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The rise of the ship-based anti-aircraft, anti-surface and land-attack missile followed the initial development of missile technology by Germany duringWorld War Two. It was said that the birth of the missile heralded the death ofthe naval gun. Gone were the days of warships smashing each other to pieceswith their shells; the post-war years’ developments allowed naval combatantsto prosecute their aircraft, land and enemy shipping targets from stand-offranges with high-speed missiles.

Thomas Withington

N aval guns remained on ships, buttheir calibres steadily reducedfrom the Mk VII 16-inch guns

used by the US Navy’s Iowa class battle-ships (although these vessels remained in service until after the end of the ColdWar and did use their guns in anger dur-ing the Cold War period). Naval guns stillhad a place in post-war naval tactics, butwere primarily intended for shore bom-bardment, anti-aircraft fire and close-inde fence against aircraft and missiles.However, eighteen years after the lastgun onboard the USS Missouri fell silentafter bombarding Iraqi coastal positionsin Ku wait during Operation DesertStorm, the naval gun is enjoying a renais-sance.

While no-one would seriously suggestthat the anti-ship missile is about to bereplaced by the heavy gun in this role, the need to attack coastal targets in sup-port of amphibious operations, to engagesmall vessels like pirate boats or drugsmugglers and the requirement to defenda vessel against ever more sophisticatedmissiles, aircraft and waterborne terrorist

netic rail guns which could significantlyimprove range and striking power.

BAE Systems provides an impressivespread of naval barrelled weapons acrossa range of calibres, including the Mk 38Mod 2 Minor Calibre 25 mm. The typecan engage small boats and fast surfacetargets and uses the Rafael Mk 25 Typhoonweapon system (see below) and theAlliant Techsystems M242 Bushmastergun. The Bushmaster’s rate-of-fire is 180rounds per minute (rds/min) and it has arange of 1.3 nautical miles (nm). Also inthe BAE Systems stable are the Bofors 40 Mk 3 and Bofors 57 Mk 3. Reachingout to seven nm in the case of the Bofors40 with 40 mm rounds, this weapon has a rate of fire of 220 rds/min, with theBofors 57 57-mm firing 200 rds/min at arange of eight nm. The Bofors 57 has beenselected for the Bertholf class NationalSecurity Cutters operated by the UnitedStates Coast Guard (USCG).

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The Oto Melara 76/62 Super Rapid iscapable of 120 rds/min sustained fire

threats mean that the naval gun is still an indispensable weapon on warshipdecks. Customers have a range of small-(7.62 mm to 40 mm), medium- (40 to 76 mm) and heavy- (above 76 mm) calibreweapons to choose from to engage smallboats, missiles and low-flying aircraft, in thecase of the small-calibre weapons, plusland-based hard targets and enemy landforces with the medium and heavy-calibreweapons. Moreover, future innovationscould see the development of electro-mag-

BAE Systems hasdelivered over 90Mk 38 Mod 2Stabilized MinorCalibre Gunsworldwide. Integralto the weapon is theRafael Mk 25Typhoon weaponsystem. The gun canalso be remotelycommanded from aship’s CombatInformation Center.(BAE Systems)

Although in nowhere near the usage ofsmall- and medium-calibre weapons,heavy-calibre guns are used by severalnavies. BAE Systems’ Mk 45 Mod 4 127mm outfits the Flight-8A Arleigh Burkeclass destroyers, with the Mod 2 versionbeing deployed on the Ticonderoga classguided missile cruisers operated by the USNavy (although these vessels are beingretrofitted with the Mod 4 version, whichhas a longer barrel). BAE Systems alsooffers the Advanced Gun System (AGS)which is scheduled to equip the Zumwaltclass guided missile destroyers to providea 155 mm weapon capable of firing tenrds/min with a range of 64 nm.

EuropeBritain’s MSI Defence Systems buildssmall-calibre systems such as the DS25/3030-mm weapon. This is being installed onthe Royal Navy’s Type-23 Duke classfrigates. The DS25/30 has a reduced radarand infrared signature and gyro-stabilisa-

Mk 30-1/2, Millenium 35 mm and the 155mm Monarc concept demonstrator (anaval adaptation of the PzH 2000 how-itzer turret). The company’s Mk 20 DM5Automatic Cannon is the armament forthe S20 Pintle Mount which is ideal forsmall vessels given that the weapon haslow recoil. The MLG 25, meanwhile, has anon-deck penetrating design that freesup the number of locations where thisweapon can be mounted and is ideal forall sizes of surface combatant.

