M-46 field gun vs M230 chain gun: Specs Compared

AArtillery

M-46 field gun

Towed field gun

Credit

Bandanschik · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Resized · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Source ↗ · Modified

M230 chain gun — licensed reference photograph

BArtillery

M230 chain gun

Chain gun

Credit

Yari Samurai · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Resized · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Source ↗ · Modified

First system

Second system

At a glance

Side by side

Length comparisonOne shared metre scale

M-46 field gunLength

11.73 m

Length source ↗

M230 chain gunLength

2.181 m

Length source ↗

Lengths retain their source configuration and measurement scope.

M-46 field gunlarger figure on 6 of 6

Length+438%
Width+784%
Height+783%
Mass+12841%
Calibre+333%
Muzzle velocity+16%

M230 chain gunlarger figure on 0 of 6

None

Counts only measures both sources give with the same scope. A larger figure is not a better system.

Measured figures

Head to head

15 of 72 rows sourced on both sides

11.73m

2.18m

Length+438%

All recorded figures & sources

11.73 m

Length

Single source

11.73 m (38 ft 6 in)^[source]

2.181 m

Length

Single source

2,181 mm (85.9 in)^[source]

2.45m

277mm

Width+784%

All recorded figures & sources

2.45 m

Width

Single source

2.45 m (8 ft)^[source]

0.2772 m

Width

Single source

277.2 mm (10.9 in)^[source]

2.55m

289mm

Height+783%

All recorded figures & sources

2.55 m

Height

Single source

2.55 m (8 ft 4 in)^[source]

0.2888 m

Height

Single source

288.8 mm (11.4 in)^[source]

7.7t

59.5kg

Mass+12841%

All recorded figures & sources

7,700 kg

Mass

Single source

7,700 kg (17,000 lb)^[source]

59.5 kg

Mass

Single source

59.5 kg (130 lb)^[source]

—

Crew

All recorded figures & sources

8 people

Crew

Single source

8^[source]

44kmMaximum; rocket assisted

4kmMaximum; Maximum firing range

RangeScopes differ

All recorded figures & sources

35 km

Maximum; base-bleed

Single source

44 km

Maximum; rocket assisted

Single source

27.15 km

Maximum; unassisted

Single source

27.15 km (16.87 mi) (unassisted) 35 km (22 mi) (base-bleed) 44 km (27 mi) (rocket assisted)^[source]

0.3 km

Effective; Effective firing range

Single source

4 km

Maximum; Maximum firing range

Single source

300 m (328 yd)^[source]

4,000 m (4,370 yd)^[source]

7.15mBore L/55

—

Barrel length

All recorded figures & sources

7.15 m

Bore L/55

Single source

Bore: 7.15 m (23 ft 5 in) L/55^[source]

130mmCaliber

30mmcaliber

Calibre+333%

All recorded figures & sources

130 mm

Caliber

Single source

130 mm (5.1 in)^[source]

30 mm

caliber

Single source

30 millimetres (1.18 in) caliber^[source]

8rpmburst

625±25 rpm

Rate of fire

All recorded figures & sources

8 rounds/min

burst

Single source

6 rounds/min

normal

Single source

5 rounds/min

sustained

Single source

6 rpm (normal) 8 rpm (burst) 5 rpm (sustained)^[source]

625±25 rpm^[source]

930m/s

805m/s

Muzzle velocity+16%

All recorded figures & sources

930 m/s

Muzzle velocity

Single source

930 m/s (3,051 ft/s)^[source]

805 m/s

Muzzle velocity

Single source

805 m/s (2,641 ft/s)^[source]

Bars compare reported quantities only. A larger figure does not make a system better; configurations and test conditions differ.

