| NR-30 | |
|---|---|
 The Nudelman-Richter NR-30. | |
| Type | Single-barrelAutocannon |
| Place of origin | Soviet Union |
| Service history | |
| Used by | Soviet Union, Russia, China |
| Production history | |
| Variants | Norinco Type 30 |
| Specifications | |
| Mass | 66 kg (146 lb) |
| Length | 2,153 mm (7 ft 1 in) |
| Barrel length | 1,600 mm (5 ft 3 in) |
| Width | 181 mm (7 in) |
| Height | 186 mm (7.3 in) |
| Cartridge | 30x155mm |
| Caliber | 30 mm (1.18 in) |
| Barrels | 1 |
| Action | Short recoil |
| Rate of fire | 850–1,000 rpm |
| Muzzle velocity | 780 m/s (2,560 ft/s) |
TheNudelman-Rikhter NR-30 was aSovietautocannon widely used inmilitary aircraft of theSoviet Union andWarsaw Pact. It was designed byA.E. Nudelman and A. A. Rikhter, entering service in1954.
Prior to the introduction of the NR-30, most Soviet autocannon were of 23 or 37 mm calibre and often used in combination. For instance, theMikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15 was equipped with twoNR-23's and a singleN-37. The two were mismatched; the NR-23 was a rapid-fire weapon with relatively low explosive power, while the N-37 was extremely powerful, typically able to destroy a bomber with a single hit, but with very a low firing rate which made it unsuited to firing at manoeuvring targets like fighters. Moreover, the two had very different ballistics which meant that long-range fire would result in only one or the other set of guns being properly aimed.
The NR-30 was an attempt to solve this problem by introducing a single weapon that could serve in both roles. It was essentially an enlarged version of the NR-23 using the sameshort recoil mechanism firing a new 400gram 30 mm round that was roughly twice the mass of the earlier NR-23 and slightly less than half that of the N-37. While not capable of destroying a bomber in a single hit, it made up for this by improving the firing rate to 900 cycles per minute, beyond that of the NR-23.Muzzle velocity increased to 800 m/s, besting both the NR-23 and N-37.
Its total firepower, the product of per-round energy and firing rate, was better than either of the earlier weapons. This demanded the use of amuzzle brake with an integrated flame damper to prevent airframe damage from its firing. In fighters, wing mountings were more common than the nose mounts of the earlier designs. This often required small sections ofstainless steel to be fitted to the wing skinning to protect it.
Aircraft typically carried a load of 70 shells for each gun. There were 20 different types of ammunition available; the most used wereAP andHEI, the latter of 40–48 g HE internal charge, several times larger than 20 mm ammunition. An unusual munition was theChaff dispenser PRL, with 48,000 chaff particles internally; it is not known how it was used.
The NR-30 was also remarkably light, about one-third lighter than the N-37 while offering higher firepower. TheGSh-301 is the only lighter 30 mm gun.
The NR-30 was used mainly in theMiG-19, earlyMiG-21 models, theSukhoi Su-7, and theSukhoi Su-17. It was also used on theShenyang J-6, theChinese copy of the MiG-19, with a third gun in the nose. The Chinese manufactured their own version, theType-30, basically similar though with slightly different characteristics.
Soviet Union
Russian Federation
China
Albania - Used in the J-6C aircraft from 1962 until 2005.
Pakistan - Used in theShenyang F-6C from 1965 until 2002.
