Inside Report (4)

The US Marine Corps wants to forget the Aden cannon. It came on the AV-8A Harrier jump jets the Marines bought from Britain. But unlike the aircraft, the 30mm gun and its ammunition proved disappointing.

The gun's electrically-primed firing pin could be triggered by the radiation emitted from radars aboard the amphibious warfare ships that carried the Harrier , and its ammo became unstable at critical temperatures. Fortunately there were no accidents say the Marines, who have switched to the 25 mm GAU-12 gun system that has an anti-armor capability the Aden doesn't have.

Strangely the British have never had any problems with the cannon.m