[Charybdis]

No, it won't stop the A-10 -- urban legend. The recoil force of the GAU-8 is vicinity 45 kN (kilo-Newtons). The A-10 has two engines, each of which can generate a bit over 40 kN.

There's a definite slow-down, one you can see if you're lucky enough to be watching (while not a target) but it won't stop the aircraft.

My understanding was that it could drag it to a stall speed though (if flying level)... I recall a pilot article saying that amongst other things, he had to jink the nose up when firing because the slowing speed dramatically affected his aim, and it was also why most PR videos showing the gun in use were of planes in a steeper dive than normal

And anyways, even just slowing down while shooting at tanks is bad for your health

The A-10 Wart-hog is ma' favourite plane of all time.
Of.All.Time.

With SR4 though, I believe the GAU-8 is the equivalent of the Vehicle-mounted Vigilant Autocannon.... Let's face it, the shells fired by the GAU-8 are probably the equivalent of an Assault Cannon round....

Let's look at the shells:

30mm is the one on the Extreme right....... bad, bad day for anybody.
2nd from the right is the 20mm
3rd from the right is (I think) a .50cal

Or just for effect:


Let's look at the gun:


Seems pretty clear that:
A) Even a sawn-off version is never going to be man-portable
B) It's never explicitly stated what Caliber an Assault cannon round is, but the 30mm should be sufficient to obliterate most small vehicles...
C) The FA version will (as it does today) kiss goodbye to most tanks.....

[beowulf_of_wa]

yes the GAU-8 is the baddest of flight weapons,,
though i disagree on the GAU and the vigilant being equivalent, the GAU fires WAY better, and fires faster, while the vigilant seems to fire about the same speed as the MK-19.

to be truly fair, the rounds maybe the same size, only difference being GAU rounds are DPU and doesn't fire chucks of plastic explosive, and PAC ammo is a "stable superplast explosive warhead" (SSC 60, 64) (basically a small artillery round) which seems to be a follow-on of the HESH/HEP "squash-head" explosive rounds from WW2 to the 80's-ish. not very effective against newer vehicle armors.

and finally, the Vindicator, Vengeance and Vanquisher each mention a 1 combat turn spool up time for the rotary barrels, and fire a fix rate of 15 rounds per combat turn. the Vigilant and Victory do not mention spool up time, have a min burst of 6 and max burst 12 rounds. RBB3 pg 89 and 91

[CanRay]

I've always figured that the Assault Cannon is between 20mm-30mm.  And available in different calibers, in order to confuse things and prevent the enemy from using your own ammunition against you.

I figured we've gone back to "The Bad Old Days" when every country had it's own calibers.  And possibly every company has their own as well, which are incompatible with other companies as well.

[Charybdis]

yes the GAU-8 is the baddest of flight weapons,,
though i disagree on the GAU and the vigilant being equivalent, the GAU fires WAY better, and fires faster, while the vigilant seems to fire about the same speed as the MK-19.

*Snip*

and finally, the Vindicator, Vengeance and Vanquisher each mention a 1 combat turn spool up time for the rotary barrels, and fire a fix rate of 15 rounds per combat turn. the Vigilant and Victory do not mention spool up time, have a min burst of 6 and max burst 12 rounds. RBB3 pg 89 and 91

The Vanguisher Heavy Autocannon then

And the Vanquisher just says that it uses Minigun rules (Arsenal P.30) with Full-Auto Bursts (SR4A p.154)
These advise that the weapon fires 15 bullets per Initiative pass (not combat turn)
So (again, due to the weird nature of SR4 mechanics on bullets-per-second) the firing rate is between 5-15 bullets/sec  (15-75 per Turn depending on 1-5 IP's).

The GAU has two speed settings, 2100 rounds per minute (rpm) in the low setting, or 4200 rpm (which are 35-70 bullets/sec respectively), so is significantly better than the Vanquisher... but who in SR4 can afford that much ammo anyway?

And yes, the Minigun Combat turn wind-up speed is always an issue...still, it's pretty hard to hear that sound from 2,400m⁺ away as you prepare for your strafing run

Edit: Running the numbers, the Vanquisher with 11P damage (-6AP) can shred anything with a hardened Armour rating of 18 or less without any effort (1 net success)... That armour rating includes any air-vehicle short of a Sub-orbital shuttle, and any Ground vehicles up to Light Tank...   
Note: the body/soak becomes very irrelevant very quickly with FA of 15 bullets... it's just cutting through the Hardened Armour which is the problem...

Add in a few successes and larger vehicles will likewise go bye-bye, as will most corvette-class boats....

But anything with high-20's in the armour (Stonewalls etc) normally require an Anti-Tank missile anyway (eg Tthe Esprit Poignard from MilSpec).

[CanRay]

Who can afford that much ammo?

Ares Macrotechnology.

Lofwyr when he's bored of using his fire breath.

Aztechnology as they strafe Bogota for the third time that day.

[beowulf_of_wa]

to be fair, i was quoting RBB3 for the weapon speeds.
 though 15 per IP makes it a massively variable weapon entirely dependent on the characters speed. i guess the devs just say it fires 15 rounds per trigger pull.

[Charybdis]

to be fair, i was quoting RBB3 for the weapon speeds.
 though 15 per IP makes it a massively variable weapon entirely dependent on the characters speed. i guess the devs just say it fires 15 rounds per trigger pull.

Pretty much.

All SR4 Weapons are like that though.... and FA shotgun has the same rate-of-fire as an LMG.

IRL you just know that ain't right   but it makes the mechanics simple, so I'm cool with it

[beowulf_of_wa]

to be fair, i was quoting RBB3 for the weapon speeds.
 though 15 per IP makes it a massively variable weapon entirely dependent on the characters speed. i guess the devs just say it fires 15 rounds per trigger pull.

Pretty much.

All SR4 Weapons are like that though.... and FA shotgun has the same rate-of-fire as an LMG.

IRL you just know that ain't right   but it makes the mechanics simple, so I'm cool with it

dear god, gotta say i'm glad they didn't give it the minigun rate

[CanRay]

Don't get me started on gun nuttery.

[beowulf_of_wa]

Don't get me started on gun nuttery.

you have 45sec,,,

AND GO!!

[Lacynth40]

On a related note, has anyone actually heard a minigun spin up in person? I imagine anyone that was on a run that heard that sound behind them would be too busy crapping themselves to move....

Also, I have always had a twisted Shadowrun dream of "weaponizing" the Phalanx Defense System the US Navy uses.

[beowulf_of_wa]

that seems a bit like "weaponizing" weapons grade anthrax,

i could see one on a citymaster though,,,,,

[Lacynth40]

Reprogram it from putting up a wall of bullets to intercept an incoming missle to putting up a wall of bullets to intercept an incoming person....

[Charybdis]

On a related note, has anyone actually heard a minigun spin up in person? I imagine anyone that was on a run that heard that sound behind them would be too busy crapping themselves to move....

Have only heard it on Youtube videos...

I did have one Shadowrun team absolutely crap themselves while hijacking a train carriage (was very old western-cross-Firefly)
While walking on the roof (with magnetically-assisted footwear), the point-man sees a weapons turret pop up close-enough to hear the humming of an electric motor building speed, and the multi-barrel turret started swiveling in his direction....

From memory, he notified everyone accordingly and proceeded to jump off the train (via parachute and some excellent rolls) and caught up with the team later....

Good days

[CanRay]

Also, I have always had a twisted Shadowrun dream of "weaponizing" the Phalanx Defense System the US Navy uses.

There's a trailer-mounted version.