View source for Gryazev-Shipunov GSh-23

{{redirect|AO-9|the United States fleet oiler|USS Patoka (AO-9)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2019}}
{{Infobox weapon
|name=GSh-23
| image= GSh-23L cannon.jpg
| image_size = 300
|caption=GSh-23L
|origin=[[Soviet Union]]
|type=[[Autocannon]]
<!-- Type selection -->
|is_ranged=yes
<!-- Service history -->
|service=1965–present
|used_by=See Users
|wars=
<!-- Production history -->
|designer=[[KBP Instrument Design Bureau]]
|design_date= Early 1960s
|manufacturer=[[KBP Instrument Design Bureau]]
|unit_cost=
|production_date=
|number=
|variants=GSh-23L
<!-- General specifications -->
|weight=GSh-23: {{convert|49.2|kg|lb|abbr=on}}<br/>GSh-23L: {{convert|50|kg|lb|abbr=on}}
|length=GSh-23: {{convert|1387|mm|ftin|abbr=on|sigfig=1}}<br/>GSh-23L: {{convert|1537|mm|ftin|abbr=on|sigfig=1}}
|part_length={{convert|1000|mm|ftin|abbr=on}}
|width=
|height=
|diameter=
|crew=
<!-- Ranged weapon specifications -->
|cartridge= [[23×115 mm]] 
|caliber= 23mm
|barrels=2
|action=[[Gast gun|Gast principle]]
|rate=3,400–3,600 rounds/min (alleged) {{Citation needed|reason=Your explanation here|date=February 2018}}  
|velocity={{convert|715|m/s|ft/s|abbr=on}}
|range=
|max_range=
|feed=
|sights=
}}

The '''Gryazev-Shipunov GSh-23''' ({{lang-rus|ГШ-23}})<ref name="urlBorn in the USSR: Russias most vicious Soviet mini-artillery guns - Russia Beyond">{{cite web |url=https://www.rbth.com/science-and-tech/327794-russian-most-vicious-mini-artillery-guns |title=Born in the USSR: Russia's most vicious Soviet mini-artillery guns - Russia Beyond |date=13 March 2018 }}</ref> is a twin-barreled 23&nbsp;mm [[autocannon]] developed in the [[Soviet Union]], primarily for [[military aircraft]] use. It entered service in 1965, replacing the earlier [[Nudelman-Rikhter NR-23]] and [[Rikhter R-23]].

The GSh-23 works on the [[Gast Gun]] principle developed by German engineer [[Karl Gast]] of the [[Vorwerk, Lower Saxony|Vorwerk]] company in 1916. It is a twin-barreled weapon in which the firing action of one barrel operates the mechanism of the other. It provides a much faster rate of fire for lower mechanical wear than a single-barrel weapon.

Although it cannot match the sustained rate of fire of an electric [[Rotary cannon]] like the [[M61 Vulcan]], it requires no external power source to operate, but is instead powered by the recoiling of the floating barrels, somewhat like the action of the German [[MG-42]]. The Gast principle has been little used in the West, but was used on a variety of weapons in the former [[Soviet Union]].

The cannon comes in a basic GSh-23 variant, and the more popular GSh-23L ({{lang|ru|ГШ-23Л}}), differing mostly in adding a [[muzzle brake]], lowering [[recoil]] force. This cannon was standard fit on late-model [[MiG-21]] fighters (M, SM, MF, SMT, PFM, bis), all variants of the [[MiG-23]], the [[SOKO J-22 Orao]], the [[CAC/PAC JF-17 Thunder|JF-17 Thunder]],  the [[HAL Tejas]], the [[Aero_L-39_Albatros|Aero L-39ZA Albatros]] and [[IAR 93]], and the tail turrets of the [[Tupolev Tu-22M]] [[bomber]] and some late-model [[Tu-95MS]] and [[Tupolev Tu-142|Tu-142M3]]. In the latter application, it had the unusual ability to fire infrared [[Flare (countermeasure)|flare]]s and [[Chaff (countermeasure)|chaff]] rounds, allowing it to function as both a weapon and a dispenser of anti-missile countermeasures. It is also mounted on late small series [[Mi-24]]VP helicopters (in the NPPU-23 movable mounting) and Polish [[PZL W-3 Sokół|W-3WA Sokół]] helicopter in fixed mounting. The cannon was also used on cargo aircraft; specifically, Russian/Soviet [[Ilyushin Il-76]] aircraft were designed to accommodate twin GSh-23's in a tail turret.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.aviapress.com/viewonekit.htm?OKB-004|title=OKB-144 OKB-004 1/144 Ilyushin Il-76TD Soviet four-engined heavy commercial and military freighter. Model kits, Military and Technical Books and Magazines on www.Aviapress.com.|access-date=26 November 2014|archive-date=30 July 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210730020531/https://aviapress.com/viewonekit.htm?OKB-004|url-status=dead}}</ref> An [[Ilyushin Il-76|Il-76M]] with just such a configuration could be seen at the 2002 Ivanovo airshow.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.foxbat.ru/maks/ivan/index.php?picid=ivanovo10 |title=WWW.FOXBAT.RU == |access-date=26 November 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303180024/http://www.foxbat.ru/maks/ivan/index.php?picid=ivanovo10 |archive-date=3 March 2016  }}</ref>

Some second generation [[MiG-21]] models could carry the GSh-23L in an under-fuselage gondola designated the '''GP-9''', carrying the cannon and 200 rounds of ammunition; this was replaced by a more streamlined semi-conformal installation in later variants. There are also several [[gun pod]]s available for mounting on external hardpoints: '''UPK-23''' for air-to-air use, with one or two fixed GSh-23 guns and 200–400 rounds of ammunition, and '''SPPU-22''' pods with traversable barrels for strafing, from 0° to −30° and carried 280 rounds of ammunition in each (they were most often carried by the [[Sukhoi Su-17|Su-17/-20/-22]] as well as the [[Sukhoi Su-25|Su-25/-39]] in pairs).

