EDGP-050 GUN POD 0.50” (12.7 mm)
The EDGP-050 Pod is equipped with standard cal .50” machine gun, high effective recoil force damper an automatic charger. The charger is controlled by the pilot and operated by compressed air.
TECHNICAL DATA
– One cal .50”, M3 Browning standard machine gun, mass, 29 kg
– Rate of fire, 880-1340 rounds/min, depending on ammunition used
– Muzzle velocity, 850 to 920 m/s, depending on ammunition used
– Ammunition, 250 rounds linked, cal .50” various types
– Ammunition magazine capacity 250 rounds
– Internal harmonization, gun adjustable in elevation and azimuth
– Firing system, electro pneumatic actuator. Automatic remote controlled charger
– Pod Mass Total 115 kg (loaded)
– Pod Length total 1890 mm
– Pod Diameter 380 mm
– A/C Pylon 14” standard NATO suspension system
DESCRIPTION
EDGP-050 gun-pod is an aerodynamically shaped pod made in three sections:
A central section, made of lightweight metal alloy, has large access doors for easy maintenance, loading and spent cartridge removal
Two fore and aft quick release detachable fairings manufactured in glass fibre-based material.
The strengthened upper part of the central section is fitted with 14” suspension lugs and permits the use of all types of sway braces.
Overall length of EDGP-050 Pod is 1890 mm, body diameter 380 mm and when fully loaded weighs 115 kg.
The Pod carries one M3 Browning 12.7 mm machine gun with 250 rounds of linked ammunition. The gun and its feed system are in the upper portion of the central pod section, with the muzzle and associated flash suppressor protruding into the outside air through the front fairing. The Pod is mounted on an elastic cradle arrangement to reduce recoil forces transmitted to pod structure and hence to the platform carrier.
The gun mounting has a device to allow simple harmonization adjustments to be carried out in azimuth with the pilot’s sight. In the space beneath the gun barrel, and extending to the front end, is the magazine.
At the rear of the pod adjacent to safety and cocking device is an adaptor module, called the Adaption Box Assembly (ABA) and contains wiring circuits enabling the EDGP-050 Pod to be adapted to different platforms without modification to the pod internal wiring.
Firing is controlled electrically and features an electro-hydraulic safety and cocking system so that cocking and recocking operations can normally be carried out by aircrew after take off. This eliminates potential hazards of gun arming while on ground, and allows in-flight stoppages to be cleared. The gun is disabled prior to landing. However, by removal of the rear fairing, cocking can be done on the ground by ground crews during maintenance operations.
During firing, all spent cartridge cases are collected in a tray beneath the pod to prevent damage to the aircraft after ejection and the 250 links, which are of the disintegrating type, are collected in a lateral case.
Power supply requirements for EDGP-050 : 26+4 Volt DC, 4 A for cocking, 5.5 A for firing.
Maximum airspeed that the EDGP-050 Pod may be carried is Mach 0.75
Rate of fire varies between 880-1340 rds/min, depending on the particular M3 model and type of ammunition used.