The US and French defense companies have developed the latest version of the RAPIDFire autonomous gun turret at the Euronaval 2022. It is a naval defense exhibition, in Paris.
The gun turret is a collaboration between Nexter and Thales. It is claimed to combat increasing low-level, close-quarters surface and aerial threats, according to a press release published by the defense company Nexter on Wednesday.
“Designed to protect platforms from low-level air threats, including drones, RAPIDFire is one of the only air defense systems that can autonomously and automatically acquire, identify and destroy a threat using target designation data provided by a combat management system,” said the press release.
“With a ready rack of 140 rounds of ammunition, corresponding to about 30 interceptions, the system offers effective firepower against drones and swarms of drones, avoiding attrition of surface-to-air missiles in the event of a saturation attack.”
Nexter Systems is a French government-owned weapons manufacturer in Roanne, Loire.
Thales Defense & Security, Inc., a subsidiary of the Thales Group and a leading manufacturer of tactical communications equipment, the AN/PRC-148 MBITR and JEM are currently fielded with the US Army and NATO forces worldwide.
The use of Anti Aerial Airburst (A3B) munitions, APIDFire is massively accurate and “can defeat threats with no risk of collateral damage,” says the company.
The technological “powerhouse” with Compact, modern architecture has the 40 mm CTA gun, ammunition, and sighting system to autonomously ensure high interception accuracy while maintaining a non-penetrating turret design.
The RAPIDFire multi-domain system can easily adapt to land-based platforms like the CAESAR MkII truck chassis.
The armed forces of France, the United Kingdom, and Belgium are using RAPIDFire already. It is based on the 40 mm CTA gun suite and ammunition, said the press release.
In 2915, KNDS was formed which is a joint venture between Nexter and Krauss Maffei Wegmann (KMW), the systems integrator and designer for the Leclerc and Leopard MBT.
Military technology was coming really far and advanced as the tech is getting more sophisticated. Every new method of assault leads to the development of a new method of defense. The Ukraine war is a recent example of how military tech has become vital.
