The 30mm automatic gun is designed for firing at light armored targets within a distance up to 1500 m, non-armored targets within a distance up to 4000 m and also at low-flying subsonic air targets up to 2000 m within a slant distance of 2500m. The gun can be fired in single shots or in burst (low or high rate of fire). It offers reliable functioning under severe conditions, such as temperature range from +50°C up to -50°C, in rain, dust, frost and in very dry environment.

Standard identification of 30mm automatic gun is 2A42.

The gun consists of the following main parts (assemblies):

• breech casing

• barrel assembly, breech

• return spring

• rear part of the breech casing

• electric trigger

• contactor and pin

The 30-mm automatic gun 2A42 is a weapon whose barrel is locked, round fired, breech opened, cartridge case extracted and ejected, and new round chambered automatically. The gun is mounted in the turret and thus the feeding of cartridge belts to the weapon becomes simpler. 30 - 35mm long recoil of the barrel reduces the forces acting on the cradle.