Drafted — not technically validated
Record revision 1 · A Soviet twin-barrel 23 mm cannon in which each barrel's firing works the other, carried by the MiG-21 and JF-17.
Real-world weapon as described in public sources. Weights and dimensions change with the fins, fuzes and variant fitted; the data plate names the variants its figures describe, and differences are noted beside the number they affect. The record describes the weapon; it is not a guide to employing it.
Gryazev-Shipunov GSh-23 twin-barrel 23 mm cannon · GSh-23 / GSh-23L
- Type
- Twin-barrel 23 mm autocannon [1]
- Origin
- Soviet Union; KBP Instrument Design Bureau, early 1960s [1]
- In service
- Since 1965, replacing the NR-23 and R-23 [1]
- Weight
- 49.2 kg (GSh-23) or 50 kg (GSh-23L) [1]
- Dimensions
- Length 1.387 m (GSh-23) or 1.537 m (GSh-23L); barrel 1 m [1]
- Calibre
- 23 mm, firing the 23 × 115 mm round [1]
- Action
- Gast principle: the firing of one barrel works the mechanism of the other, powered by the recoil of the floating barrels, with no external power [1]
- Rate of fire
- 3,400 to 3,600 rounds per minute, a figure Wikipedia marks as alleged [1]
- Muzzle velocity
- 715 m/s [1]
- Carried by
- MiG-21MiG-21 AircraftThe small delta-wing Mach 2 fighter: the most-produced supersonic jet in history.: late models internally, earlier ones in the GP-9 gondola [1]
- JF-17 ThunderJF-17 Thunder AircraftA lightweight Pakistani–Chinese multirole fighter powered by the RD-93. and L-39ZAL-39 Albatros AircraftThe Warsaw Pact's standard jet trainer, with armed light-attack versions. [1]
- All MiG-23s, the J-22 Orao, the Tejas and the tail turrets of the Tu-22M and Tu-95MS [1]
Two barrels that work each other
The GSh-23 uses the Gast principle, devised by the German engineer Karl Gast in 1916: in a twin-barrel gun, the firing of one barrel operates the mechanism of the other. [1] That gives a much faster rate of fire than a single barrel, with less wear. It cannot match the sustained rate of an electrically driven rotary cannon such as the M61M61 Vulcan OrdnanceThe six-barrel 20 mm Gatling gun that has armed US fighters of every service since 1959., but it needs no outside power, because the recoil of its floating barrels drives it. [1] The principle has been little used in the West, but widely in the Soviet Union. [1]
Where it flies
The GSh-23 entered service in 1965. The GSh-23L, with a muzzle brake to cut recoil, became standard on late-model MiG-21sMiG-21 AircraftThe small delta-wing Mach 2 fighter: the most-produced supersonic jet in history. and on all MiG-23s, and it arms the JF-17JF-17 Thunder AircraftA lightweight Pakistani–Chinese multirole fighter powered by the RD-93. and the L-39ZAL-39 Albatros AircraftThe Warsaw Pact's standard jet trainer, with armed light-attack versions.. Earlier MiG-21s could carry it in the GP-9 gondola under the fuselage, with 200 rounds. [1] It is also the defensive gun in the tail turrets of the Tu-22M and some Tu-95MS bombers. [1]
Sources
- Gryazev-Shipunov GSh-23. Wikipedia (secondary source). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gryazev-Shipunov_GSh-23 (accessed 2026-10-27).
Wikipedia articles are secondary sources and can change; they are cited with the date they were read. NAVEDTRA training manuals and budget justification exhibits are official US publications, but each describes the weapons in service when it was written.