Warfare Equipment

The BK 27 (also BK27 or BK-27) (German acronym for "Bordkanone", translation: on-board cannon) is a 27 mm (1.063 in) caliber revolver cannon manufactured by Mauser (now part of Rheinmetall) of Germany. It was developed in the late 1960s for the MRCA (Multi-Role Combat Aircraft) program that ultimately became the Panavia Tornado.

The BK 27 is a gas-operated cannon firing a new series of 27x145 mm projectiles with a typical weight of 260 g (9.2 oz). It uses a linked feed system, but a BK 27 Linkless, with a new linkless feed system intended to improve reliability, has been developed for the Eurofighter

Design

The Mauser BK 27 is used in the Panavia Tornado, the Alpha Jet, the JAS 39 Gripen, and the Eurofighter Typhoon. At one time the USAF was considering to license its production for the F-35 Lightning II joint strike fighter, but those plans have been cancelled in favour of the GAU-22/A.

Recently Rheinmetall also developed modified, remote controlled naval versions, the MN 27 GS and the MLG 27 fully automatic naval guns, applied on many ships of the German Navy. 99 MLGs 27 have been ordered by the German Navy so far. The cannon is a single-barrel, high performance, breech-cylinder gun operated by a fully automatic electrically fired gas-operated system at a selective rate of 1000 or 1700 rounds per minute.

Unlike its rival the modern Gatling gun, the Mauser BK 27 utilizes Pyrotechnic cocking charges to cycle the action.

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