Gatling and the A-10

Overview

The Gatling gun is one of the best known early rapid-fire weapons, invented by Richard Gatling, known for its use by the Union forces during the American Civil War. The Gatling gun's operation centered on a cyclic multi-barrel design which facilitated cooling and synchronized the firing/reloading sequence. Another multi-barrel design is the hydraulically-driven GAU-8 Avenger 30 mm cannon, carried on the A-10 Thunderbolt II (Warthog) attack aircraft.