[sukhoi-30mki]

GENERAL DYNAMICS/JSF JPO

The internal components of the F-35's GAU-22 gun pod.

[ImJustAnotherOkie]

It’s guns may work but the “super ammo” won’t be available for a couple more years.

[Talisker]

What the heck was wrong with the F-22? It already had everything - BETTER.

[Vic S]

If I was a soldier on the ground I would still much rather know a warthog was on it’s way.

[al baby]

Looks like its a smiley face

[AlmaKing]

4.4s.

How does that compare with other fighters or attack aircraft?

[darkwing104]

As with any new airframes compromises are made, this is just another one. The gun could be useful on other airframes, for example the V-22.

[Robert A Cook PE]

About d*mn time. it’s only been under construction for longer than we were in WWII.

[DAC21]

Sorry short of guided cannon munition ( which doesnt exist AFAIK) 220 rounds at 50 rounds per second is crazy. Are the Pilots going to have a double tap trigger setting. Only half kidding.

A-10 all day with nearly 1200 rounds

[Moonman62]

With 220 rounds available in the F-35’s gun pod, the pilot has 4.4 second of “trigger time” until the magazine runs empty. This equates to about four short trigger pulls if the pilot is miserly. The F-35A, with its internal cannon, carries even less ammunition—only 182 rounds—equating to about three trigger pulls at best.

...

This sounds like a useless weapon on a very expensive and underwhelming aircraft.

[DaxtonBrown]

With external pods you no longer have stealth. Few rounds of amo. Maybe you could use an A10

[AdvisorB]

Bump

[doorgunner69]

So, when they swap pods around, how do you boresight the thing?

With so few rounds, you do not want to "walk" your fire onto the target, wasting ammo.

[gaijin]

Thank you for always including photos:

A LOT of people start related threads, and they omit that part.

I freaking HATE that.

[Forgotten Amendments]

Ike warned of this white elephant.

[Chode]

gun pod, with 220 rounds, for ground support... ya gotta be kiddin me.

somewhere, PukinDog is laughing

[DesScorp]

Bolt-on guns suck.

[Sequoyah101]

Oh gosh. How very thrilling. Not.

How long and how many billions did that take?

What a hunk of junk.

[Objective Scrutator]

How do the liberal hippies reconcile their Sanders idolization with the fact that he helped fund this piece of junk?

[smokingfrog]

220 rounds
Why bother?

[Yo-Yo]

You would think that in the days of super computers, radars, IRST, and who knows what other sensors the F-35 has, a computer fire solution program would be written so that in air-to-air mode the pilot pulls the trigger and maneuvers to put the pipper on the target, and the gun only actually fires when it predicts the target will be hit, thus saving ammunition.

Further, in air to ground mode a ground target could be designated in the same way that it is designated for any laser guided bomb or missile, and again the pilot pulls the trugger but the gun only fires when the rounds are predicted to hit the designated target.

Since "super ammunition" is being used for effect, you aren't relying on volume of fire to cause damage, so this sort of system could use the lower rate of fire single barrel 25mm Bushmaster cannon or derivative, also saving space and weight over the 25mm GAU-22.