GDM-008 aka Millennium - 35mm naval gun system

[JanMasterson]

Type of cannon: gas-operated revolver cannon with four chambers

Max range: 3500 metres ( 1,890nm)

Caliber: 35mm

ROF: 1000 rounds per minutes (16rounds/s).

Basic load: 200 rounds

 

Capability to fire Ahead ((Advanced Hit Efficiency And

[10:30] <JanM> Destruction) air burst munition (ABM)) ammunition (each round consisting of 152 sub-projectiles, weight of each sub-projectile 3.3 g, muzzle velocity 1050 m/s)

It's a kind of improved airbust since it can be programmed (when and how detonate)

 

http://www.rheinmetall-detec.com/product.php?lang=3&fid=1570

http://www.deagel.com/pandora/?p=pm00218001

http://proceedings.ndia.org/3500/Bradick_NL_NDIA.pps (powerpoint doc)

Jan

[CV32]

Thanks, Jan. Is this weapon a true CIWS in the class of Phalanx or Goalkeeper ?

[JanMasterson]

Since i'm definitely an expert of this kind of weapon, let me define what is "CIWS", mostly for myself.

 

A Close-in weapon system (CIWS) is a naval shipboard weapon system for detecting and destroying incoming anti-ship missiles and enemy aircraft at short range (the threat(s) having penetrated the ship's available outer defences). Typically, the acronym is pronounced "See-whiz."

Source: http://www.answers.com/topic/close-in-weapon-system

 

Now, let's proceed methodically:

 

- Is it a naval shipboard weapon system? Yes;

- "destroying incoming anti-ship missiles and enemy aircraft"?: Yes, without ambiguity;

- at short range, (when) the threat(s) having penetrated the ship's available outer defences? It have a range, at least, twice than Goalkeeper and Phalanx systems, but yes, it's still the last line of defence.

 

So, after a short and unexhaustive analyse, it can be said that this system can be considered as a CIWS.

 

U'll ( or someone else) will certainly argue that it's ROF is about 4 times smaller than an usual CIWS.

True, but what it should be considered here is the ammo used.

Goalkeeper and Phalanx sytems uses AP rounds ( depleted uranium or tungsten ) that mean that the ammo must directly hit the vampire to obtain an hard kill.

The Millennium gun system use air-bursting munitions (each round consisting of 152 sub-projectiles, weight of each sub-projectile 3.3 g, muzzle velocity 1,050 m/s).

Thanks to this, it's "Kill distance" (distance where it's capable to defeat high speed vampires) is, at least, 1,2 Km (0,648nm), that is more than twice than Goalkeeper (500m, 0,27nm) or Phalanx (300m, 0,162nm).

 

It's like comparing a machine gun (like M240B) with an automatic grenade launcher (like Mk19).

 

About CIWS, here is an interisting anecdotes:

"Because of the inefficiency and balkiness of the original CIWS units, the acronym received the facetious expansion of "C****t! It won't shoot!"

 

And about the origin of the concept:

"The concept of a CIWS came in the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 when an Indian anti-ship missile penetrated the tanker PNS Dacca's outer defences. Despite this, Leading Seaman Muhammed Hanif, manning his anti-aircraft gun, kept firing at the incoming missile till the last. Though he destroyed the missile and managed to save the ship, he was himself killed by the explosion. Muhammad Hanif left a legacy that gave birth to a new concept in naval warfare, the Close-in Weapon System, for defence against low flying anti-ship missiles."

(Same source as above).

 

Hope it helps,

Jan

[JanMasterson]

from "Jane's Naval Weapon Systems", issue 44, 2006:

 

Max efficient range : 5 Km

 

Able to detroy a 800m/s fast target at 2.1 Km (1.13 nm) witha 36 rnds burst or at 1.65 Km (0.89 nm) with a 16 rnds burst.

 

In response to the US Naval Sea Systems Command requirement in August 1998 for a system capable of engaging 10 radially inbound speed boats travelling at 40 Kts, Oerlikon Contraves stated it could engage and destroy all of them with a hit/kill probability of 0.95 (95%) at 1 Km (0.5 nm) and an individual boat at 2.5 km (1.3 nm).

 

The 200 rnds basic load is confirmed with an additional 40 rnds reserve on the transport unit (device that reload the gun).

 

Hope it helps.

Jan

[JanMasterson]

U.S. Navy Completes Initial Testing Of Lockheed Martin Naval Gun

 

May 4, 2005 The U.S. Navy has completed initial testing of Lockheed Martin's Millennium Gun as part of its effort to validate and qualify new naval cannon technology for fleet self protection. The gun's capabilities -- including its high rate of fire and air-bursting Advanced Hit Efficiency And Destruction (AHEAD) ammunition – were recently evaluated during two weeks of testing. The Millennium Gun is a multi-mission, close-in weapon system capable of engaging multiple fast-attack surface craft and near-shore land targets in littoral and riverine waters, as well as defending against anti-ship missiles and aircraft. Creating a "wall of lead," the Millennium Gun fires 35-mm ammunition, including the AHEAD round, at 1,000 rounds per minute. Each AHEAD dispenses 152 subprojectiles that form a cone-shaped pattern to destroy a target's control surfaces, seeker and other vital components as it moves through this lethal cloud.

