DD(X) Advanced Gun System Demonstrates Sustained Rate of Fire
 
(Source: US Naval Sea Systems Command; issued Sept. 21, 2005)
   
WASHINGTON --- The DD(X) National Team and the Navy successfully conducted a rate of fire test for the 155 mm Advanced Gun System (AGS) on Aug. 31. Preliminary results indicate the gun and magazine-handling equipment met or exceeded requirements.  

As the primary battery for DD(X), the fully automated AGS is designed to fire up to 10 precision-guided munitions per minute at ranges up to 83 nautical miles. The test took place on the AGS Land Based Test Site at the U.S. Army Dugway Proving Ground, Utah.  

“The combination of a 155mm rapid fire gun and long-range, precision munitions will provide DD(X) with a potent strike weapon that will quickly create lethal effects ashore,” said Rear Adm. Charles Goddard, the DD(X) program manager. “AGS and the Long-Range Land Attack Projectile (LRLAP) are meeting or exceeding our expectations, and the success of our test program is testament to the effort of the National Team and U.S. Government personnel. The Army has been an excellent host at Dugway.”  

The test successfully demonstrated a sustained maximum rate of fire of at least ten rounds per minute in eight round bursts, and unloaded eight complete rounds from a pallet in 45 seconds or less. The event also tested a sustained firing capability and reliability by demonstrating the AGS Engineering Development Model gun and magazine are capable of unloading several pallets of ammunition.  

BAE Systems conducted the test event under subcontract with the DD(X) design agent Northrop Grumman Ship Systems.  

DD(X) is the Navy’s next-generation destroyer, tailored for land attack and inland support of joint and coalition forces. Each DD(X) will be armed with two advanced guns and an expandable magazine that can hold up to 920 rounds. AGS has a 10-meter barrel and is specifically designed to fire LRLAP, which uses a rocket motor, canards, and a Global Positioning Satellite guidance system, to maneuver in flight.  

During testing this year off of Pt. Mugu, Calif., LRLAP has made successful guided flights up to a world-record distance of 63 nautical miles and has demonstrated accuracy to within meters of the intended target. With an increased rate of fire combined with LRLAP’s precision long-range strike capability, AGS provides three times the fires coverage of today’s shipboard guns.  
 

Those will put the hurt on someone quick!

Does it come in stainless?  What about a utility rail?

DD(X) is still ugly as shit, though....

Far cry from a 5-inch gun, though, not to mention that utterly pathetic Otto Melara thay saddled the missile sponges with.

Looks like Monitor vs Merrimack all over again!

That system is too cool.  They will probably remove it before production starts.

Quoted: That system is too cool.  They will probably remove it before production starts.

Yep. Gotta have a place to put a Hornet.

It will definately do a job on those mud huts it will be blowing up.

Our " just over the horizon" future military systems are beginning to look like sci-fi buck rogers stuff!

I wonder if this program would have any merit for the advanced gun system? (ATK's Scramfire).

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Scramfire
Scramfire is the application of scramjet technology to U.S. Army direct-fire and indirect-fire applications and U.S. Navy extended range munitions. A Scramfire application, as envisioned by the U.S. Army, would offer revolutionary advances in lethality, lethality at range, and elimination of depleted uranium as a penetrator material. For the U.S. Navy, Scramfire will facilitate a next generation of extended range munitions for naval surface-fire support with five-inch guns.

For multi-services, Scramfire offers a near-term and affordable development path that supports, ensures, or replaces the capabilities of electro-magnetic guns.
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I think the last line is very interesting. I was under the impression that the railgun was the DDX's reason for being. Maybe rail-gun bang on blackpowder budget?

Quoted: DD(X) is still ugly as shit, though.... Far cry from a 5-inch gun, though, not to mention that utterly pathetic Otto Melara thay saddled the missile sponges with.

That "utterly pathetic" 76mm is the best gun for current threats. Eighty plus rounds per minute at HSMSTs or missiles is one hell of a punch. The only thing better is the 57mm LCS and DDX are scheduled to have.

As for the 155mm, I have serious issues with it. I also have serious issues with the whole DDX manning concept. Not to mention certain design "features".

Quoted: Quoted: DD(X) is still ugly as shit, though.... Far cry from a 5-inch gun, though, not to mention that utterly pathetic Otto Melara thay saddled the missile sponges with. That "utterly pathetic" 76mm is the best gun for current threats. Eighty plus rounds per minute at HSMSTs or missiles is one hell of a punch. The only thing better is the 57mm LCS and DDX are scheduled to have.

You can tell I served back when the Bear was the enemy!

