Defense Technology International - September 2007 - (Page 52) ORDNANCE U.S. NAVY CONCEPT NAVAL Germany recently also ordered the 127/64 guns for its four new F125 frigates (plus a fifth gun to equip a land-based test site). This decision was deemed remarkable because it meant the end to an ambitious plan to equip the F125 ships with naval versions of army artillery systems, notably the Krauss-Maffei Wegmann/ Rheinmetall PzH 2000 selfpropelled 155-mm./52-caliber howitzer and the guided multiple-round rocket launcher (GMLRS). According to German industry sources, the complexities of modifying With two 155-mm. rapid-fire guns, DDGand porting these land-based 1000 has a more powerful gun armament systems to make them suitable than any ship designed since World War II. for the naval environment had Netherlands navies, and may have found a been underestimated. In the Netherlands, the main naval gunthird customer in the German navy. Italy has 14 surface combatants equipped fire support weapons available to the Royal with an Oto Melara 127-mm./54-caliber main Netherlands Navy are the 127-mm./54gun, comprising two Durand de la Penne-class caliber Oto Melara guns carried on the four destroyers, eight Maestrale-class and four new LCF-type air-defense and command Lupo-class frigates. Ten new Italian/French frigates. According to the country’s state Fremm-type frigates will receive the latest secretary for defense procurement, Cees van 127-mm./64-caliber extended-range variant, der Knaap, these guns assume extra importance now that the new Dutch government which has a firing rate of 35 rounds/min. has canceled a proposed buy of Raytheon tactical Tomahawk land-attack cruise missiles for the LCF ships. “The Netherlands has teamed with Italy in an effort to improve the land-attack munitions available for these guns,” says van der Knaap. “In a first phase, this Vulcano project entails the development of unguided munitions with a range of up to 70 km. (38.8 naut. mi.). The munitions will be available next year.” Development and procurement is costing the Netherlands €19 million ($25 million), he says. Phase 2 entails the development of guided munitions with a range of more than 100 km. (55.5 naut. mi.), says van der Knaap, but whether the Dutch (or the Germans) will participate in this phase, or indeed acquire the extended-range guided Vulcano munitions, is yet to be decided. According to Oto Melara, the Vulcano program intends to provide warships with the capability to perform long-range precision bombardment against area targets with a radius of more than 250 meters (such as a tank company or a logistics installation), against point targets with a radius of around 100 meters (a brigade command post), and against precision targets (10-meter radius) such as bunkers or vehicles. For this mode, Vulcano rounds will start a co th km T te T se va pr w cl sio th 2, ro pi m un m an Two-Day Conference: 7th – 8th November 2007•Pre-Conference Workshop: 6th November 2007 Venue: The Thistle Selfridge Hotel, London, UK Defence IQ's 7th annual international Fighter conference will deliver: ● Exclusive insight into the most advanced fighter programmes in the world, including F-35 Lightning II, F-22 Raptor and the F/A-18 Super Hornet ● In-depth assessment of national fighter requirements, capabilities and programmes for the Indian, United States, Romanian, Royal Norwegian and Royal Australian Air Forces The Fighter 2007 conference offers high-level briefings from speakers including: Keynote Address: Major General Mark Matthews, Director of Requirements, Air Combat Command, US Air Force Captain Mark Darrah, F/A-18 & EA-18G Programme Manager, Naval Air Systems Command, US Navy Group Captain Steven Robertson, Head Air Combat Transition Office, Royal Australian Air Force Colonel René Arns Branch Head Policy and Concept Development, Joint Air Power Competence Centre, NATO Lieutenant Colonel David “Logger” Rose, Deputy Commander for F-22 Raptor, 53rd Test & Evaluation Group, US Air Force Air Commodore Prasad Reddy, Air Advisor, The High Commission of India SPONSORED BY: Save up to £150 if you book and pay by Friday 29th September 2007 Media Partner ● Critical examination of the evolving role of the fighter platform including Non-Traditional Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (NTISR) and Close Air Support (CAS) For more details please visit www.iqpc.com/uk/fighter/DTA email Claudine.Patterson@iqpc.co.uk or call Claudine directly on +44 (0) 207 368 9487 Chaired by Chris Granville-White CBE www.aviationweek.com/dti 52 DEFENSE TECHNOLOGY INTERNATIONAL SEPTEMBER 2007 w � 3667445986 CMYK http://www.iqpc.com/uk/fighter/DTA http://www.aviationweek.com/dti
For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.