# Gun camera
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> Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gun_camera
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{{Short description|Cameras mounted on guns that trigger when fired}}
{{More citations needed|date=March 2017}}
[[File:P51 Europe.gif|thumb|United States Army Air Force [P-51 Mustang](/source/North_American_P-51_Mustang) gun-camera displaying engagements against various German Luftwaffe fighter-aircraft over Europe, 1944.]]
'''Gun cameras''' are [camera](/source/camera)s mounted on a [gun](/source/gun), used to photograph or record from its perspective. They are typically used on the weapons of [military aircraft](/source/military_aircraft) and operate either when the gun is fired or at the operator's will. Gun cameras are used for training, analysis, or documentation purposes.
{{Clear}}
==History==
[[File:F86GunCamKorea.gif|thumb|left|Footage of a [North American F-86 Sabre](/source/North_American_F-86_Sabre) shooting down a [Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15](/source/Mikoyan-Gurevich_MiG-15) during the [Korean War](/source/Korean_War), 1952]]
The use of gun cameras first became common for gunnery training in the 1920s, though examples were used during [World War I](/source/World_War_I) by the British [Royal Flying Corps](/source/Royal_Flying_Corps). A special version of the [Lewis gun](/source/Lewis_gun), the Hythe Mark III, was manufactured as a camera gun for the Royal Flying Corps, used by trainees in lieu of actual Lewis guns during [mock combat](/source/mock_combat) exercises.[{{Cite web |date=2013-02-08 |title=Hythe Mk III Gun Camera |url=https://www.forgottenweapons.com/accessories/hythe-mk-iii-gun-camera/ |access-date=2022-10-24 |website=Forgotten Weapons |language=en-US}}]
During [World War II](/source/World_War_II) gun cameras were commonly used on operational aircraft to record kills of enemy aircraft. Many photographs and videos from gun cameras, such as those filmed by [USAAF](/source/United_States_Army_Air_Forces) [flying ace](/source/flying_ace) Lieutenant Colonel [Jack T. Bradley](/source/Jack_T._Bradley),[{{Cite web |title=The Lt. Col. Jack Bradley Collection |url=https://texasarchive.org/taxonomy/term/117331 |access-date=2022-10-24 |website=texasarchive.org |language=en}}] survive to this day and are often used as [stock footage](/source/stock_footage).
[[File:The USAF Combat Photography 1968.webm|thumb|''The USAF Combat Photography'' (1968) de-classified official [USAF](/source/USAF) information film reel.]]
During World War Two, America's Army Air Forces and Navy aircraft used gun cameras made by Fairchild in Jamaica, NY. Fairchild's first designs were produced in 1932; by 1938 their camera's form was much the same as the models produced during the war. Weighing {{frac|3|1|2}} pounds, loaded with 50 feet of 16mm film, Fairchild's gun camera was 6x3-1/2x2-1/2 inches in size and built of case-hardened steel. Containing a built-in heating unit, it was capable of operation at temperatures from +165 to -65 degrees Celsius.["A Camera Built for War: Fairchild Instrument Makes Aerial Movies." Movie Makers 19:10 (October 1944), 392, 404.]
Gun cameras technically still exist in modern [fighter aircraft](/source/fighter_aircraft) and [attack helicopter](/source/attack_helicopter)s, though they are typically no longer their own separate devices; rather, they are often built into [targeting pod](/source/targeting_pod)s, and are able to record footage without the pilot or crew having to fire.
==Applications==
[[File:F-4-Phantom-II Dogfight vs. MIGs Vietnam War Ace Capt.-Steve Ritchie & Capt.-Jeff-Feinstein.gif|thumb|Gun-camera recorded missile-kill from [F-4 Phantom II](/source/McDonnell_Douglas_F-4_Phantom_II) piloted by Captains Steve Ritchie & Jeff Feinstein during the [Vietnam War](/source/Vietnam_War).]]
Gun cameras are used by militaries, primarily [air force](/source/air_force)s, for training, analysis, or documentation purposes - they are typically installed in the nose of the plane, on the nose-mounted gun (if one is there), or occasionally on the side or in a wing to provide a clearer view. According to [USAF](/source/United_States_Air_Force) General [Robin Olds](/source/Robin_Olds), a triple ace of World War II, the [Lockheed P-38 Lightning](/source/Lockheed_P-38_Lightning)'s gun camera was mounted directly below the aircraft's [Hispano M2 20 mm](/source/Hispano-Suiza_HS.404) autocannon, which shook the camera whenever they were fired, making the footage they filmed illegible. In 1944, when Olds was a USAAF fighter pilot, he did not report a battle with two [Focke-Wulf Fw 190](/source/Focke-Wulf_Fw_190)s, as his gun camera footage was too shaky to confirm the kills; however, a nearby fighter group that witnessed the dogfight confirmed the kills for him.[{{Cite web |date=2007-08-01 |title=Robin Olds: Getting to War Wasn't Always Easy 7-14-22 "Flown West" 6-14-07 |url=http://airportjournals.com/robin-olds-getting-to-war-wasnt-always-easy-7-14-22-flown-west-6-14-07/ |access-date=2022-10-24 |website=Airport Journals |language=en-US}}]
On older aircraft, [tail gunner](/source/tail_gunner) turrets, or [trainer aircraft](/source/trainer_aircraft), gun cameras replace the gun itself, allowing for simulated gunnery practice without actually using a real gun or ammunition.[{{Cite news|url=https://www.policeone.com/Officer-Safety/articles/257499006-Police-departments-test-gun-mounted-cameras/|title=Police departments test gun-mounted cameras|work=PoliceOne|access-date=2017-03-02|language=en|archive-date=2017-03-02|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170302112640/https://www.policeone.com/Officer-Safety/articles/257499006-Police-departments-test-gun-mounted-cameras/|url-status=dead}}][{{Cite news |date=2020-07-22 |title=U.S. police forces experiment with cameras mounted on guns |language=en |work=Reuters |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-police-gun-cameras-idUSKCN24N2BL |access-date=2022-10-24}}] Though police said firearm cameras would allow for better [police accountability](/source/police_accountability), the [American Civil Liberties Union](/source/American_Civil_Liberties_Union) questioned their effectiveness, stating that it would only record [police brutality](/source/police_brutality) incidents where the officer drew their weapon, and that even in those incidents, the context leading up to the officer's weapon being drawn would not be captured.