Rheinmetall’s MLG 27 weapon canengage shore, land and air targets and beused as secondary armament on large ves-sels or as the primary on smaller craft. Interms of the weapon’s range, it can hit sur-face targets at 2.1 nm and aerial targets at1.3 nm. As regards small calibre weapons,

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One of Nexter’smost recent navalweapon systems is the Narwhal,which has beenordered by Kuwait.The day-and-nightgyro-stabilisedremotely controlledsystem is based onthe company’s well-proven 20 mmgun technology.(Nexter)

Claimed by BAESystems to be themost compact navalgun of its kind inthe world, thecompany has soldthe Mk 45 Mod 4to the US Navy andnine other forces.(BAE Systems)

the company’s MLG 30 uses air-burstammunition and can reach similar rangesto the MLG 27. Finally, with a 1000 rds/minrate-of-fire, the company’s Millennium 35mm naval gun has a range of up to 2.7 nm.Single- and twin-mount weapons pro-duced by Rheinmetall include the Mk 30-1, which has a 1.6 nm range while thetwin-barrelled Mk 30-2 has what the com-pany claims is the highest rate of fire for a30 x 173 mm calibre weapon.

At the heavier end of the spectrum is Rheinmetall’s 155 mm Monarc system,which was co-developed with Krauss-Maffei Wegmann, Thales Nederland andThyssenKrupp Marine Systems. The

Kuwait has also become a customerfor the Rheinmetall 27 mm MLG 27Mauser Light Gun system, which wasinstalled as part of the coast guard’s purchase of VT Halter Marine’s Mk V-Cfast interception boats. This represented

tion. Nexter Systems builds the NavalRemote Weapon Highly Accurate Light-weight-20A gun mounting, a.k.a Narwhal-20A, which can carry an array of guns.These include Nexter’s M621 20 mm, theDCNS/Nexter M693 20 mm, MS11 25 mmor the Nexter M781 30 mm weapons. Testsof the Narwhal have been completed onthe Subahi class patrol vessels operated bythe Kuwaiti Coast Guard.

the first international sale for the weaponwhich had, up until then, only been usedby the Deutsche Marine (German Navy).The MLG 27 Mauser is designed tobridge the gap between 20 mm and larg-er 40 mm systems. Like BAE Systems,Rheinmetall produces a range of navalbarrelled weapons including the S20 Pintle Mount, 20 mm Mk 20 DM5, 25 mmMLG 25, 30 mm MLG 30, 30 mm

Like Nexter’s Narwhal, Rheinmetall’sMLG 27 relies on existing airbornegun applications, namely the Mauser27 mm. It fires, inter alia, specificallydeveloped frangible rounds.(Rheinmetall)

The Advanced GunSystem producedby BAE Systems isdesigned as a nextgeneration heavy-calibre weapon forUS Navy and USMarine Corps ope -rations in littoraland coastalregions. The gunhas an automaticmunitions handlingsystem. (BAE Systems)

rationale behind the Monarc was todevelop a system that could use the gunturret from a PzH2000 self-propelledhowitzer, but which could be mounted ona ship and would have a range of 21.5 nm.The weapon was originally to have outfit-ted the F-125 class frigates, although theintegration of the weapon reportedlyproved difficult and instead the OtoMelara 127/64 Light Weight Gun Mount(see below) was selected.

Oto MelaraAlong with Rheinmetall, BAE Systems,Nexter and MSI Defence, Europe’s othermajor naval gun producer is Italy’s OtoMelara. The small-calibre weapons in -clude the 12.7 mm Mod 517 gun and theM584 Modular Gun System which offersa choice of Oerlikon Contraves or ATKM242 Bushmaster 1 for the 25 mm fit, orthe Mauser Mk 30-2 or ATK Mk 44 Bush-master 2 as 30 mm armament. A similarmodular approach has been employedfor the company’s Marlin-WS 30 mmgun, which was selected for the Hollandclass support ships of the KoninklijkeMarine (Royal Netherlands Navy) withinstallation earmarked for completion by2011. With a 450 rds/min rate-of-fire, OtoMelara’s Single Fast Forty Multi-purposeNaval Gun Mount is designed to engagesurface vessels and aircraft, while the Sin-gle-30 30 mm weapon offers a rate of fireof 700 rds/min and a choice of a 25 mmgun if desired by the customer.

