classified as a rotary machine gun. During the Vietnam War, the 7.62 mm caliber M134 Minigun was originally created to arm rotary-wing aircraft, and could be fitted to various helicopters as either a crew-served or a remotely operated weapon. With a rate of fire from 2,000 to 6,000 rounds per minute from a 4,000-round linked belt, the Minigun proved to be one of the most effective non-explosive projectile weapons ever built and is still used in helicopters today. As the GAU-2B/A, the Minigun was also used on the U.S. Air Force AC-47, AC-119 and Lockheed AC-130 gunships. The AC-47 was known during the Vietnam War as "Puff the Magic Dragon" and was said to be "the only thing that scared the VC". This weapon was also used on selected USAF helicopters. With sophisticated navigation and target identification tools, Miniguns can be used effectively even against concealed targets. The crew's ability to concentrate the Minigun's fire very tightly produces the appearance of the 'Red Tornado' from the light of the tracers, as the gun platform circles a target at night. See also Revolver cannon Chain gun List of multiple-barrel firearms References External links List of Military Gatling & Revolver cannon Description of operating principle (with animation) from HowStuffWorks CGI animated GAU-17/A Fokker Leimberger Fokker Leimberger Autocannon Multi-barrel machine guns