How effective is aircraft cannon use in war?

[Edevelop]

There are fighter jets out there that can take only 6-8 hard points. If they run out of missiles than obviously cannon is the only option. My question is, are they useful?

I do realize on Wikipedia that there are multirole fighter jets like LCA, F-16, JF-17, J-10, JAS-39, F-15, SU-30, F-18, etc... that hold only 1 pod on one end, either 27mm or 30mm.

Shouldn't there by 2 cannon on both ends or at least on chin of the aircraft to make the pilot do less work?
Like this:

 

[untitled]

In the Vietnam war Americans missed it dearly

 

[SQ8]

Cannons were considered obsolete in the late 60's after the advent of A2A missiles.. but humbling lessons in Vietnam proved otherwise. Today with the advancement in missile tech people are again considering the usefulness of cannons in A2A combat.
However.. in the current scenario of asymmetric threats.. the cannons have proved very useful in the A2G role as well.
traditional A2A fighters such as the F-15C can also provide a show of force by strafing with their cannon.
And many sorties against the taliban ended up being conducted with strafing runs after going Winchester on other ordnance.

Two or three cannons is debatable on the need for firepower.
A single 20mm cannon is enough to tackle most A2A threats.
Dual 30mm cannons are more suited to handling larger aircraft.
The accuracy of the cannons matters as well as ammo capacity.
Russian jets like the Fulcrum and Flanker carrry much less ammo for their cannons than western counterparts.. much they claim to have much better accuracy than the former.

 

[untitled]

The JF-17's canon is actually the long tube next to the yellow circle

 

[untitled]

In this case the canon is very effective as the entire aircraft was built around the canon

 

[GURU DUTT]

well to me an aircraft cannon is like the last alternative in todays combat enviorment cause in 60-70's the air to air missiles were in there infancy .....but looking at present with likes of python 4-5 ,phynex & R-77& R-73 the senario has changed a lot.....you cant have the same prepardness as what you had 30-40 years ago & hope to save your ???? on it????

 

[Edevelop]

The JF-17's canon is actually the long tube next to the yellow circle

It doesn't take much space. Perhaps PAF should consider putting another long tube thing either on the other end or under the chin.

Have a look at the possible ends:

 

[untitled]

It doesn't take much space. Perhaps PAF should consider putting another long tube thing either on the other end or under the chin.

Why not develop more advanced stand off missiles Air to Air & Air to Ground. That is like saying a rifleman can carry a lot of gear why not make him carry an extra knife

 

[Edevelop]

3]Why not develop more advanced stand off missiles Air to Air & Air to Ground. That is like saying a rifleman can carry a lot of gear why not make him carry an extra knife

That is possible but keep in mind that aircraft weight will be an issue....
Guns are light and they can be useful at times, especially during dogfights... You don't want to waste BVR or other Air to Air Missiles....

 

[untitled]

Early model B-52s were armed with four 12.7mm guns with the gunner sitting along at the back of the aircraft. Later models B-52s carried a single 20mm remotely operated gun. The gunner was shifted from the back and placed along the rest of the crew

B-52 air to air victories

The guns have now been removed from all B-52s

 

[untitled]

...Guns are light and they can be useful at times, especially during dogfights...

If dog fights occur more often than anticipated then yes they are useful. Many experts on this forum say otherwise

 

[Edevelop]

 

[SQ8]

It doesn't take much space. Perhaps PAF should consider putting another long tube thing either on the other end or under the chin.

Have a look at the possible ends:

The gun is not JUST the slender thing sticking out..
There is much more to a gun..
Here is the Jf-17's twin-barreled Gsh-23 out of the aircraft.. less the ammunition feed.

Now all that ammunition that goes into that gun also has to be stored someplace..
This is how big that storage is in the f-16 for its 20mm M-61.

The same goes for the JF.. and the locations you cite are already filled up with equipment.

 

[Edevelop]

My bad i didnt realize that...
Okay so now that size is proven...
Still every fighter jet has at least a cannon. What is the range of Gsh? and what other types are there?

 

[SQ8]

My bad i didnt realize that...
Okay so now that size is proven...
Still every fighter jet has at least a cannon. What is the range of Gsh? and what other types are there?

That is dependent on the muzzle velocity of a gun(how fast is the projectile going when it leaves the barrel)..and the conditions in which the gun was fired.
Gryazev-Shipunov GSh-23 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia