M197 (20 mm)

Description

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Vehicles equipped with this weapon

• AH-1F
• Tzefa D/E
• ▅AH-1E
• AH-1S
• AH-1S Kisarazu
• AH-1Z

General info

The M197 is a lightweight M61 Vulcan toned down with only 3 barrels (as opposed to 6) and shooting at 750 rpm (vs 6,000 rpm) to reduce the recoil strain on platforms utilising the weapon.

Available ammunition

• Default: HEI-T* · HEF-I · HEF-I · AP-I
• Universal: HEI-T* · AP-I · HEF-I · AP-I
• Air targets: HEI-T* · HEF-I · HEF-I · AP-I
• Armored targets: HEI-T* · AP-I · AP-I · AP-I
• Stealth: HEF-I · HEF-I · HEF-I · AP-I

Penetration statistics
Ammunition	Penetration @ 0° Angle of Attack (mm)
	10 m	100 m	500 m	1,000 m	1,500 m	2,000 m
HEI-T*	2	2	2	2	2	2
AP-I	40	36	22	12	6	3
HEF-I	5	5	3	2	2	2

Shell details
Ammunition	Velocity (m/s)	Projectile mass (kg)	Fuse delay (m)	Fuse sensitivity (mm)	Explosive mass (TNT equivalent) (g)	Ricochet
						0%	50%	100%
HEI-T*	1,030	0.1	0.2	0	11.92	79°	80°	81°
AP-I	1,030	0.1	-	-	-	47°	56°	65°
HEF-I	1,030	0.1	0.2	0.1	16	79°	80°	81°

Comparison with analogues

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Usage in battles

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Pros and cons

Pros:

• Armoured targets belt can penetrate most MBTs from the top
• High ammunition count (750 rounds)

Cons:

• Gun overheats quickly

History

In late 1967, the United States Army noticed from combat experience in Vietnam that the M134 Minigun was inadequate for use on their gunships such as the AH-1G Cobra. To increase the effective firepower of the Cobra, the US Army mounted a variant of the M61 Vulcan cannon used on Air Force fighter aircraft, but with a lower rate of fire to reduce recoil and modifications to prevent the muzzle blast from damaging any internal components. The resulting variant of the Vulcan was the M195 cannon which was mounted as part of the M35 Helicopter Armament Subsystem on the wings of the AH-1G Cobra. However, the M195 still generated significant recoil for the Cobra so a new cannon with a similar rate of fire, but only three barrels was developed, receiving the designation M197. The M197 became standard armament for Cobra series starting with AH-1S Cobra in the M97 Armament system and continues to serve to the latest variant, the AH-1Z Zulu Cobra. The M197 also was developed into the GPU-2/A gun pod which contains the cannon, 300 rounds of ammunition, and a Ni-Cad rechargeable battery to serve as a independent power supply. This gun pod was used on the both Marine Crops OV-10 Bronco and the Air Force A-37 Dragonfly fixed wing attack aircraft.

Media

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See also

• M195 (20 mm) - Original Cobra Vulcan variant

External links

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