The GIAT 30 is a series of

30 mm 30 mm caliber is a specific size of popular autocannon ammunition. Such ammunition includes NATO standard 30×113mmB and 30×173mm (STANAG 4624), Soviet 30×155mmB, 30×165mm, and 30×210mmB, Yugoslav 30×192mm, Anglo-Swiss 30×170mm, and ...

cannon developed to replace the DEFA 550 series weapons on French

military aircraft A military aircraft is any fixed-wing or rotary-wing aircraft that is operated by a legal or insurrectionary armed service of any type. Military aircraft can be either combat or non-combat: * Combat aircraft are designed to destroy enemy equipm ...

. Introduced in the late 1980s, the

GIAT Nexter Systems (formerly known as GIAT Industries or ''Groupement des Industries de l'Armée de Terre'', Army Industries Group) is a French government-owned weapons manufacturer, based in Roanne, Loire. Group organization The Nexter group is ...

30 is a

revolver cannon A revolver cannon is a type of autocannon, commonly used as an aircraft gun. It uses a cylinder with multiple chambers, like those of a revolver handgun, to speed up the loading-firing-ejection cycle. Some examples are also power-driven, to fur ...

with electric ignition and automatic recocking. Unlike the DEFA cannon, the revolver chamber is electrically operated, rather than

gas operated Gas-operation is a system of operation used to provide energy to operate locked breech, autoloading firearms. In gas-operation, a portion of high-pressure gas from the cartridge being fired is used to power a mechanism to dispose of the spent ...

, improving both reliability and

rate of fire Rate of fire is the frequency at which a specific weapon can fire or launch its projectiles. This can be influenced by several factors, including operator training level, mechanical limitations, ammunition availability, and weapon condition. In m ...

. Two versions of the GIAT 30 are offered.

GIAT 30M 781

Primarily intended for

helicopter A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which lift and thrust are supplied by horizontally spinning rotors. This allows the helicopter to take off and land vertically, to hover, and to fly forward, backward and laterally. These attributes ...

use and offered in several fixed, podded, and turreted installations. It is long with a total system weight of . It is designed to fire the ADEN/DEFA 30x113mm B rounds. The weight of the projectile varies from for HEI to for APHEI-SD. Typical

muzzle velocity Muzzle velocity is the speed of a projectile (bullet, pellet, slug, ball/shots or shell) with respect to the muzzle at the moment it leaves the end of a gun's barrel (i.e. the muzzle). Firearm muzzle velocities range from approximately to i ...

is with a rate of fire of 750 rounds per minute. Given its considerable recoil, it is typically used for single shots or controlled bursts rather than continuous fire. The 30 M781 is used on the

Eurocopter Tiger The Eurocopter Tiger is a four-blade, twin-engine attack helicopter which first entered service in 2003. It is manufactured by Airbus Helicopters (formerly Eurocopter), which arose from the merger of Aérospatiale's and DASA's respective he ...

and is also offered for naval use as part of the NARWHAL (NAval Remote Weapon High Accuracy and Light) system. Ammunition: HEI; SAPHEI; APHEI-SD; API-T; TP.

GIAT 30M 791

Intended for

fighter aircraft Fighter aircraft are fixed-wing military aircraft designed primarily for air-to-air combat. In military conflict, the role of fighter aircraft is to establish air superiority of the battlespace. Domination of the airspace above a battlefield ...

such as the

Dassault Rafale The Dassault Rafale (, literally meaning "gust of wind", and "burst of fire" in a more military sense) is a French twin-engine, canard delta wing, multirole fighter aircraft designed and built by Dassault Aviation. Equipped with a wide ran ...

. It uses a new range of 30x150mm B ammunition in a variety of types. It has a

of , which amounts to a muzzle energy of more than from the mass of the projectile alone (not taking into account explosive chemical energy). A selectable rate of fire allows cyclic rates of 300, 600, 1500, or 2500 rounds per minute. It can fire continuous bursts or controlled 0.5 or 1 second bursts.

Military operators

* : Rafale and Tiger * : Rafale * : Rafale * : Rafale * : Rafale * : Tiger * : Tiger

References

External links

NEXTER Group - THL 30
{{DEFAULTSORT:Giat 30 30 mm artillery Aircraft guns Autocannon Nexter Systems Military equipment introduced in the 1980s