So the concept started with the Gatling gun, the first rotating multi-barrel machine gun, and then was scaled up into the modern minigun. That was then scaled up to the 20mm Vulcan and 30mm Avenger autocannons.
Why can’t we scale it up even further with a multi-barrel rotating artillery cannon? One that shoots 3000 artillery rounds per minute and sends massive barrages of artillery?
In: Engineering
A rotating gun is a highly complex piece of machinery that needs to remain within very specific tolerances or it will tear itself apart.
If a gatling gun comes out of alignment and misfires, you just have a solid bullet stuck in the machinery. You may need to realign your barrels and repair the ammunition feed mechanisms but you can probably get things back in place. Worst case scenario it eats half a belt of ammo wrong and blows the barrels to bits.
If a Gatling artillery cannon comes out of alignment and misfires, a very large explosive charge detonates inside your battery, sending parts of your Gatling cannon into your gun crew and all your other artillery pieces. Worst case your entire fast-loading ammunition supply detonates and everyone associated with the gun are spread evenly across the ensuing crater.
Also, artillery weapons are frequently directly targeted by enemy artillery. It’s better to have five guns spread all over a field than a single gun with five barrels, because if someone hits one of your five guns you still have four left to counter fire. If someone hits your Gatling cannon you again lose a hugely complex and expensive weapon and an inordinate amount of ammunition goes up in flame.
If you want to fire a ton of artillery shots all at once from a single platform, rocket batteries already exist and are easy to make, easy to maintain, and don’t typically blow themselves up.
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