CHAPTER 7
AMMUNITION LOADING
Aircraft gun ammunition is developed for specific
types of aircraft-mounted guns. The M61A1/A2 uses
M50/PGU series 20-mm ammunition. The M50/PGU
series consists of various types of cartridges developed
for specific applications, including test cartridges,
dummy cartridges, target practice, target practice
tracer, armor piercing incendiary, high-explosive
incendiary, and semi-armor piercing, high-explosive
incendiary. Blank and dummy rounds are also used for
practice and maintenance.
The M50/PGU series 20-mm ammunition is loaded
into
the
M61A1/A2
gun
through
the
linkless
ammunition loading system (LALS) series. The LALS
transports rounds from the transporter to the aircraft
system, and simultaneously transports spent cases and
cleared rounds from the aircraft system to the
transporter.
AIRCRAFT GUN AMMUNITION
LEARNING
OBJECTIVE:
Describe the
20-mm M50/PGU aircraft gun ammunition
configuration. Identify M50/PGU 20-mm gun
cartridges and describe their uses.
M50 CONFIGURATION AMMUNITION
M50 configuration ammunition (fig. 7-1) for the
M61A1/A2 Navy aircraft gun is issued in the form of
cartridges (rounds). A complete service cartridge
assembly consists of a cartridge case, electric primer,
propellant, projectile, and fuze. All service cartridges
have matched ballistics and are electrically primed.
CLASSIFICATION
The M50 configuration ammunition currently
issued is classified as follows:
1.
Dummy Cartridge M51A1B1, M51A2 (steel),
or M254 (plastic)
2.
High-Pressure Test Cartridge, M54A1 (HPT)
3.
Target Practice Cartridge, M55A2 (TP)
4.
High-Explosive Incendiary Cartridge, M56A3
(HEI)
5.
Target Practice-Tracer Cartridge, M220 (TP-T)
6.
High-Explosive Incendiary-Tracer Cartridge,
M242 (HEI-T)
CARTRIDGE COMPONENTS, GENERAL
DESCRIPTION
The cartridge components for M50-configured
ammunition as used in a complete round are discussed
in the following paragraphs.
Cartridge Case
The M103 (brass) and the M103B1 (steel) cartridge
cases (fig. 7-2) are marked longitudinally. The
7-1
Figure 7-1.—M50 configuration cartridge.
Figure 7-2.—M103 (brass) and M103B1 (steel) cartridge cases.