Quoted: Quoted: DD(X) is still ugly as shit, though.... Far cry from a 5-inch gun, though, not to mention that utterly pathetic Otto Melara thay saddled the missile sponges with. That "utterly pathetic" 76mm is the best gun for current threats. Eighty plus rounds per minute at HSMSTs or missiles is one hell of a punch. The only thing better is the 57mm LCS and DDX are scheduled to have. As for the 155mm, I have serious issues with it. I also have serious issues with the whole DDX manning concept. Not to mention certain design "features".

The gun is pretty good...the problems lie with the combat system with which the gun is most often associated.

Quoted: The gun is pretty good...the problems lie with the combat system with which the gun is most often associated.

That cut to the quick.

Quoted: Quoted: The gun is pretty good...the problems lie with the combat system with which the gun is most often associated. That cut to the quick.

Brevity is the soul of wit.  (And definitely NOT something I am normally accused of...)

Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: The gun is pretty good...the problems lie with the combat system with which the gun is most often associated. That cut to the quick. Brevity is the soul of wit.  (And definitely NOT something I am normally accused of...)

I was referring to the way you managed to insult my enlisted career. NEC 1102

Oh shit!

Here we go!

Quoted: Oh shit! Here we go!

Can it ring-knocker.

Hey, the crew can still aim, load, and fire that thing manually right?

Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: The gun is pretty good...the problems lie with the combat system with which the gun is most often associated. That cut to the quick. Brevity is the soul of wit.  (And definitely NOT something I am normally accused of...) I was referring to the way you managed to insult my enlisted career. NEC 1102

Gee...so sorry.  No insult intended.  

Say...while you were in "C" school, did the instuctors have to teach you Braille?  

See...now if you had been a Sonar Tech you would be free of all this grief!

Quoted: Hey, the crew can still aim, load, and fire that thing manually right?

No.  The entire loading system is automated from receipt of the pallets of ammo onboard from the replenishment ship or magazine crane until round leaves the tube.

late crew bumpitude....

Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: The gun is pretty good...the problems lie with the combat system with which the gun is most often associated. That cut to the quick. Brevity is the soul of wit.  (And definitely NOT something I am normally accused of...) I was referring to the way you managed to insult my enlisted career. NEC 1102 Gee...so sorry.  No insult intended.   Say...while you were in "C" school, did the instuctors have to teach you Braille?   See...now if you had been a Sonar Tech you would be free of all this grief!

I was offered STS at MEPS, but I had more self-respect than that.

Mk92 is a pretty good system considering it was designed by the Dutch in the 1950s. We managed a skin-to-skin kill before those fancy Aegis ships-there's an advantage to being able to point your missile at the target.

Quoted: See...now if you had been a Sonar Tech you would be free of all this grief! I was offered STS at MEPS, but I had more self-respect than that.   Mk92 (aka "The Helen Keller Radar") is a pretty good system considering it was designed by the Dutch in the 1950s. We managed a skin-to-skin kill on a BQM target with a Luneberg Lens big enough to make it look like a fargin' B-52, flying at 5,000 and M.75 before those fancy Aegis ships-there's an advantage to being able to point your missile at the target.

There...fixed it for you.

Quoted: Quoted: See...now if you had been a Sonar Tech you would be free of all this grief! I was offered STS at MEPS, but I had more self-respect than that.   Mk92 (aka "The Helen Keller Radar") is a pretty good system considering it was designed by the Dutch in the 1950s. We managed a skin-to-skin kill on a BQM target with a Luneberg Lens big enough to make it look like a fargin' B-52, flying at 5,000 and M.75 before those fancy Aegis ships-there's an advantage to being able to point your missile at the target. There...fixed it for you.

I don't know where you got the idea that Mk92 is a Helen Keller radar. Actually, our capability was on par with the SPQ-9. Remember it is a surface search/track radar, not an air defense radar. The target I was referring to was detected via SPS-49, it was out of the Mk92 CAS's envelope, and then designated to the STIR antenna. Skin to skin at the SM-1s max range.

Come to think of it, we had no problems detecting any of the targets. You just had to have techs that knew the system. F The only real problem was parts support.

We even said our best ASW sensor was the Mk92 because the SQS-56 sure as hell wasn't going to detect a submarine unless we ran over it and hit it with the keel mounted sonar.

Quoted: Quoted: Oh shit! Here we go! Can it ring-knocker.

Sheesh! The salt's getting deep in here!

Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: Oh shit! Here we go! Can it ring-knocker. Sheesh! The salt's getting deep in here!

That's not salt.
It's something that is four letters and begins with "s" and ends with "t", but it's not salt.