Weapon Stats:
Aden 30mm cannon
The Aden cannon is a fully automatic, single-barrelled, five-chambered rotating cylinder gun. It is electrically fired and gas operated with a rate of fire of between 1200 and 1400 rounds per minute.
The single Aden cannon operated by the Hawk Mk 120 is housed in an external gun-pod assembly bolted to the underside of the fuselage on the centre-line of the aircraft. The pod contains the cannon and a close-packed ammunition drum containing 100 rounds; it is possible to load a further 30 rounds into the system by using the feed chute. The empty cartridges are ejected overboard and the links retained in a compartment at the rear of the pod. The cannon can be harmonised with the aircraft's HUD to give a firing imagery display, which the pilot aligns onto the target.
The cannon is able to fire ball ammunition or high-explosive-tipped rounds and is used by the Hawk for air-to-air and air-to-ground training.
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