Flying crowbars
It is difficult to recognize an artillery shell in modern high-precision 127-mm ammunition. It is rather a small surface-to-surface missile. For example, Lockheed Martin's NGP (Navy Guided Projectile) projectile is 1.37 meters long and can fly 120 kilometers. In fact, only the method of launching through the barrel of the gun makes it related to the classic NGP projectile.
The Americans were one of the first to attend to high-precision projectiles in the 127 mm form factor, when in the 70s of the last century they developed a laser-guided corrected ammunition. The work was then carried out at the Naval Surface Warfare Center (NSWC). It was a development for the five-inch Mk45 naval gun, which had just come into view at that time. Now about 260 ships around the world are armed with various modifications of this weapon, the last of which Mod4 has a barrel length of 62 caliber. It is noteworthy that with a maximum rate of fire of 20 rounds per minute with conventional shells, the cannon can fire guided ammunition at 10 pieces per minute.
If we take the approximate cost of one "smart" MS-SGP projectile (we will talk about it later) at 55 thousand dollars, then it is easy to calculate that in less than 120 seconds the Mk45 will release a million "green" into the sky. Of course, no one in their right mind would do such a thing in peacetime, but the very potential is impressive. At the same time, unlike land artillery artillery systems with expensive high-precision shells, it is much easier for shipborne 127-mm shells to find a worthy target in the water area.
But back to the brief history of five-inch shells. In the 90s, the US Navy launched an ERGM (Extended Range Guided Munition) rocket program, which was guided by GPS and the INS inertial navigation system. This projectile had a circular probable deviation of 20 meters and was able to fly away due to a solid-propellant rocket engine in the tail for 117 kilometers. The toy turned out to be very expensive - the main developer Raytheon spent more than half a billion dollars on the projectile over twelve years of work, but the Navy never reached the level of reliability required. In the 2000s, based on ERGM developments, ATK (Alliant Techsystems Missile Systems Company) launched the BTERM (Ballistic Trajectory Extended Range Munition) project, which, as the future showed, also turned out to be a dead end.
The developers sought to combine the flight of a projectile along a high-speed ballistic trajectory with the possibility of increasing hit accuracy by correcting the trajectory using GPS and an inertial guidance system. Unlike ERGM, the BTERM projectile flies most of the time in an uncontrolled mode along a near-ballistic trajectory without planning, and only in the final section it is guided. This made it possible to simplify the design of the projectile and reduce its susceptibility to electronic countermeasures by the enemy. The programs on controlled "five-inches", started at different times, were simultaneously completed in 2008.
BAE Systems attacks
Multi Service, Standard Guided Projectile (MS-SGP) is another attempt by the US Navy to obtain a guided projectile for the Mk45 gun. The work in this case was entrusted to BAE Systems, which did not develop the projectile from scratch, but deployed it on a 155 mm LRLAP platform. At the same time, multifunctionality was initially laid in the ammunition - if necessary, the five-inch MS-SGP could be safely used in the 155-mm artillery system ammunition. To do this, two rings were put on the projectile, providing obturation and centering in the channel of a larger caliber gun. It turns out such a kind of controlled sub-caliber projectile with a universal profile of use. Why all these tricks at all? Everything, as always, rests on funding. BAE Systems conducted cost estimates for NATO's three-day operation in Libya five years ago, when the coalition fired some 320 Tomahawk Land Attack Missiles at ground targets. This totaled half a billion dollars, while many targets were much cheaper than a single Tomahawk.
If MS-SGP were in service in 2011, then, according to BAE marketers, the cost of this part of the military campaign would not have exceeded 15 million. In the most ideal case, a 127-mm projectile flies 100 kilometers - for this, it needs a new Mk45 Mod4 cannon and a Mk67 charge as a weapon. In the variant of using the MS-SGP in a 155-mm cannon (for example, in an M777 / M109 howitzer) it flies "only" 70 kilometers.
The projectile boasts a circular probable deviation of 10 meters, and during tests at the White Sands proving ground, it showed a deviation from the target at a distance of 36 kilometers by only 1.5 meters. If in real conditions, far from polygon greenhouses, the weapon will show similar accuracy, then the MS-SGP will become a real high-tech sniper for the Navy. An important advantage over the five-inch adjustable Excalibur Naval 5-inch (it was discussed in the material "Big Brothers": 127-mm and 155-mm ammunition of a potential enemy ") in MS-SGP is the presence of an inertial guidance system that allows you to work with the loss of GPS or In the near future, taking into account successful tests, the new product from BAE should be adopted by the US Navy.
A few more naval guided projectiles
Again, on the basis of the 155-mm adjustable LRLAP, Lockheed Martin is designing the NGP (Navy Guided Projectile) projectile, which should become an inexpensive alternative to the systems described above. This development is even more similar to a cruise missile than all previous projectiles, however, the jet engine is missing. But there are folding wings that allow you to glide at a target 120 kilometers away. The flight ballistics are simple - at the highest point, the wings of the NGP open, the speed drops and the ammunition calmly follows its target or follows it. Lockheed Martin plans to teach the 36-kilogram projectile to track target maneuvers, which will destroy the now fashionable attack speedboats and even winged drones stuffed with explosives and reconnaissance equipment.
American gunsmiths refer to their shells with various abbreviations that make them dazzle in their eyes. It is necessary to take an example from European manufacturers, who in 2003 initiated the Vulcano program, aimed at developing sub-caliber projectiles for 127-mm naval guns. The lead developer is the Italian Oto Melara, which provided for three modifications of the Vulcano at once. The first variant of the Vulcano BER (Ballistic Extended Range) is an unguided multipurpose projectile with a range increased to 60-70 km. At the same time, such a range is provided not due to the solid-propellant rocket engine, but due to the lower resistance of the sub-caliber projectile and higher speed. Stability is ensured by feathering. As it has already become clear, the other two variants of the Vulcano are controllable and made according to the aerodynamic "canard" configuration. Guided Long Range, or GLR, is crammed with expensive instrumentation - here there is an inertial guidance system, a GPS module, and even a thermal homing head. Such "smart" Vulcano can be performed in two variations - to engage armored targets and to strike targets at a distance of 100-120 kilometers.
By the way, the Italians do not really rely on the US Mk45s and have developed their own shipborne artillery mount 127 mm / 64 LW. As you can see from the index, the barrel length is 64 calibers. It is this weapon that provides a range of 120 kilometers competitive for the Vulcano with a sniper circular deviation of 20 meters.
