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The
Israeli army had discovered the 23 mm ammunition without knowing what kind of weapon it was for. During the Israeli occupation of South Lebanon from June 1982 to June 1985, the Israeli army captured a crate of R-23 ammunition. This crate was delivered by mistake within a shipment of Soviet
335:
bomber only. The hydraulically elevated and traversed DK-20 turret uses the "Krypton" radar sight and TP-1 or TP-1A television sights. Spent cartridge cases are ejected outside the aircraft. The DK-20 turret weighs 593 kg (1,307 lb) including the R-23 cannon and 500 rounds of ammunition.
379:
The R-23 cannon has an automatic charging mechanism that fires the cannon in case of a misfire. When one of the two pyrotechnical cartridges is fired, a small bolt inside that cartridge is accelerated to penetrate the side wall of the R-23 cartridge. The hot propellant gases of the pyrotechnical
363:
layout with the bullet or shell at the front, and a tapering cylindrical casing behind it. As the round is pushed forward, the tapering shape of the bullet and casing guides it into the center of the chamber. Rikhter's 261P design did the opposite, feeding the round rearward. To accomplish this,
380:
cartridge follow the bolt into the dud R-23 cartridge and ignite the propellant charge to fire the round. This unique and curious mechanism was used in the R-23 cannon for the first time. The same kind of mechanism with a single pyrotechnical cartridge was later incorporated into the 30 mm
302:
layout, but chose a front-loading design where the rounds were fed rearward into the revolver chambers. This allowed the feed mechanism to be placed in front of the rotating block, under the barrel. This created a gun with shorter overall length, and greatly improved the balance, with the
355:
revolver cannon. The revolving cylinder has four cartridge chambers. Three separate gas systems are used; one ejects the fired cartridge case from the chamber, another chambers a fresh round, and the last drives the revolver cylinder and the feed mechanism.
307:
almost directly under the middle of the barrel. Despite some initial problems, the first 261-P prototype cannon was produced in 1957. On 7 August 1964 the cannon was adopted and received the official designation R-23. By this time the competing design from
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The ammunition is fed from the right side only and consists of a belt that contains the cartridges in disintegrating belt links. The latter drop out on the left side of the receiver. Fired cases are ejected forwards on the right side of the receiver.
400:. The R-23 cannon was known only in the Soviet Union until the Tu-22 bomber was exported to Iraq and Libya during the 1970s. Various customers in the Middle East were the first outside the Soviet Union to learn about the R-23.
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287:, found in many bomber installations, with barrels that extended far past their mounting points. A contest for a new design that was much shorter led to entries from Aron Abramovich Rikhter at
283:
In the late 1940s and the early 1950s tests with defensive bomber turret cannons resulted in problems caused by the air flow affecting the weapons' barrel. Among these were the widely used
254:
that used gas bled from holes in the barrel to provide the motive force. Firing up to 2,500 rpm, the R-23 was the fastest firing single-barrel cannon ever introduced into service.
247:
starting in the late 1950s. It was designed to be as short as possible to avoid problems found on high-speed aircraft when the guns were pointed into the airstream. The R-23 was a
343:/OPS-2 as a self-defence weapon. At the end of the mission, when the station flew unmanned, it was tested and successfully fired. This "space cannon" had a supply of 32 rounds.
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372:. The front of the round was open, with the tip of the shell even with the end of the opening. The shell was held into the case by heavy crimping near the end of the shell.
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GSKB-398 (now GNPP PRIBOR) designed a round with the bullet completely enclosed in a galvanized steel casing, which was tapered to a bullet-like
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remained a military secret for a long time. This can be partially explained by the fact that the R-23 cannon was used in outer space, arming
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408:. This anti-aircraft ammunition was originally shipped to Syria and ended up in Lebanon, where it was found by the Israeli army.
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339:
A subsequent application found the cannon in the Soviet space program. It was mounted on the military space station ALMAZ/
257:
The R-23 took some time to develop and was not used operationally until 1964. It was used only in the tail turret of the
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In most gun designs, rounds are fed from the rear and rammed forward into the chamber. This leads to the traditional
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personnel were called in to clear the wreckage of a Libyan Tu-22B shot down over Chad by a French
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525:
Soviet Cannon - A Comprehensive Study of Soviet Arms and
Ammunition in Calibres 12.7mm to 57mm
304:
193:
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Here's Our Best Look Yet At Russia's
Secretive Space Cannon, The Only Gun Ever Fired In Space
309:
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The R-23 is installed in the DK-20 tail turret of the "A", "B", "K" and "R" versions of the
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SOV - R-23 (23mm kanĂłn) : Single Barrel
Revolver Breech Guns (Clarke System Guns)
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The first examination of the gun by
Western forces took place in 1987 when French
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A modified version of the weapon was the only cannon to have been fired in space.
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Cartridge dimensions: caliber 23Ă—260 mm (telescoped) with a steel case
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Here Is the Soviet Union's Secret Space Cannon (R-23M Kartech)
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440:: 67 grams (2.4 oz) of 4/7fl VBP smokeless powder
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368:at the rear and tipped by the electrically-fired
291:'s OKB-16 in Moscow, and a competing design from
472:"Here Is the Soviet Union's Secret Space Cannon"
136:approx. 1,140 mm (45 in) barrel length
327:tail turret, with the 'Argon' radome above it.
