DARPA's Gunslinger - Missile with Cannon

An interesting concept, it certainly would be of use in Ukraine however I'd love to see Michael Bay run with the idea in one of his action films (Being him it will have lots of booms);):D.
 
Dilandu said:
If I understood correctly, Gunslinger program was announced in 2020. And basically nothing was heard about it again. So, why sudden interest now?
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Very good question. As @quellish pointed out, it was in the FY21 budget request but it's not clear it was actually funded.
 
Forest Green said:
Perhaps it could shoot down more than one enemy plane.
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But I don't see how this would be useful in a BVR scenario and how would it be more useful/economical than actual full sized CCAs that could fire actual BVR missiles and be reusable. I mean a cruise missile with a gun onboard doesn't sound cheap imo. Perhaps it might be used as a risk free CAS solution against low intensity counter insurgency ops?
 
Might be cheaper, one missile kills several aircraft rather than one and could also be fired from CCAs maybe.
 
I don't see the point in this missile...unless they convert it into a drone...but it would still be expensive...

If it goes to CAS, I believe they could replace the cannon of a fighter, and create a concept junction model between a CL-307 with APKWS in the nozzle...the 70 mm guided rockets can turn 5 Gs...and They could replace aircraft cannons... with applications in ground and anti-surface air combat... they have a range of about 9 km... it would be like shooting a cannon with guided ammunition...
cl-307-1sm-1.gif

cl-307-1.jpg
 
GTX said:
I don't see why one would do this.
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Because it would look awesome! Just look at that Sandboxx video! It's a sparrow with a GAU-8!

Would you get in your plane if you knew your adversary might have that? Hell no!

TomS said:
Very good question. As @quellish pointed out, it was in the FY21 budget request but it's not clear it was actually funded.
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From
Department of Defense Fiscal Year (FY) 2021 Budget Estimates
Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency
Defense-Wide Justification Book Volume 1 of 5
Research, Development, Test & Evaluation, Defense-Wide

February 2020

The Gunslinger program will develop and demonstrate technologies to enable an air-launched tactical range
missile system capable of multi-mission support. This system will utilize the high maneuverability of a missile system coupled
with a gun system capable of scalable effects and engagement of multiple targets. These mission sets addressed will include
counter insurgency (COIN) operations, close air support (CAS) and air-to-air engagements. The metrics associated with this
system include total range (which includes transit to target, loiter and engagement) and weapon system effectiveness. The
program will address the system and technology issues required to enable development of a robust missile system considering
(1) vehicle concepts possessing the required aerodynamic, propulsion, and payload capacity for a wide operational envelope, (2) the algorithms that support maneuvering and target recognition to enable expedited command decision making for selecting and engaging targets and (3) approaches to incorporating modularity of design to reduce cost throughout the design and development process. The anticipated transition partners for this effort are the Air Force and the Navy.
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It would use the entire nose of the aircraft as a large APKWS rocket POD, but it would have to try to locate the radar antenna in another position...
 
TomS said:
Very good question. As @quellish pointed out, it was in the FY21 budget request but it's not clear it was actually funded.
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Frankly, the whole idea looks a bit... dubious. How the relatively lightweight missile is supposed to dealt with the recoil from the cannon? If I recall correctly, the GAU-22/A produce almost 17 kN of recoil force. Unless the missile is unreasonably massive, how exactly it's supposed to avoid being thrown off-target after the first few shots?
 
Dilandu said:
Frankly, the whole idea looks a bit... dubious. How the relatively lightweight missile is supposed to dealt with the recoil from the cannon? If I recall correctly, the GAU-22/A produce almost 17 kN of recoil force. Unless the missile is unreasonably massive, how exactly it's supposed to avoid being thrown off-target after the first few shots?
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Perhaps they've mounted a lightweight 20mm rotary cannon with heavily slowed firing rate to reduce recoil and also probably to not choke the poor engine on this thing.
 
The image of the missile is purely artistic...there is no way to fit a cannon there...and one has to ask what it is actually intended for?

Is a Loitering Drone capable of carrying out attack passes until it commits suicide?

A Missile that will exchange the destructive power of its explosive rocket for a cannon?

Or is it all just a simple artillery drone, a loyal wingman, capable of air-to-air, surface and ground combat?

A missile is somewhat unfeasible...it will lack space, the guidance sensor head, change of speed for curves (low CAS speed - Subsonico and Supersonico)... the definition of what is desired seems strange to me... the description would be better for an artillery drone launchable by the fighter...
 
Tomboy said:
Perhaps they've mounted a lightweight 20mm rotary cannon with heavily slowed firing rate to reduce recoil and also probably to not choke the poor engine on this thing.
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Maybe if you mount something similar to an APKWS rocket pod on the nose of the "missile" and somehow include a designator in it, you can resolve the recoil and simulate it as a multiple warhead missile capable of hitting one target at a time and with precision. ...
 
I might have have an annular nozzle surround the barrel with grid fins in the back.

Someone gets on your "six"...you drop this out the back and it shoots the bogie in the behind.

Sensors mounted on the fins--not the nose.
An umbrella Air- brake dish antenna combo.
 
If you're sticking a gun into a missile, you're throwing away that gun after every missile launch.

I'm thinking maybe a 3-barrel 20mm with a high rate of fire, like what is on the Korean FA50? And then cheap out the components so it just barely holds together for however many rounds are in the onboard magazine plus 50-100?

Or just recover the "missile" and not cheap out on the gun parts.
 
Looking for the date on all these. Not too far off now........

Seriously?
 
Scott Kenny said:
If you're sticking a gun into a missile, you're throwing away that gun after every missile launch.

I'm thinking... cheap out the components so it just barely holds together for however many rounds are in the onboard magazine
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Someone may finally have found a mission where Metalstorm makes sense!
 
Scott Kenny said:
You know, that may be a good use for the idea!
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Thinking from a ACM perspective, I imagine it as a sure, the missile won't hit you, but the rounds will... Imagine a single line of closely spaced air burst projectiles rattled off in a line where the plane is suspected to fly through
 
_Del_ said:
Easy. We'll just mount another cannon in the missile facing backwards and let the recoil cancel out.
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Remind me of the "Broforce" game wherein the Terminator Arnold wielded a gatling the size of his character laid sideway and could propel himself across the map by just aiming in the opposite direction.

I was almost inclined to say that Gunslinger would probably use a recoilless gun ala Gustavo 84 or a rocket gun (Gyrojet, or that weird contraption someone hooked to a B-25 nose to fire 75mm rockets), but Gunslinger was likely dead before any specific gun were produced, even in paper form.

Edit1: It's actually 5in/127mm, not 75
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Maybe this idea is to counter future miniature self defence air to air missiles or lasers?

Instead of a standard blast fragmentation warhead you could have a MetalStorm type payload delivered before a hitile weapon delivers the big punch.

Thinking about it, a tube of MetalStorm rounds added to any missile could cause damage to the target even if the main payload doesn’t make it due to self defence measures.
 

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