 

The U.S. Navy-funded ground testing familiarised Navy personnel on the system and validated the AHEAD lethality at various target ranges. Lockheed Martin supplied the gun system and technical assistance for this testing. The gun system will continue testing and qualifications next year with at-sea tests that will validate the system's capability against multiple targets in various sea states.

 

"The U.S. Navy recognises that force protection against multiple small craft and unmanned air vehicle threats is an essential mission capability in the modern asymmetric warfare environment," said John Wojnar, director of Business Development for Lockheed Martin's Akron facility. "These test results will prove that the high rate of fire combined with accurately fused airbursting ammunition provides the needed capability for ship self protection. The Millennium Gun is an effective inner-layer defense that extends ship self-protection to ranges greater than any other close-in weapon system."

 

The Millennium Gun, a naval deck weapon system, delivers inner-layer defense against sea-skimming antiship missiles, antiradiation missiles, and aircraft. It is also effective against fast-attack surface craft and near-shore targets during operations in littoral and riverine waters.

 

Creating a "wall of lead," the Millennium Gun fires 35-mm ammunition, including the AHEAD round, at 1,000 rounds per minute. Each AHEAD dispenses 152 subprojectiles that form a cone-shaped pattern to destroy a target's control surfaces, seeker and other vital components as it moves through this lethal cloud. The Millennium Gun is equipped with a low-cost, unmanned, remotely controlled gun mount and is compatible with modern and legacy sensor and fire control systems. Designed as a modular system without through-deck penetration, the Millennium Gun can be fitted on a number of ship classes, and is especially well suited for smaller combatant and patrol ships.

 

Lockheed Martin is the U.S. licensee to Oerlikon Contraves for sale and manufacture of the gun systems. Oerlikon Contraves is part of Rheinmetall DeTec, an established military products company. It specializes in land and naval air defense systems and medium-caliber guns and ammunition. It has delivered over 3,000 gun systems and more than 35 countries now use its products.

 

One of the targets from the recent test shows why the Millenium Gun is so effective

 

The pattern of the Millenium Gun's lethal cloud of metal

 

Lockheed martin's Millenium Gun under testing

 

Source:

http://www.gizmag.co.uk/go/4006/

[VCDH]

From the Guide to World Naval Weapons Systems 5th Edition:

 

Millennium (35mm/1000 GDB-008)

 

This gun was selected for the Danish Flexible Support Ship (Stanflex 3500) now under construction. It had previously found no buyers. Millennium is a 35mm, four-chamber revolver cannon (the designation is for the rate of fire, not the barrel length) with a sensor that measures the actual muzzle velocity of each round as it travels up the barrel. An induction coil is used to program each round individually; upon detonation, the AHEAD round releases 152 spin stabilized tungsten penetrators near the predicted target-intercept plane. Time resolution of the fuze is 2 msec, equivalent to a range error of 6 feet at 3000 feet/sec. The name refers to the rate of fire and the muzzle velocity (1000rnds/min and 1000m/s. Elevation limits are +85 to -15 degrees; the mount weighs 3200kg. Swept radius is 3.186m while the mount itself is 2.389m wide and fits within a 1.565m radius. It has a facted low RCS shielf.

 

In 1999 tests in Switzerland, an 8-rnd burst produced 280 hits on a simulated small boat, and a 24-rnd burst at 1000m range (equivalent to opening fire at 2800m) caused 78 hits on a Maverick mounted on a pole. In unfuzed mode, a Millennium projectile penetrated 55mm of armor.

 

Millennium played a signifigant role in the US Fleet Battle Experiment Julliet (July to August 2002), on board Lockheed-Martin's ship SLICE. For this test Millennium was co-marketed by Oerlikon-Contraves and Lockheed-Martin, and it was controlled by an STN Atlas MSP 500 Electro-Optical Director. The companies involved claimed that the quick intergration of the gun and it's FCS, in a standardized palleted version, was particularly signifigant. During the exercise, the gun was fired at typical littoral targets, including simulated 'swarm' boats. Using AHEAD air-burst ammunition, the gun destroyed a simulated submarine periscope, showing it's director could acquire and accurately track a very small target in rough sea. In theory, the hits would have blinded the periscope. That, in turn, might be crucial, because in shallow water, a submarine might be unable to rely on her passive sonar due to multi-path problems. Millennium programs the detonation point of each round as it leaves the barrel. Reportedly, observers were very impressed by the number of hits thus achieved.

 

Later

D