At the heavier end, Oto Melara’s Twin40L70 Compact Naval Gun Mount candispense up to 600 rds/min, with theoption to increase the rate of fire to 900rds/min with the installation of a pair ofSingle Fast Forty guns. The Twin 40L70 hasproven very popular and has been sold to20 navies. Also able to hit surface and airthreats is the 76-mm 76/62 Compact NavalGun Mount which, the company says, canbe installed on any type of surface vesseland can fire 100 rds/min. The 76/62 SuperRapid version has been selected to equipthe Aquitaine class Fremm multi-purposefrigates of the Marine Natio nale (FrenchNavy). This version will feature a low-observable gun cupola, the first of which

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takes the form of the 127-mm 127/64 LightWeight Naval Gun Mount. The weaponhas a range of up to 54 nm and comple-ments the company’s 127/54 Com pact GunMount designed for destroyers andfrigates. It is worth noting that the F-125vessels are also outfitted with OtoMelara’s Hitrole 12.7-mm remote-con-trolled gun turrets, which have an extend-ed depression capability enabling the gunsto hit targets at very close range.

Self DefenceAlthough producing a small-calibre pro -duct, Raytheon has nevertheless carvedout an impressive niche supplying itsfamous Phalanx Close-In Weapon Sys-tem. Since the type’s debut in 1980, over850 examples have sold across the worldto 21 countries. The Phalanx can deliver adevastating 4500 rds/min which can turnan anti-ship missile sized target into littlemore than dead metal. The Block 1Bupgrade for the weapon was initiated in2005 and adds the ATK 20 mm Mk 244Enhanced Lethality Cartridge to the gun,along with a new search-and-track radar,a flir system and improvements to theweapon’s barrel life.

BAE Systems selected RafaelAdvanced Defence Systems’ Mk 25Typhoon Naval Stabilised Weapons Sta-tion for its Mk 38 Mod 2 gun. The Mk 25Typhoon is in turn based on the OWS-25Overhead Weapons Station that Rafaeldeveloped for the Achzarit, Puma andM113A2 Ultra armoured vehicles usedby the Tzva HaHagana LeYisra'el (IsraelDefense Force). As a naval system, theMk 25 Typhoon has been sold to Aus-tralia, Greece, India, Singapore and SriLanka. It has also been purchased by theHeil HaYam HaYisraeli (Israeli SeaCorps).

Denel produces the 35DPG 35-mmgun, which has a range of 2.15 nm and 3.2nm against air and sea threats respective-ly. The weapon outfits the South AfricanNavy’s Valour class frigates. Kongsberg ofNorway also produces a small-calibresystem in the shape of the Sea Protector,which includes a 12.7-mm Browning M2

Rheinmetall’sMillennium 35 mmNaval Gun Systemis the only medium-calibre naval gunwhich is capable ofattacking fastmoving air threatsat ranges of up to2.4 nm, accordingto the company.(Armada/TW)

Oto Melara’s Marlin-WS has theoption for either 25 or 30 mmammunition. The modular constructiongives customers a flexible design andthe weapon can also be linked to acustomer-specified electro-opticalsystem. (Oto Melara)

will be installed in 2009 with the secondfollowing in 2011, the remainder beingcompleted at five-month intervals.

As mentioned above, Oto Melarasecured the contract to produce the main

One of the mostfamous navalbarrelled self-protection weaponsis the RaytheonPhalanx. Belchingout over 4000rds/min, the gungives excellent pro -tection againstincoming threatssuch as anti-shipmissiles. (Raytheon)

and M240 7.62-mm machine gun, both ofwhich are positioned on a stabilisedmount that absorbs the weapon’s recoil.Thales Nederland, for its part, producesthe Goalkeeper system, which can fire upto 4200 rds/min against anti-ship missilesout to just beyond one nautical mile.However, with a weight of 9902 kg and2.5 metres of deck penetration, the Goal-keeper is primarily designed for largerships.

