The RMK 30 (''Rückstoßfreie Maschinenkanone 30''; recoilless

autocannon An autocannon, automatic cannon or machine cannon is a automatic firearm, fully automatic gun that is capable of rapid-firing large-caliber ( or more) armour-piercing, explosive or incendiary ammunition, incendiary shell (projectile), shells, ...

) is a

recoilless A Recoilless rifle (rifled), recoilless launcher (smoothbore), or simply recoilless gun, sometimes abbreviated to "rr" or "RCL" (for ReCoilLess) is a type of lightweight artillery system or man-portable launcher that is designed to eject some fo ...

30 mm caliber The 30 mm caliber is a range of autocannon ammunition. It includes the NATO standardized Swiss 30×173mm (STANAG 4624), the Soviet 30×155mmB, 30×165mm and 30×210mmB, the Czechoslovak 30×210mm, the Yugoslav 30×192mm, the British 30×1 ...

firing

caseless Caseless ammunition (CL), or caseless cartridge, is a configuration of weapon-cartridge that eliminates the cartridge case that typically holds the primer, propellant and projectile together as a unit. Instead, the propellant and primer are fitt ...

30 × 250 mm ammunition cartridges. The gun was developed by the German company

Mauser Mauser, originally the Königlich Württembergische Gewehrfabrik, was a German arms manufacturer. Their line of bolt-action rifles and semi-automatic pistols was produced beginning in the 1870s for the German armed forces. In the late 19th and ...

, which is now a subsidiary of the

Rheinmetall Rheinmetall AG () is a German automotive and arms manufacturer, headquartered in Düsseldorf, Germany. The group was promoted to the DAX, Germany's leading stock market index, in March 2023. It is the largest German and fifth largest Europe ...

group.

The German Bundesamt für Wehrtechnik und Beschaffung (BWB) required a new recoilless autocannon, therefore the development of the RMK 30 started in 1993. Unlike former recoilless weapons it is capable of firing salvos or in fully automatic mode without producing recoil. It is a three-chamber

revolver cannon A revolver cannon is a type of autocannon, commonly used as an aircraft gun. It uses a cylinder with multiple chambers, similar to those of a revolver handgun, to speed up the loading-firing-ejection cycle. Some examples are also power-driven, ...

; the revolver and firing mechanism are driven by an

electric motor An electric motor is a machine that converts electrical energy into mechanical energy. Most electric motors operate through the interaction between the motor's magnetic field and electric current in a electromagnetic coil, wire winding to gene ...

, allowing variable rates of fire of up to 300 rounds/min. A fraction of the propellant gases is ejected to the rear of the cannon, compensating for the recoil and allowing lightweight and less rigid mounts. Though recoilless, the RMK 30 has a higher muzzle energy than conventional 30 mm autocannons. RMK 30 cannons have been proposed as upgrade for the

Bundeswehr The (, ''Federal Defence'') are the armed forces of the Germany, Federal Republic of Germany. The is divided into a military part (armed forces or ''Streitkräfte'') and a civil part, the military part consists of the four armed forces: Germ ...

's (German armed forces) Tiger UHT attack helicopters. The UHT version currently lacks a gun, since the

German Army The German Army (, 'army') is the land component of the armed forces of Federal Republic of Germany, Germany. The present-day German Army was founded in 1955 as part of the newly formed West German together with the German Navy, ''Marine'' (G ...

was not happy with the

recoil Recoil (often called knockback, kickback or simply kick) is the rearward thrust generated when a gun is being discharged. In technical terms, the recoil is a result of conservation of momentum, for according to Newton's third law the force requ ...

, accuracy and the range of the French

GIAT 30 The GIAT 30 is a series of 30 mm cannon developed to replace the DEFA 550 series weapons on French military aircraft. Introduced in the late 1980s, the GIAT 30 is a revolver cannon with electric ignition and automatic recocking. Unlike the DE ...

mm cannon which is fitted to other Tiger versions. In 1996 it was tested mounted on a

Wiesel AWC The Wiesel Armoured Weapons Carrier (AWC; ) is a German light air-transportable armoured fighting vehicle, more specifically a lightly armoured weapons carrier, produced by Rheinmetall. The Wiesel has been used in several of the Bundeswehr's mis ...

. An unusual study (Project MORAINE) suggests mounting an RMK 30 gun in a retractable mast on a

Type 212 submarine The Type 212A is a class of diesel-electric attack submarine developed by Howaldtswerke-Deutsche Werft AG (HDW) for the German Navy (), and the Italian Navy where it is known as the ''Todaro'' class. It features diesel propulsion and an add ...

. Such masts would extend the capabilities of

submarine A submarine (often shortened to sub) is a watercraft capable of independent operation underwater. (It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability.) The term "submarine" is also sometimes used historically or infor ...

s, which currently lack appropriate means to fight small surface targets or just give warning shots. This study has directly led to the

Muraena ''Muraena'' is a genus of twelve species of large eels in the family Muraenidae. This genus is common in the Mediterranean, and is abundantly represented in tropical and subtropical seas, especially in rocky parts or on coral reefs. In the majo ...

concept.

Gallery

Image:MURAENA mast for RMK30 Project MORAINE.jpg, MURAENA mast for RMK30 (Project MORAINE) on TechDemo 2008

References

Manufacturer's page
30 mm artillery Aircraft guns Autocannon Caseless firearms Post–Cold War artillery of Germany RMK30 Post–Cold War weapons of Germany Military equipment introduced in the 1990s {{artillery-stub