BAE Systems to provide guns for Lockheed Martin LCS

BAE Systems will provide the primary gun systems on ten U.S. Navy Littoral Combat Ships (LCS) to be built by the Lockheed Martin-led team. BAE Systems will equip the ten ships with 57 millimeter Mk 110 gun systems. The Lockheed-Martin team ships are built by Fincantieri’s Marinette Marine shipyard.

“We’re very happy to be part of the LCS program,” said Gary Slack, president of BAE Systems U.S. Combat Systems. “We look forward to furnishing these dynamic new ships with the absolute best in naval gun technology.”

BAE Systems will also provide a digital fire control system that allows the Mk 110 to accurately fire automatic salvos of the highly lethal 57 mm Mk 295 ammunition at a firing rate of 220 rounds per minute and a range of up to nine miles.

“BAE Systems’ 57 mm gun brings a new level of versatility against an ever-expanding range of threats, thereby matching the multi-mission requirements of the LCS program,” said Mike Smith, managing director of weapons programs for BAE Systems. “We pooled the best technologies from sources around the world in order to create the most advanced weapon system of its kind.”

The 6-mode programmable 57-mm Mk 295, pre-fragmented and proximity-fused (3P) ammunition allows the system to perform against either an aerial, surface or ground threat without requiring multiple round types. Sailors can switch from warning to live fire to engage a target in seconds, and the servo-controlled electro hydraulic gun laying subsystems provide robust endurance and extreme pointing accuracy, even in high sea-state conditions.

The system requires minimal manpower for operation and maintenance, and affords a high availability due to a redundant architecture design, built-in test functions, ready component access, and onboard tools and spares.

Work on the contract will take place at BAE Systems’ facilities in Louisville, Kentucky; Minneapolis, Minnesota; and in Karlskoga, Sweden. Production of the gun systems is expected to run through calendar year 2017.

January 20, 2011