Tactical Armament Turret (TAT)

The Tactical Armament Turret (TAT) 102B, manufactured by Emerson Electric, housing 1 GE 7.62 mm Mini-gun and up to 8,000 rounds. The turret was hydraulically driven, the gun was electrically driven with a gunner selectable rate of 2,000 or 4,000 rounds per minute. It hung on the sponson (left, right or both) in place of the drop tank. Sight was an electro-optical servo sight mounted in the crew door (I have never found a photo of the sight) and the forward cabin window on the left side. Normal load was 4,000 rounds of ammo and was normally loaded on the right sponson. Pilots were not happy about having to choose between fuel and weapons. Most of the time they choose the fuel. Note: Due to the fuel Vs weight issue the TAT was seldom utilized for missions across the river. (Jim Henthorn)