Nudelman-Rikhter NR-30

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The NR-30 is a Soviet single-barrel 30mm autocannon designed by A. E. Nudelman and A. A. Rikhter. It entered service in 1954 to replace older 23 and 37 mm systems and to give fighters a gun that could fire quickly with solid firepower. Technically, it’s an enlarged NR-23 that uses the same short-recoil mechanism and fires 30x155 mm rounds weighing about 400 g.

The gun shoots at about 850–1,000 rounds per minute, with a muzzle velocity around 800 m/s. To protect the aircraft from blast and heat, it uses a muzzle brake with an integrated flame damper. Weighing about 66 kg (146 lb) and about 2,153 mm long (with a 1,600 mm barrel), the NR-30 is relatively light for a 30 mm cannon. Aircraft typically carried around 70 rounds per gun.

There were 20 types of ammunition, with armor-piercing (AP) and high-explosive incendiary (HEI) being the most common. HEI rounds carried a larger explosive charge than typical 20 mm ammo. An unusual round was a PRL chaff dispenser with 48,000 particles.

The NR-30 served on many aircraft, including the MiG-19 and early MiG-21, Sukhoi Su-7 and Su-17. In China it equipped the Shenyang J-6 (a MiG-19 copy) with a third gun in the nose, and China produced its own Type-30 variant, similar but with some differences. The NR-30 is one of the lightest 30 mm guns; only the GSh-301 is lighter.