Rationalising RoundsThe Royal Navy is currently in the mar-ket for a 155 mm heavy weapon and hascommissioned the Centre for Opera-tional Research and Defence Analysis(Corda) at BAE Systems to study theoptions. The centre is examining the fea-sibility of using the 155 mm shells of theBritish Army’s AS90 self-propelled how-itzer as part of the Future Coastal Sup-pression Concept Study. The rationalebehind the employment of 155-mmammunition is not only to provide theRoyal Navy with more striking power,but also to slim down the navy’s logisticalburden by allowing a common munitionto be used by the heavy armament ofboth services. The aim is to integrate the155-mm shell with the Mk 8 Mod 1 gunmount currently used by the Royal Navyon its destroyers and frigates. Test-firingsare expected this year.

The US Navy, meanwhile, is also look-ing towards acquiring new munition toequip its guns and BAE Systems has part-nered with Lockheed Martin to developthe 127-mm Long Range Land AttackProjectile for the Advanced Gun System(see above). To this end, the efforts ofboth companies have thus far yielded a

Electromagnetic GunsThe US Navy may choose to abandon tra-ditional gun designs altogether in favour ofan electro-magnetic weapon that couldaccelerate a shell to speeds of up to Machseven. The Electro-Magnetic Rail Gun(EMRG) initiative calls for the develop-ment of a gun that could fire a shell to arange of around 188 nm using an electri-cally powered weapon. The destruction ofthe target would be realised with the sheerkinetic energy of the projectile. The gunwill use electro-magnets to give the shellan extremely high muzzle velocity, supply-ing the projectile with both its hittingpower and range. Aside from the reach andstrength of the weapon, one of the majoradvantages could be the elimination ofchemical propellants and explosives thatneed to be stored onboard warships.

However, there is much work to dobefore such weapons are ready for instal-lation on tomorrow’s US Navy surfacecombatants. The energy consumption ofthe EMRG is still quite large. As a com-parison, a test firing of a prototype land-

armada INTERNATIONAL 4/2009

As well as thelarge- and medium-calibre naval guns,the US Navy stilluses smaller-calibreweapons forgeneral short rangedefence. Thisincludes equipmentlike the GatlingGAU-17A Minigun.(US Navy)

Kongsberg’s SeaProtector systemcan host a numberof different gunsand has beendesigned as aremote-controlledweapon station.The design is basedon Kongsberg’sM151 Protectorproduct used onGeneral DynamicsLand SystemsM1126 Strykervehicles.(Armada/TW)

based weapon at the US Naval SurfaceWarfare Center at Dahlgren, Virginia,accelerated the projectile to Mach Sevenwhich enabled the 90 mm shell to embeditself up to 20 metres into shipping con-tainers filled with sand. The US Navy islooking for the electromagnetic gun tohave a hitting power of around 64 mega-joules of energy, which is roughly theequivalent to a freight train travelling at96 km/h. Yet to reach such levels, the gunwould have to develop 120 megajoules,which would require around 40 gigawattsof electricity. As a comparison, a heatwave in Chicago in 1995 required thegeneration of 19 gigawatts of electricityto keep the city’s air conditioning sys-tems working. Such levels of power couldtask a ship’s electrical system to the limit.Moreover, moving shells at such highspeeds through the barrel could triggerits rapid degradation. These are seriouschallenges to overcome and yet the Navywants to be in a position to test a 110-nm-range gun in 2016, with a weapon readyto be fielded by 2025. The Navy envis-ages that the ERMG could then be retro-fitted onto older vessels. a

The future face ofdestruction: the USNavy’s Electro-Magnetic Rail Guncould deliver highlydestructive effectsover a very longrange. The weaponwould also eliminatethe need to store theexplosive propellantson a ship, which canconstitute a majorsafety hazard. (US Navy)

test flight of the projectile over a 59 nau-tical mile range. An integrated GlobalPositioning System/Inertial NavigationSystem ensures the accuracy of theround, which is reported to have a circu-lar error probable in the region of around50 metres.

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