RMK30 (Rückstoßfreie MaschinenKanone (Kaliber) 30; recoilless machine gun) is a
recoillessA recoilless gun or recoilless rifle is a lightweight weapon that fires a heavier projectile than would be practical to fire from a recoiling weapon of comparable size. Technically, only devices that use a rifled barrel are recoilless rifles. Smoothbore variants are recoilless guns...
30 mm caliber30 mm/1.1811 inch ammunition refers to one of several autocannon rounds: the 30 x 173 mm, 30 x 113 mm or 30 x 165 mm; the first two of which are used by the armed forces of NATO, the latter by former Warsaw Pact nations; these rounds are used by the armies of export customer nations as...
autocannonAn autocannon is a rapid-fire projectile weapon firing a shell as opposed to the bullet fired by a machine gun. Autocannon often have a larger caliber than a machine gun . Usually, autocannon are smaller than a field gun or other artillery, and are mechanically loaded for a faster rate of fire...
firing caseless 30 x 250 mm ammunition cartridges. The gun was developed by the German company
MauserMauser is a German arms manufacturer of a line of bolt-action rifles and pistols from the 1870s to present. Their designs were built for the German armed forces, but have been exported and licensed to a number of countries since the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, as well as being a...
, which is now a subsidiary of
RheinmetallRheinmetall AG is a German automotive and defense company with factories in Düsseldorf, Kassel and Unterlüß.-History:It was founded on 13 April 1889 by Heinrich Ehrhardt, with help from a consortium of banks, as Rheinische Metallwaren- und Maschinenfabrik Aktiengesellschaft.It has a long tradition...
Detec AG. RMK30 is a three-chamber
revolver cannonA 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 further speed the loading process, but this is by no means...
, the revolver and firing mechanism are driven by an
electric motorAn electric motor uses electrical energy to produce mechanical energy, usually through the interaction of magnetic fields and current-carrying conductors. The reverse process, producing electrical energy from mechanical energy, is accomplished by a generator or dynamo. Traction motors used on...
, allowing variable rates of fire of up to 300 rounds/min. Part of the propellant gases is ejected to the rear of the cannon, compensating for the recoil and allowing lightweight and less rigid mounts.
RMK30 cannons have been proposed as upgrade for the
BundeswehrThe Bundeswehr comprises the unified armed forces of Germany and their civil administration and procurement authorities...
's (German armed forces)
Tiger UHTThe Eurocopter Tiger is an attack helicopter manufactured by Eurocopter. In Germany it is known as the Tiger; in France and Spain it is called the Tigre.-Development:...
attack helicopters.
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RMK30 (Rückstoßfreie MaschinenKanone (Kaliber) 30; recoilless machine gun) is a
recoillessA recoilless gun or recoilless rifle is a lightweight weapon that fires a heavier projectile than would be practical to fire from a recoiling weapon of comparable size. Technically, only devices that use a rifled barrel are recoilless rifles. Smoothbore variants are recoilless guns...
30 mm caliber30 mm/1.1811 inch ammunition refers to one of several autocannon rounds: the 30 x 173 mm, 30 x 113 mm or 30 x 165 mm; the first two of which are used by the armed forces of NATO, the latter by former Warsaw Pact nations; these rounds are used by the armies of export customer nations as...
autocannonAn autocannon is a rapid-fire projectile weapon firing a shell as opposed to the bullet fired by a machine gun. Autocannon often have a larger caliber than a machine gun . Usually, autocannon are smaller than a field gun or other artillery, and are mechanically loaded for a faster rate of fire...
firing caseless 30 x 250 mm ammunition cartridges. The gun was developed by the German company
MauserMauser is a German arms manufacturer of a line of bolt-action rifles and pistols from the 1870s to present. Their designs were built for the German armed forces, but have been exported and licensed to a number of countries since the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, as well as being a...
, which is now a subsidiary of
RheinmetallRheinmetall AG is a German automotive and defense company with factories in Düsseldorf, Kassel and Unterlüß.-History:It was founded on 13 April 1889 by Heinrich Ehrhardt, with help from a consortium of banks, as Rheinische Metallwaren- und Maschinenfabrik Aktiengesellschaft.It has a long tradition...
Detec AG. RMK30 is a three-chamber
revolver cannonA 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 further speed the loading process, but this is by no means...
, the revolver and firing mechanism are driven by an
electric motorAn electric motor uses electrical energy to produce mechanical energy, usually through the interaction of magnetic fields and current-carrying conductors. The reverse process, producing electrical energy from mechanical energy, is accomplished by a generator or dynamo. Traction motors used on...
, allowing variable rates of fire of up to 300 rounds/min. Part of the propellant gases is ejected to the rear of the cannon, compensating for the recoil and allowing lightweight and less rigid mounts.
RMK30 cannons have been proposed as upgrade for the
BundeswehrThe Bundeswehr comprises the unified armed forces of Germany and their civil administration and procurement authorities...
's (German armed forces)
Tiger UHTThe Eurocopter Tiger is an attack helicopter manufactured by Eurocopter. In Germany it is known as the Tiger; in France and Spain it is called the Tigre.-Development:...
attack helicopters. The UHT version currently lacks a gun, since the
German ArmyThe German Army is the land component of the armed forces of the Federal Republic of Germany. Traditionally the German military forces have been composed of Army, the Navy, and an Air Force after World War I. It was reinstalled in 1955 as the West German Army and as a part of the newly formed...
was not happy with the recoil, accuracy and the range of the French
GIAT 30The GIAT 30 is a series of 30 mm cannon developed to replace the DEFA 550 series weapons on French military aircraft.Introduced in the late 1980s, the GIAT 30 is a revolver cannon with electric ignition and automatic recocking...
mm cannon which is fitted to other Tiger versions.
An unusual study suggests mounting an RMK30 gun in a retractable mast on a
Type 212 submarineThe German Type 212 is a highly advanced design of non-nuclear submarine developed by Howaldtswerke-Deutsche Werft AG for the German Navy. It features diesel propulsion and an additional air-independent propulsion system using Siemens proton exchange membrane hydrogen fuel cells...
. Such masts would extend the capabilities of
submarineA submarine is a watercraft capable of independent operation below the surface of the water. It differs from a submersible, which has only limited underwater capability...
s, which currently lack appropriate means to fight small surface targets or just give warning shots.