Why do guns on things like jets, helicopters, and other “mini gun” type guns have a rotating barrel?

Question

I just rewatched The Winter Soldier the other day and a lot of the big guns on the helicarriers made me think about this. Does it make the bullet more accurate?

In: 6957

Answer 1

Because it is cooler (literally cause overheating). Rotating barrels allow for rapid fire by performing simultaneous tasks (load, aim, fire, discard), they also reduce recoil which improves targeting stability. There is of course a limit, as you cannot really have a rotor-barreled canon (the big gun on ships). Technically, it’s possible, but practically, you’d have to be fighting like a billion ships. The mini-guns work because rapid fire is good for relatively smaller targets.