M167 VADS

This M167 fired on enemy aircraft during the Persian Gulf War
M167 at the Belgian air base at Ursel

The M167 Vulcan Air Defense System (VADS) was a towed short-range United States Army anti-aircraft gun designed to protect forward area combat elements and rear area critical assets. It was also used to protect U.S. Air Force warplane airfields and U.S. Army helicopter airfields. The heart of the M167 was a variant of the M61 Vulcan 20 mm rapid-fire Gatling gun that fired explosive 20 mm rounds.

It was also effective against lightly armored ground targets. The M167 gun has now been withdrawn from service by American military units, but it might still be used by other countries.

The M167A2 VADS was modified with an improved fire-control subsystem. The improvement was obtained by replacing the disturbed reticle sight with a director reticle sight, the sight current generator with a digital processor, and the azimuth drive assembly with a harmonic drive. It also had an extra wheel put on each side which prevented flipping by providing a longer lever.

Starting in 1994, the M167 was replaced in U.S. service by the M1097 Avenger missile launcher and in 2005, by a ground based version of the Phalanx CIWS self-defense gun[1] which the U.S. Navy uses on its ships. The Phalanx CIWS uses the same basic 20 mm rapid-fire Gatling gun as the M167.

Sudan and Yemen used M167 guns seated upon the Soviet BTR-152 APC.[2][3]

Operators

Map with M167 VADS operators in blue with former operators in red

Current operators

Former operators

Please note that this list is not complete.

See also

References

  1. ↑ http://www.murdoconline.net/archives/003558.html
  2. ↑ Steven Zaloga, Soviet wheeled armoured vehicles, Concord: Hong Kong, 1990
  3. ↑ Ye. Prochko, Bronetransporter BTR-152, Bronyekollektsya 5(38)/2001 (in Russian)
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