When were gatling guns used on planes?
In the 1960’s. US aircraft were armed only with missiles because it was thought that guns were unnecessary. Vietnam showed this error, and an old Gatling Gun was pulled from a museum and powered by an electric motor as an experiment. It worked, and the M-61 Vulcan cannon was developed as a result. Improved F-4 Phantom IIs were fitted with the new gun, and new models of the B-52 received it as a tail gun to replace the four single-barrel cannons. The F-102 interceptor did not have a gatling gun, but the improved F-106 received one. Subsequent US fighters received the M-61, such as the F-14, F-15, F-16, and F/A-18. In the 70’s a more powerful gatling gun was developed for the A-10.
