M134 Minigun (7.62 mm)

M134 Minigun

Rotary machine gun (electric operated)Type

United States Country of origin

Production History

General ElectricDesigner

1960 - PresentProduced

Specifications

19.0 kg (41.0 lb)Gun mass (lightweight)

39.0 kg (85.0 lb)Gun mass (normal)

Other Information

7.62 mmCalibre

Electrically driven rotary breechAction

2,000 - 6,000 RPMRate of fire

853 m/s (2,800 ft/s)Muzzle velocity

Cartridge or linkless belt fedFeed System

1,000 m (3280 ft)Maximum distance

Description

The M134 Minigun (7.62 mm) is a six-barrel rotary machine gun which is powered by an external source to rotate the barrel allowing for a high rate of speed when it comes to firing the weapon. This gun can be plugged into an electric motor or a vehicle such as a UH-1 helicopter to receive power. The term minigun is in reference to the original and larger 20 mm M61 Vulcan cannon of which the M134 is based on. The M134 utilises rifle calibre 7.62 x 51 mm NATO rounds instead of the 20 mm autocannon shells the M61 uses.

The M134 can either be mounted to a hard point on a vehicle for remote firing or can be put on a pedestal which allows a human to directly aim and fire the machine gun at will. The Minigun was designed and developed in the early ‘60s and was first used in the Vietnam War where it was primarily outfitted on helicopters which had issues with overheating barrels on their machine guns. The Minigun alleviated this problem with the air-cooled rotating barrels and could sustain fire longer when necessary, especially in hotter environments.

So reliable was the M134 Minigun, it found many applications, but not just on helicopters inside mounted pods such as the OH-6 Cayuse, AH-1 Cobra and UH-1 “Huey”. Fixed wing aircraft also found a place for the M134 such as the A-37 Dragonfly, A-1 Skyraider, Douglas AC-47, Fairchild AC-119 and the Lockheed AC-130 where the ability to mount multiple Miniguns turned these aircraft into potent aerial firing platforms which could spray an area of the ground below with a hail of bullets.

Due to the versatility of this weapon also found its way to being mounted on tanks and ships as a force multiplier.

Vehicles equipped with this weapon

• AH-1F (Suspended)
• AH-1G
• AH-1Z (Suspended)
• UH-1B (Suspended)
• UH-1C (Suspended)
• UH-1C XM-30 (Suspended)
• ◄UH-1D (Suspended)

General info

Tell us about the tactical and technical characteristics of the cannon or machine gun.

Available shells

Describe the shells that are available for the cannon and their features and purpose. If it concerns autocannons or machine guns, write about different ammo belts and what is inside (which types of shells).

Comparison with analogues

Give a comparative description of cannons/machine guns, that have firepower equal to these type of weapons.

Usage in battles

Describe the cannon/machine gun in the game - its distinctive features, tactics of usage against the main opponents. Please don't write a "guide" - do not impose a single point of view, but give the reader food for thought.

Pros and cons

Summarize and briefly evaluate the weaponry in terms of its characteristics and combat effectiveness. Mark pros and cons as a list.

Pros:

Cons:

History

Examine the history of the creation and combat usage of this weapon. If the historical reference turns out to be too big, take it to a separate article, taking a link to an article about the vehicle and adding a block "/ History" (example: https://wiki.warthunder.com/(weapon-name)/History) and add a link to it here using the main template. Be sure to reference text and sources by using <ref>, as well as adding them at the end of the article.

Media

[Forgotten Weapons] M134 Minigun: The Modern Gatling Gun

See also

Links to the articles on the War Thunder Wiki that you think will be useful for the reader, for example:

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

External links

Paste links to sources and external resources, such as:

• topic on the official game forum;
• encyclopedia page on the weapon;
• other literature.