Setting a New Standard: the German Navy's MLG 27 Light Naval Gun System
20 March 2003
Having been awarded a contract to supply a total of 83 MLG 27 gun systems, Mauser-Werke Oberndorf Waffensysteme GmbH has been entrusted with one of the most important, comprehensive and sophisticated modernisation projects ever embarked on by the German Navy. Mauser is a subsidiary of Rheinmetall DeTec AG, one of Europe's leading suppliers of defence systems.
Across the board, the MLG 27 Light Naval Gun System is set to become the German Navy's standard gun, replacing the manually operated 20mm and 40mm models currently in service, and will ultimately provide German warships with an unsurpassed level of crew protection.
The gun selected for this mission is the proven and tested BK
27mm system, which not only meets the Navy's requirement for a
high rate-of-fire automatic cannon, but is also the one best able to respond to the technical and tactical demands of current and future threat scenarios.
Weighing just 850 kg, the MLG 27 is an autonomous, remotely controlled weapon system that can be integrated without deck penetration, meaning that it can be installed practically anywhere.
This major modernisation programme is scheduled to commence at the end of 2003. The retrofit will encompass all of the German Navy's 122, 123 and 124-class frigates, its 332 and 333-class minehunters and minesweepers, its 352-class mine countermeasures ships, as well as its 404-class tenders and 702-class supply ships.
Moreover, the MLG 27 also features in new naval construction programmes, including the K 130 corvette, each of which will be equipped with two of these guns.
On corvettes and frigates the MLG 27 will serve as secondary armament, while performing the role of primary armament for supply ships, tenders and smaller vessels.
The fundamental mission of the MLG 27 is to engage:
- small, highly agile surface targets at ranges of up 2,500 metres;
- helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft at ranges of up to 2,500 metres;
- onshore targets (armoured vehicles, snipers) at ranges of up to 4,000 metres; and
- warships at ranges of up to 4,000 metres.
This gun can be operated autonomously, without being linked to a higher order command and control system. In this case, the system is remotely controlled by a gunner using an operating console and display.
However, the interfaces of the MLG 27 also make it possible to integrate it into a command and weapon management system. Indeed, the interfaces are designed in such a way that integration into a fire control system actually boosts the system performance of this gun, the most advanced of its kind anywhere.
The MLG 27 system is equipped with target acquisition sensors capable of operating day and night, thus enabling automatic target tracking as well as permitting the gun to be aimed via a joystick. The high-precision fire control function, coupled with the high rate of fire and the defined range of dispersion of the BK 27 results in a high hit probability.
Extensive range and heavy penetrating power are assured by the newly developed FAPDS (Frangible Armour Piercing Discarding Sabot) ammunition, whose reduced flight time enables it to engage targets at greater distances. The FAPDS is a sub-calibre ammunition that relies solely on kinetic energy, with no need for additional explosives or fuses, making it insensitive during storage and transport.
After the penetrator has punched through the outer shell of a hard or soft target (including those made of composite materials), the round disintegrates into fragments, which, as they penetrate further into the structure of the target, progressively break up into a cascade of ever-smaller particles. The result is a high-energy cloud of fragments that causes severe damage to the interior of the target.
Teamed with FAPDS, the MLG 27 is thus the perfect answer for new and modernised ships alike.