576:
268:. Its role was taken over by the twin-barrel
8:
509:"The Russian Ammunition Page - 20mm To 25mm"
298:Rikhter's design was radical; he selected a
1260:Military equipment introduced in the 1960s
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609:
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18:
312:had also been put into production as the
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7:
497:"Research and design establishments"
125:1,468 mm (4 ft 10 in)
14:
1250:Aircraft guns of the Soviet Union
450:(nose fuzed), HEI (base fuzed),
1245:Autocannons of the Soviet Union
392:The R-23 cannon and its unique
545:(with photos and scanned page)
528:. Austria: Koll. p. 211.
404:23 mm cartridges for the
221:850 m/s (2,800 ft/s)
98:
1:
16:Single-barrel revolver cannon
261:, and experimentally on the
1276:
117:58.5 kg (129 lb)
434:: 175 grams (6.2 oz)
423:Ammunition specifications
351:The 23 mm R-23 is a
180:23 mm (0.91 in)
156:
40:Place of origin
522:Koll, Christian (2009).
499:, University of Warwick
270:Gryazev-Shipunov GSh-23
152:165 mm (6 in)
144:170 mm (7 in)
74:Aron Abramovich Rikhter
328:
314:Afanasev Makarov AM-23
285:Nudelman-Rikhter NR-23
207:Rate of fire
394:telescoped ammunition
322:
200:four-chamber revolver
169:telescoped ammunition
23:R-23 Aircraft Cannon
454:airburst, TP (inert)
295:'s TsKB-14 in Tula.
217:Muzzle velocity
444:Types of ammunition
478:. 16 November 2015
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243:developed for the
66:Production history
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1221:
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1214:RShR-57/OKB-15-57
863:
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598:aircraft ordnance
535:978-3-200-01445-9
476:Popular Mechanics
438:Propellant charge
432:Projectile weight
384:aircraft cannon.
305:center of gravity
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226:Feed system
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239:is an aircraft
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50:Service history
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109:Specifications
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513:Soviet Cannon
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293:Igor Dmitriev
290:
289:A.E. Nudelman
286:
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266:space station
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1105:
1070:Berezin B-20
975:machine guns
925:OFAB-100-120
912:Aerial bombs
845:9K114 Shturm
524:
512:
504:
492:
480:. Retrieved
475:
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410:
402:
391:
378:
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353:gas-operated
350:
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256:
249:gas operated
237:Rikhter R-23
236:
234:
167:23 x 260 mm
133: length
87:Manufacturer
59:Soviet Union
55:Used by
44:Soviet Union
1008:Savin–Norov
970:Autocannons
855:9K121 Vikhr
850:9M120 Ataka
835:9M17 Fleyta
594:and former
417:MIM-23 Hawk
279:Development
101: built
1239:Categories
1035:Berezin UB
614:Air-to-air
459:References
323:R-23 in a
241:autocannon
1045:YakB-12.7
1013:GShG-7.62
877:RS-82/132
830:3M6 Shmel
822:Anti-tank
745:Anti-ship
419:battery.
361:cartridge
347:Mechanism
211:2,500 rpm
163:Cartridge
1147:GSh-6-30
1142:GSh-30-2
1137:GSh-30-1
1116:GSh-6-23
960:FAB-9000
940:FAB-5000
605:Missiles
550:See also
406:ZSU-23-4
398:Salyut 3
382:GSh-30-1
341:Salyut 3
263:Salyut 3
79:Designed
71:Designer
61:, Russia
1031:12.7 mm
1022:12.7 mm
989:SIBEMAS
983:7.62 mm
935:FAB-500
930:FAB-250
869:Rockets
592:Russian
511:, from
482:18 June
388:Secrecy
325:Tu-22PD
310:TsKB-14
185:Barrels
176:Caliber
1111:GSh-23
1086:VYa-23
749:cruise
596:Soviet
532:
370:primer
194:Action
149:Height
131:Barrel
122:Length
93:, Tula
1203:57 mm
1194:NS-45
1187:45 mm
1173:NS-37
1168:Sh-37
1161:37 mm
1132:NR-30
1125:30 mm
1101:AM-23
1096:NR-23
1091:NS-23
1079:23 mm
1066:20 mm
1064:ShVAK
1054:20 mm
1029:ShVAK
1003:ShKAS
812:Kh-90
807:Kh-45
802:Kh-35
797:Kh-31
792:Kh-15
787:Kh-55
782:KSR-5
777:KSR-2
772:Kh-22
767:Kh-20
762:K-10S
730:Kh-59
725:Kh-58
720:Kh-45
715:Kh-29
710:Kh-28
705:Kh-25
700:Kh-23
333:Tu-22
259:Tu-22
141:Width
1178:N-37
1152:2A42
1106:R-23
1060:Sh-3
993:PV-1
950:PTAB
945:RRAB
902:S-25
897:S-24
892:S-13
757:KS-1
735:LMUR
682:R-37
677:R-77
672:R-73
667:R-27
662:R-33
657:R-60
652:R-23
647:R-40
637:R-38
530:ISBN
484:2018
366:ogee
235:The
229:belt
114:Mass
104:500+
82:1964
29:Type
920:FAB
887:S-8
882:S-5
642:R-4
632:R-8
627:R-3
622:K-5
448:HEI
99:No.
1241::
998:DA
747:,
474:.
452:TP
446::
316:.
272:.
972:,
584:e
577:t
570:v
538:.
486:.
188:1
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