N A V A L
ANTI-SURFACE WARFARE
The holy grail of modern naval guns is a 155mm mounting. BAE Systems developed one based upon the 4.5 inch Mark 8 but the financial crisis means development was abandoned. This is an artist's impression of the mounting in service © BAE Systems
rates; 650-700 rd/min for Oerlikon 30mm and 300 rd/min for Bofors 40mmL/70, as well as longer ranges up to 3.2 nautical miles (6 kilometres) for an Oerlikon (with extended range ammunition) and 6.75 nautical mile (12.5 kilometres) for the Bofors. One of the most unusual Asian gun mountings is the Indian Ordnance Factory’s CRN-91 Sarath based upon the turret of the Russian-designed BMP-2 infantry combat vehicle with 30mm gun. It has been navalised for the Indian Navy and Coast Guard in patrol boats as well as the Magar class tank landing ships. The older weapons are manned but there is a tendency towards unmanned mountings with Oto Melara producing the widest range in both with single and twin calibre mountings in use with half-adozen navies while 40mm mountings have been made in South Korea and Singapore. Bofors enhanced their weapon through the 3P (Prefragmented, Programmable Proximity) rounds which may be set to impact, post-impact or proximity settings before being fired. BAE Systems Weapon Systems and Support are completing development of the Bofors 40mm Mark 4 gun system which incorporates technology from the Mark 3 (bought by Brazil and Japan) as well as weapons used in the CV90 infantry combat vehicle. The objective is to cut the weight, cost and volume of the Mark 3 mounting by at least
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40 per cent so that it could fit into smaller vessels to broaden the market. The mounting is available with remote and manual control and weighs 2.3 tonnes unloaded compared with 4 tonnes for the Mark 3 and it is only 1.99 metres high and 2.14 metres wide. It is deck-mounted with 70-round reloadable magazine in the 1.845 metre diameter mounting ring to augment the 30 rounds in the mounting. The 70 calibre weapon can fire 300 rounds/minute up to 6.75 nautical miles (12.5 kilometres) and should be available to customers early in 2014 and the compa-
The Saab RBS 15 is another anti-ship missile which is associated with fast attack craft © Saab Bofors Dynamics
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ASIAN MILITARY REVIEW
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ny plan to offer packages with electrooptical directors. There is a growing tendency towards mountings which are compatible with several guns. One is Rafael’s Typhoon which can carry seven different models, and with on-mount electro-optics is produced by BAE Systems in the United States as the US Navy’s Mk 38 Mod 1 (unmanned) and Mod 2 (unmanned) with 25mm Bushmaster gun. Typhoon is used by six Asian navies. BAE Systems Land and Armaments, which produces the mounting under licence, revealed at Euronaval in October a mock-up of a Mod 3 version with 25mm or 30mm Mark 44 Bushmaster II. The mounting, with onboard electro-optical director as in Mod 2, is being developed in anticipation of a requirement for a 30mm gun to equip the Littoral Combat Ship with a formal requirement anticipated this year. The elevating mass and most of the barrel are fully enclosed with a shaped housing and, compared with the 1.04 tonnes unloaded weight of the Mod 2, the new mounting, which will also be marketed for export and can accept coaxial machinegun, will have unloaded weights of 1.35 tonnes with 30mm gun and 1.28 tonnes with 25mm. The Oto Melara Model 504 Marlin, for example, accepts 30mm and 25mm weapons as does MSI’s Seahawk family, and the AAW capability of the latter is enhanced with shortrange Thales LML surface-to-air missiles. Remotely operated and stabilised mountings, such as Nexter’s Narwhal 20mm gun family and MSI-Defence Systems’ Seahawk 20 are becoming available to provide even greater versatility. Narwhal has a mass of 350-400 kilogrammes, an on-mount director with optional laser rangefinder and plans for 25mm and 30mm versions. Seahawk has been developed for the retrofit market and while based upon the Denel G12 20mm it can take any 20mm weapon allowing the continued use of stocks of 20mm x 139 ammunition. While the gun’s importance in ASuW is much smaller than it was it still remains important with the smaller calibre weapons also being valuable in the field of EEZ protection where collateral damage can be politically unacceptable.