The General Electric GAU-8/A Avenger is a 30 mm hydraulically driven seven-barrel Gatling-style autocannon that is primarily mounted in the United States Air Force's Fairchild Republic A-10 Thunderbolt II.

Designed to destroy a wide variety of ground targets, the Avenger delivers 30mm rounds at a high rate of fire.

The GAU-8/A is also used in the Dutch Goalkeeper CIWS ship weapon system, which provides defense against short-range threats such as highly maneuverable missiles, aircraft, and fast-maneuvering surface vessels.

Both of the A-X prototypes, the YA-10 and the Northrop YA-9, were designed to incorporate the weapon, although it was not available during the initial competition; the M61 Vulcan was used as a temporary replacement.

Once completed, the entire GAU-8 assembly (correctly referred to as the A/A 49E-6 Gun System)[5] represents about 16% of the A-10 aircraft's unladen weight.

The 174th Tactical Fighter Wing was transitioned off of the A-10A to the F-16A/B Block 10, and during Desert Storm their aircraft were equipped with the GPU-5/A Pave Claw pod housing the 30mm GAU-13/A, which was a four-barrel variant of the seven-barrel GAU-8 Avenger used by the A-10.

However, the F-16s suffered from poor accuracy (due to the less rigid pylon mounting and stronger vibrations when firing), lack of CCIP software, and faster flight speeds giving pilots less time to aim.

[10] The PGU-14/B's projectile incorporates a lightweight aluminum body, cast around a smaller caliber depleted uranium penetrating core.

[14] There is no technical limitation on the duration the gun may be continuously fired, and a pilot could potentially expend the entire ammunition load in a single burst with no damage or ill effects to the weapons system itself.

Like the original Gatling gun, the entire firing cycle is actuated by cams and powered by the rotation of the barrels.

The feed system is based on that developed for later M61 installations, but uses more advanced design techniques and materials throughout, to save weight.

This arrangement accurately centers the recoil forces, preventing changes in aircraft pitch or yaw when fired.

This configuration also leaves space for the front landing gear, which is mounted slightly off-center on the starboard side of the nose.

[22] While this recoil force is significant, in practice a cannon-fire burst slows the aircraft by only a few miles per hour in level flight.