As part of our ongoing coverage of the V22 Osprey, today we would like to review BAE’s plans to fast track development of an automated belly gun for the aircraft. Since these new aircraft are being deployed to the hot zone as we speak, this development seems a little late in coming. Better late than never I guess.
BAE Systems today unveiled its new remotely operated turreted weapon system, the Remote Guardian(TM) System (RGS), designed to provide 360 degrees of suppressive fire for the Marine Corps V-22 tilt-rotor aircraft.
In recent stability testing at Camp Ripley, Minnesota, the RGS, with a GAU-17, 7.62 mm mini-gun, was mounted on a moving land vehicle test platform. The testers demonstrated the weapon’s accuracy, based on the three-axis stability and control that is the foundation of the RGS and a core capability of BAE Systems.
“RGS performed admirably in the tests, demonstrating accurate fire on-the-move,” Clark Freise, vice president of defense avionics for BAE Systems, said in introducing the system at the Modern Day Marine Expo in Quantico, Virginia. “Due to the support and feedback we received from the Marine Corps’ requirements and user communities, we are now launching this as a mature system.”
BAE Systems, which has been working with the user community to develop and demonstrate this capability since mid-2005, is planning to make the system available for installation beginning in the third quarter of 2008.
RGS, designed to be belly-mounted on the V-22, is the first remote weapon system capable of delivering accurate, sustained fire throughout the aircraft’s entire flight envelope. It features a compact, retractable design that saves valuable aircraft cabin space and was designed to be completely compatible with the V-22’s avionics suite.
RGS incorporates proven elements of already-fielded systems, drawing on BAE Systems’ more than 50 years of experience in the precision control of airborne weapons systems. In addition to meeting specific V-22 requirements, BAE Systems’ modular, retractable design is able to support different weapons and is compatible with different sensors, giving it potential applications on other airborne and ground vehicles.
To see a video of the presentation introducing the new weapon system and for further information regarding the event, including a high-resolution image and other materials, please click here. For further multimedia information see this BAE page.
October 24, 2007 at 5:57 pm
[...] Check it out! While looking through the blogosphere we stumbled on an interesting post today.Here’s a quick excerptAs part of our ongoing coverage of the V22 Osprey, today we would like to review BAE’s plans to fast track development of an automated belly gun for the aircraft. Since these new aircraft are being deployed to the hot zone as we speak, … [...]
November 9, 2007 at 7:31 am
[...] to this blog, BAE Systems is developing an automated belly gun for the V-22. Well, if Ospreys are going to a war [...]