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MK 38 25-mm machine gun

The 25mm Machine Gun System (MGS) Mk 38 is a 25mm automatic gun system that provides ownship with defensive and offensive gunfire capability for the engagement of a variety of surface targets. It is designed to provide close range defense against patrol boats, swimmers, floating mines, and various targets ashore including; enemy personnel, lightly armored vehicles and terrorist threats. One crewman is required for operation and two for maintenance.

This system consists of the M242 auto-cannon and the Mk 88 machine gun mount. The M242 auto-cannon is an externally powered, dual-feed, single-barrel weapon which may be fired in semi-automatic or automatic modes. In the automatic mode, the rate of fire is approximately 175 rounds per minute. The M242 does not depend on gases for operation but instead utilizes an electric motor, located in the receiver, to drive all the moving parts inside the cannon. Ammunition feeding, loading and firing, extraction, and ejection are all done by the motor. The Mk 88 machine gun mount train and elevation is controlled manually by the gun operator. In the event of a major malfunction, the M242 auto-cannon can be removed from the mount and another auto-cannon installed in five minutes by two people.

Specifications

Contractor Designed and assembled by Crane Division, Naval Surface Warfare Center;
components procured from various contractors
Range 2700 yards (2.5 km)
Guidance System Unstabilized, manually trained and elevated
Type of Fire Single shot; 175 rounds per minute automatic
Caliber 25 mm (1 inch)
Date Deployed 1986

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http://www.fas.org/man/dod-101/sys/ship/weaps/mk-38.htm
Maintained by Robert Sherman
Originally created by John Pike
Updated Wednesday, June 30, 1999 4:31:35 AM