Meet the Lead Spitting Giants: M134, GAU-8 Avenger, and XM13

If you love massive autoguns with incredible rates of fire, you're in for a treat. We will explore some of the most formidable and sophisticated autoguns used by the U.S. military, including the M134, GAU-8 Avenger, and XM13.
Choppers played a vital role in the conflict, as they allowed for swift vertical takeoffs and landings, which traditional aircraft couldn’t accomplish.
The helicopters were used to deliver supplies, artillery, ammunition, and troops, and they also evacuated injured soldiers.
They frequently came under attack when coming in to land, forcing their crews to use single-barrel guns to defend themselves.
However, those weapons proved to be ineffective, as the jungle caused them to jam or overheat.
This prompted the U.S. to look for a solution.
General Electric scaled down the M61 and changed the barrels to fit the 7.62 mm x 51 mm NATO cartridge to create the M134 Minigun.
While the gun certainly wasn’t mini, it earned the “Minigun” name from being a smaller version of the M61.
While it may only be a little larger than the famous 25 mm M242, this weapon system astonishingly doubles the ammunition diameter, packing a punch that's hard to rival.
Born from audacity and sheer engineering prowess, the devastating power of this weapon makes even the Apache helicopter's 30 mm M230 look modest by comparison.
The XM913 is the most powerful chaingun ever constructed.
Drawing from the 19th-century Gatling gun design, the GAU-8 is an intricate assembly of seven barrels rotating around a central axis. Instead of the Gatling's hand-crank mechanism, the GAU-8 uses two hydraulic motors. As the central axis spins, cams guide each barrel through a cyclical process of loading, firing, unloading, and then reloading. What sets the GAU-8 apart is its self-sustaining firing system. Neither the recoil nor the gas from the discharged rounds drive the gun, ensuring that a misfired round doesn't halt subsequent firing.
Powering this monumental weapon requires an intricate balance of mechanical and hydraulic energy. The dual hydraulic motors ensure the rapid, seamless rotation of the barrel assembly. This rotation, driven by the aircraft's power systems, facilitates the gun's extraordinary firing rates and ensures the stability of the entire mechanism even under intense operation.

[@andreww1225]

They need to make a mini gun anti drone system to put on top of smaller vehicles.