GAU - 13 The General Electric GAU - 13 / A is a 30 mm electric Gatling - type rotary cannon derived from the GAU - 8 Avenger cannon . Description . The GAU - 13 was developed in the late 1970s for use in gun pod applications for fighter aircraft and attack aircraft use , primarily for air - to - ground and anti - tank attacks . The GAU - 13 / A is a four - barreled rotary cannon based on the mechanism of the larger GAU - 8 , sharing the same massive 30 mm ammunition . Like the Avenger , it has a double - ended feed system with reverse clearing to remove unfired rounds . Unlike the GAU - 8 , however , it is pneumatically driven , giving it a rate of fire of 2 , 400 rounds per minute . Minimum time between stoppages is estimated at 32 , 000 rounds , making it a very reliable weapon . The GAU - 13 / A uses the same range of PGU - 13 High Explosive Incendiary ( HEI ) and PGU - 14 Armor - Piercing Incendiary ( API ) rounds ( which contain a depleted uranium penetrator ) as the Avenger . Despite its somewhat lower rate of fire compared to the seven - barreled Avenger , it is an immensely powerful weapon . The principal application for the GAU - 13 / A was the GPU - 5 / A gun pod ( originally marketed as the GEPOD 30 ) . The pod is 4 . 3 m ( 14 ft 2 in ) long and can be mounted on any standard NATO 762 mm ( 30 in ) suspension lugs . It holds 353 rounds of ammunition , enough for approximately nine seconds of continuous fire . The GPU - 5 / A weight is 600 kg ( 1 , 325 lb ) empty and 841 kg ( 1 , 854 lb ) fully loaded . The pod is completely self - contained . The GPU - 5 / A was intended for carriage on a wide range of U . S . tactical aircraft , including the F - 15 Eagle and F - 16 Fighting Falcon . In the mid - 1980s the USAF considered a specialized variant of the F - 16 for the close air support ( CAS ) mission , using the GPU - 5 , as a substitute to or adjunct for the A - 10 Thunderbolt II . The GPU - 5 pod , however , proved unsatisfactory in service . It was briefly tried on some Air National Guard F - 16 Fighting Falcon s during the 1991 Gulf War , but was removed from service after barely a day of combat use because of its very poor accuracy . Despite the cannon ' s impressive ballistic characteristics , the pylon mounting was not sufficiently rigid to prevent deflection , and the weapon ' s heavy recoil exacerbated the problem by causing pylon misalignment . Further , the GPU - 5 was not integrated into the F - 16 ' s sighting system . The GPU - 5 is no longer in U . S . service , although some Thai F - 5E Tiger II aircraft still carry the weapon , experimented also with F - 20 Tigershark . In Fall 1995 , the U . S . Marine Corps conducted a trial of the GPU - 5 on LCAC - 66 , as a potential weapon to provide suppressive fire for landing forces . The pod was mounted on a standard MAU - 12 bomb rack , itself mounted in a standard cargo container . It was believed that four such containers could then be carried on the LCAC . The resulting combination was referenced as the Gun Platform Air Cushion ( GPAC ) . By 1997 , the Marines had reportedly acquired the USAF ' s entire stock of GAU - 13 / A cannons and GPU - 5 pods as surplus . Besides the GPAC , the GAU - 13 / A was also touted as possible armament on ships and ground vehicles such as the LAV - 25 .