M230 Chain Gun

Hughes/Alliant Techsystems M230 30mm Chain Gun

The M230 Chain gun is the 30mm Autocannon commonly mounted underneath the American AH-64 Apache Helicopter Gunship. It was originally developed by Hughes, but is now manufactured by Alliant Techsystems. It has been in production and in use by the American Military since 1975 and is still in use today, most notably as the gun mounted just underneath the nose of the famous AH-64 gunship.

Obviously Hollywood Movie armorers don't own or use the M230 30mm Chain gun, as it is always seen mounted under an AH-64 helicopter gunship. The only appearances of the real gun are when the U.S. military assists the movie production, as in the film Fire Birds, or when stock footage is used. The vast majority of AH-64 gunships in film are now computer generated creations as are their M230 guns, but for informational purposes, we are listing the real weapon here, since that is what the gun is supposed to be.

The M230 Chain gun has appeared in the following:

Film

Title	Actor	Character	Note	Date
Deal of the Century			Seen unmounted at arms show	1983
Fire Birds	Tommy Lee Jones	CWO Brad Little		1990
Fire Birds	Nicolas Cage	CWO Jake Preston		1990
Fire Birds	Bryan Kestner	CWO Calvin Breaker		1990
Fire Birds		US Army soldiers		1990
Toy Soldiers		US Army soldiers		1991
In the Army Now		US Army soldiers		1994
Dreamcatcher				2003
Alone in the Dark		Bureau 713 soldiers		2005
Dragon Wars: D-War		US Army soldiers		2007
The Kingdom		Saudi Army soldiers		2007
The Spirit			Fictional multi-barreled configuration	2008