==Variants==
*Gryazev-Shipunov GSh-23L, is a modernized air-cooled version with a muzzle brake added to reduce recoil. Used on NPPU-23 [[helicopter]] turret.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://weaponsystems.net/weaponsystem/II04%20-%20GSh-23.html|title=23mm Gryazev-Shipunov GSH-23}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=Alexander Mladenov|title=Mil Mi-24 Hind Gunship|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tlW1CwAAQBAJ&pg=PA23|year=2012|publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing|isbn=978-1-84603-954-6|page=23}}</ref>
*Gryazev-Shipunov GSh-23V, is a water-cooled version of GSh-23L. Used on NPPU-23 helicopter turret.<ref>{{cite book|author=Yefim Gordon|title=Russian Gunship Helicopters|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qt47BAAAQBAJ&pg=PA17|year=2013|publisher=Pen and Sword|isbn=978-1-4738-3139-1|page=17}}</ref>

==Users==
[[File:Gryazev-Shipunov GSh-23 Users.png|thumb|Map with Gryazev-Shipunov GSh-23 users in blue]]
{{div col}}
*{{flagcountry|Brazil}} - Used on Mi-35M
*{{flagcountry|Bulgaria}}
*{{flagcountry|China}}
*{{flagcountry|Croatia}}
*{{flagcountry|Egypt}} – Used on L-59T Super-Albatross
*{{flagcountry|India}} Manufactured at [[Ordnance Factories Board]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://news.oneindia.in/2007/03/19/oft-develops-gen-x-weapons-1174286532.html|title=OFT develops Gen-X weapons|work=oneindia.com|date=19 March 2007|access-date=26 November 2014}}</ref>
*{{flagcountry|Iraq}} on Iraqi aircraft type [[Su-25]]
*{{flagcountry|Pakistan}} - [[CAC/PAC JF-17 Thunder|JF-17]] Thunder (all variants)
*{{flagcountry|Poland}}
*{{flagcountry|Romania}} – manufactured locally by SC Uzina Mecanică Cugir as '''GȘ-23'''.<ref>{{cite web|title=cal. 23mm AIRCRAFT GUN GSh 23 TYPE |url=http://www.umcugir.ro/cal.23%20mm%20Aircraft%20Gun%20GSh.html |publisher=umcugir.ro |access-date=19 May 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120531235735/http://www.umcugir.ro/cal.23%20mm%20Aircraft%20Gun%20GSh.html |archive-date=31 May 2012  }}</ref>
*{{flagcountry|Russia}}
*{{flagcountry|Serbia}}
*{{flagcountry|Soviet Union}}
*{{flagcountry|Tunisia}} – Used on [[Aero L-39 Albatros|L-59T Super-Albatross]]
*{{flagcountry|Ukraine}} on SU-25M1<ref>{{cite web|title=Su-25 M1 Frogfoot|url=https://www.redstar.gr/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=2266:su-25m1-frogfoot-attack-aircraft&catid=417&lang=en&Itemid=526|publisher=redstar.gr|access-date=9 September 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140726073652/https://www.redstar.gr/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=2266:su-25m1-frogfoot-attack-aircraft&catid=417&lang=en&Itemid=526|archive-date=26 July 2014|url-status=dead}}</ref>
*{{flagcountry|Venezuela}} - Used on Mi-35M
*{{flagcountry|Vietnam}}
{{div col end}}

== Gallery ==
<gallery widths="200">
File:MAKS-2015first07.jpg|GSh-23 turret mounted on [[Mil Mi-24|Mi-35]].
File:GSch-23-CB.jpg|Gun system of a [[Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-23]] (machine gun GSh-23 with gun carriage and associated magazine).
File:UKP-23 23mm Gun Pod.jpg|A UPK-23 gun pod on a [[Mil Mi-8]].
File:Gunpod SPPU-22-01 - GSh-23 gun.jpg|A SPPU-22-01 gun pod on a [[Sukhoi Su-17]].
</gallery>

==See also==
*[[Gryazev-Shipunov GSh-6-23]]
*[[Gryazev-Shipunov GSh-6-30]]
*[[KS-23]]
*[[List of modern Russian small arms and light weapons]]
*[[List of multiple-barrel firearms]]
*[[GAU-12 Equalizer]]
*[[Minigun]]
*[[Vyacheslav Ivanovich Silin]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}
*{{cite book
  | last = Koll
  | first = Christian
  | title = Soviet Cannon – A Comprehensive Study of Soviet Arms and Ammunition in Calibres 12.7mm to 57mm
  | publisher = Koll
  | year = 2009
  | location = Austria
  | url = http://www.russianammo.org
  | isbn = 978-3-200-01445-9
  | page = 155  }}

{{Russian and Soviet Aircraft Ordnance}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gryazev-Shipunov Gsh-23}}
[[Category:Autocannons of the Soviet Union]]
[[Category:Aircraft guns of the Soviet Union]]
[[Category:23 mm artillery]]
[[Category:KBP Instrument Design Bureau products]]
[[Category:Military equipment introduced in the 1960s]]