Configuration

Details

M-46 field gun and M230 chain gun configuration
Specification	M-46 field gun	M230 chain gun
Type	Towed field gun^[source]	Chain gun^[source]
Place of origin	Soviet Union^[source]	United States^[source]
Wars	Vietnam War Cambodian Civil War Eritrean War of Independence South African Border War Six-Day War Yom Kippur War Ethiopian Civil War Angolan Civil War Uganda–Tanzania War Sino-Vietnamese conflicts (1979–1991) Lebanese Civil War Iran–Iraq War Sri Lankan Civil War First Nagorno-Karabakh War Yugoslav Wars Kosovo War Syrian Civil War Yemeni Civil War (2014–present) Second Nagorno-Karabakh War Tigray War Israeli–Lebanese conflict Russo-Ukrainian War^[source]	Persian Gulf War War in Afghanistan Iraq War^[source]
Designed	1946–1950^[source]	1973^[source]
Manufacturer	MOTZ^[source]	Hughes Helicopters (1975–1985) McDonnell Douglas Helicopters (1985–2002) Alliant Techsystems (2002–2015) Orbital ATK (2015–2018) Northrop Grumman Innovation Systems (from 2018)^[source]
Produced	1951–1971^[source]	Since 1975^[source]
Shell	130 x 845 mm R (R/184.6mm) separate-loading charge and projectile^[source]	30×113 mmB M788 Target Practice (TP) M789 High Explosive Dual Purpose (HEDP) M799 High Explosive Incendiary (HEI)^[source]
Breech	Horizontal sliding-wedge^[source]	—
Recoil	hydro-pneumatic^[source]	—
Carriage	Split-trail^[source]	—
Elevation	−2.5° to 45°^[source]	—
Traverse	50°^[source]	—
In service	—	1983–present^[source]
Used by	—	United States, and other countries^[source]
Designer	—	Hughes Helicopters^[source]
Variants	—	M230LF^[source]
Action	—	Open bolt^[source]
Reported operators	Reported operator · Algeria Reported operator · Angola Reported operator · Azerbaijan Reported operator · Bangladesh Reported operator · Cambodia Reported operator · Cameroon Reported operator · China Reported operator · Congo-Brazzaville Reported operator · Congo-Kinshasa Reported operator · Cuba Reported operator · Egypt Reported operator · Eritrea Reported operator · Ethiopia Reported operator · Guinea Reported operator · Guyana Reported operator · India Reported operator · Iran Reported operator · Iraq Reported operator · Popular Mobilization Forces Reported operator · Kurdistan Region Reported operator · Laos Reported operator · Lebanon Reported operator · Hezbollah Reported operator · Mongolia Reported operator · Morocco Reported operator · Mozambique Reported operator · Myanmar Reported operator · Nigeria Reported operator · North Korea Reported operator · Oman Reported operator · Pakistan Reported operator · Peru Reported operator · Russia Reported operator · Serbia Reported operator · South Sudan Reported operator · Sri Lanka Reported operator · Sudan Reported operator · Syria Reported operator · Tanzania Reported operator · Turkmenistan Reported operator · Uganda Reported operator · Ukraine Reported operator · United Arab Emirates Reported operator · Vietnam Reported operator · Zambia	—

FORCETALLY

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M-46 field gun

M230 chain gun

Type

Towed field gun^[source]

Chain gun^[source]

Place of origin

Soviet Union^[source]

United States^[source]

Wars

Vietnam War Cambodian Civil War Eritrean War of Independence South African Border War Six-Day War Yom Kippur War Ethiopian Civil War Angolan Civil War Uganda–Tanzania War Sino-Vietnamese conflicts (1979–1991) Lebanese Civil War Iran–Iraq War Sri Lankan Civil War First Nagorno-Karabakh War Yugoslav Wars Kosovo War Syrian Civil War Yemeni Civil War (2014–present) Second Nagorno-Karabakh War Tigray War Israeli–Lebanese conflict Russo-Ukrainian War^[source]

Persian Gulf War War in Afghanistan Iraq War^[source]

Designed

1946–1950^[source]

1973^[source]

Manufacturer

MOTZ^[source]

Hughes Helicopters (1975–1985) McDonnell Douglas Helicopters (1985–2002) Alliant Techsystems (2002–2015) Orbital ATK (2015–2018) Northrop Grumman Innovation Systems (from 2018)^[source]

Produced

1951–1971^[source]

Since 1975^[source]

Shell

130 x 845 mm R (R/184.6mm) separate-loading charge and projectile^[source]

30×113 mmB M788 Target Practice (TP) M789 High Explosive Dual Purpose (HEDP) M799 High Explosive Incendiary (HEI)^[source]

Breech

Horizontal sliding-wedge^[source]

—

Recoil

hydro-pneumatic^[source]

—

Carriage

Split-trail^[source]

—

Elevation

−2.5° to 45°^[source]

—

Traverse

50°^[source]

—

In service

—

1983–present^[source]

Used by

—

United States, and other countries^[source]

Designer

—

Hughes Helicopters^[source]

Variants

—

M230LF^[source]

Action

—

Open bolt^[source]

Reported operators

Reported operator · Algeria
Reported operator · Angola
Reported operator · Azerbaijan
Reported operator · Bangladesh
Reported operator · Cambodia
Reported operator · Cameroon
Reported operator · China
Reported operator · Congo-Brazzaville
Reported operator · Congo-Kinshasa
Reported operator · Cuba
Reported operator · Egypt
Reported operator · Eritrea
Reported operator · Ethiopia
Reported operator · Guinea
Reported operator · Guyana
Reported operator · India
Reported operator · Iran
Reported operator · Iraq
Reported operator · Popular Mobilization Forces
Reported operator · Kurdistan Region
Reported operator · Laos
Reported operator · Lebanon
Reported operator · Hezbollah
Reported operator · Mongolia
Reported operator · Morocco
Reported operator · Mozambique
Reported operator · Myanmar
Reported operator · Nigeria
Reported operator · North Korea
Reported operator · Oman
Reported operator · Pakistan
Reported operator · Peru
Reported operator · Russia
Reported operator · Serbia
Reported operator · South Sudan
Reported operator · Sri Lanka
Reported operator · Sudan
Reported operator · Syria
Reported operator · Tanzania
Reported operator · Turkmenistan
Reported operator · Uganda
Reported operator · Ukraine
Reported operator · United Arab Emirates
Reported operator · Vietnam
Reported operator · Zambia

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