Tuesday, September 30, 2014

Bradley Demonstrated with 30mm Unmanned Turret

Are the Bradleys in for Upgunning?

Bradley with Kongsberg Remote Turret demonstrated in Fort Benning

Demonstration
A Bradley Fighting Vehicle mounted with an XM813 30-mm weapon system fires rounds and hits a downed helicopter from more than 1,000 meters away during a demonstration for the XM813 Sept. 10 at Fort Benning's Digital Multi-Purpose Range Complex. (Photo Credit: Markeith Horace)tion

US Army RDECOM (Army Research Institute) has been working on an initiative for researching advanced lethality and accuracy for medium caliber weapon systems. 

The subject of the initiative concentrates on the XM813 30mm cannon. XM813 is a derivative of the Mk44 chaingun from  ATK. XM813 can be described as the Stretch Mk44 with dual recoil mechanisms, closed bolt operation for first round select, linkless feed, integral mount and air burst munition capability.


XM813 30mm Cannon
Add caption

XM813 30mm ChainGun with Dual Buffers and Integral Mount


On September 10th, Capabilities and Development Integration Directorate organized an activity to demonstrate XM813's capabilities, integrated on the Kongsberg  MCT-30  Remote Turret.

The same turret has been demonstrated on Stryker 8x8 sometime ago as described in this  blog.

For the demonstration, the XM813 mounted Bradley Fighting Vehicle fired a series of three engagements at approximately 1,400 to 1,500 meters from the target.




Looking at the ARDEC effort and this demonstration, some remarks I want emphasize:

  • Is the US Army seriously evaluating upgunning Bradley?
  • The caliber seems to be the 30mm, not larger.
  • Looking at Kongsberg's marketing in US and the demonstrations, is the unmanned turret a serious candidate instead of the conventional 2-Men turret?

Monday, September 15, 2014

Polish HSW ZSSW-30 Unmanned Turret

New Entry in the Remote Turrets Arena:
Polish ZSSW-30 Turret
by HSW Company


ZSSW Remote Turret
Copyright: miltechmag

Polish Company Hula Stalowa Wola (HSW for those of us who are cannot spell Polish) has introduced a new remote turret in the MSPO 2014 exhibition. WB Electronics of Poland is the main subcontractor for the electronics architecture.

The turret at this point is designated as ZSSW-30 which is literally 'remote controlled turret' 

There is no specific information at this point about the turret. I am not sure also if this is a functioning prototype or a full scale mockup.

In the exhibition, the turret is mounted on a Polish Rosomak 8x8 (Patria AMV).

The Polish Rosomak 8x8's are currently armed with an Oto Melara HitFist 30mm 2 men turret.

ZSSW Remote Turret
Copyright: miltechmag

ZSSW is armed with an ATK Mk44 30mm chaingun and a UKM-2000C 7.62mm machine gun on the right hand side of the turret. The gunner's sight is located to the left side of the main armament and a panoramic commander's sight can be seen on the top of the turret. The commander's sight seems to be the exact same sight used on Oto Melara's own HitFist OWS Remote Turret.

The turret has an elevation range of from -10deg to 60 degrees.

On the right hand side of the turrets ATGM missiles can be integrated mainly Spike LR missiles.

The information I was able to find says this turret will most probably arm the new Polish IFV programme.

An initial concept of the turret is shown below.

ZSSW initial concept




Monday, September 8, 2014

CV90 Combat Engineering Vehicle

Norwegian
CV90 Sting
Combat Engineering Vehicle

CV90 Combat Engineering Vehicle

During 1990's Norway has acquired 104 CV90 vehicles.

Those vehicles are now undergoing major modernization and some new built vehicles is being added to the fleet. At the end of the programme the Norwegian fleet will reach 144 vehicles in five different variants.

One of the new variants is the Combat Engineering Vehicle.

CV90 Combat Engineering Vehicle

The vehicle can be equipped with either a front mine plough or a mine roller system.

There is a Kongsberg Remote Weapon Station RWS on top to provide protection.

CV90 Combat Engineering Vehicle

One of the significant capabilities of this new vehicle is the Robotic Arm to investigate and intervene to IEDs and road side bombs.

CV90 Robotic Arm