Wikipeadia can be useful as a starting point but I
really don't trust it. The section on the 25mm arden it says...
Quote:
As a result, RAF Harrier GR.7 and GR.9 aircraft currently have no cannon, no attempt apparently having been made to retrofit the older ADEN 30 mm pods.
|
This says nothing about the GR.5 and when you read the Wiki article on the BAE Harrier II
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RAF_Harrier_II it lists, under "Specifications (Harrier GR.7)"
Armament
2x 30mm ADEN cannons (one per pod)
So, (
surprise, surprise ), there are contradictions in Wikipedia entries !!
OK, ( I think ) we've established the 25mm ARDEN didn't ultimately make it into operational service and I did read the discussion thread you supplied and the closest thing I can see is that maybe the Gr.5 carried the 25mm gun but there were so many problems it never made it to the next model so the Gr.7 and Gr.9 have no gun at all but that is really just a guess gleaned from two sources that in some ways contradict one another. There is nothing in Wiki OR the discussion forum about the Gr.5 not having a gun except one guy in that discussion forum who mentions it in passing and I have another source [
http://www.faqs.org/docs/air/avav83.html ]that says "the GR.5 was to be fitted with twin new-design 25 millimetre Aden revolver cannon, each with a rate of fire of up to 1,850 rounds per minute and a muzzle velocity of over 1,000 meters per second. However, this piece of gear would prove particularly troublesome." so maybe the 25mm was fitted to the g.5's and that's as far as it got becasue the only way you could know it was "troublesome" would be to try to use it but if the Wiki entry on the Harrier II is to be belived the G.7 had the 30mm ARDEN !!
What I can get from all this .....
The G1 and G3 are the smaller Harrier 1 and they have 30mm arden.
The G5 was the first of the larger framed Harriers and it was fitted with a 25mm arden that never really worked satisfactorily.
The G7 and G9 are not fitted with cannons of any sort.
If anyone else wants to toss in some info please do
Don