Spectre gunship in the 1970s, the Equalizer uses the exact same mechanism, but scaled-down to 25 mm for the AC-130H. For use on the AC-130, the gun was set at a cyclic rate of 1,800 rpm but on other jets, it fires at a rate of 4,200 rpm. It was principally used on the AV-8B Harrier II VTOL jet for the United States Marine Corps and Italian and Spanish Navy on an external hardpoint pod. The Navy used the gun to make a self-defense variant called the Sea Vulcan 25 intended to serve as a faster-firing alternative for deck-mounted machine guns and corvettes, frigates, or patrol boats, but it didn't enter service. It was also mounted on the Scaled Composites ARES, a close air support demonstrator. A four-barrelled variant, designated GAU-22/A, was developed for the Lockheed Martin F-35 Lighting II stealth fighter jet. The relevant mounting for this weapon however, is the LAV-AD, an anti-aircraft variant of the Marine Corps LAV-25 Infantry Fighting Vehicle.

Media

Images

• 

  The 25 mm GAU-12U breech on the LAV-AD turret.

See also

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• reference to the article about the variant of the cannon/machine gun;
• references to approximate analogues by other nations and research trees.

External links

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• topic on the official game forum;
• other literature.

Britain and USA anti-aircraft guns
7.92 mm	BESA
12.7 mm	M2HB
20 mm	GAI C01 · M168 · Oerlikon Mk.II · Polsten
25 mm	GAU-12U
30 mm	HSS 831L
35 mm	GA-35
37 mm	M1A2
40 mm	Bofors L/60 · Dual Automatic Gun M2 · M266
	Foreign:
23 mm	ZU-23 (USSR)
35 mm	Oerlikon KDA (Swiss)