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Air gunner

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This is an old revision of this page, as edited by FMSky (talk | contribs) at 04:56, 21 December 2021 (Adding local short description: "Member of a military aircrew", overriding Wikidata description "flight crew responsible for operating aircraft gun armament not directly operated by the pilot" (Shortdesc helper)). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

A Waist Gunner in a USAAF B-17 Flying Fortress, 1943
Tupolev Tu-95 tail gun position with 23 mm AM-23 autocannon

An air gunner or aerial gunner is a member of a military aircrew who operates flexible-mount or turret-mounted machine guns or autocannons in an aircraft. Modern aircraft weapons are usually operated automatically without the need for a dedicated air gunner, but older generation (World War II and earlier) bombers used to carry up to eight air gunners.

Most modern air gunners are helicopter door gunners, who typically have other primary roles such as crew chief or observer in addition to their air gunner role. Others fly as members of aircrews on gunships, where their duties may include loading guns or manually firing them if computer systems fail.

See also