INDIAN HEAD, Md., 18 Sept. 2013. The U.S. Navy is asking the BAE Systems Land and Armament segment in Louisville, Ky., to upgrade 29 MK 38 shipboard, 25-millimeter machine guns with remote-control capability, two-axis stabilization, day/night electro-optical sensors, and an eye-safe laser range finder under terms of a $31.8 million contract announced Friday.
BAE will provide MK 38 Mod 2 ordnance alteration kits, hardware, and spare parts. The MK 38 Mod 2 machine gun system ordnance alteration kit consists of two-axis stabilization with remote control capability and an on-mount day/night electro-optical suite along with an eye-safe laser range finder.
The spare parts include 12 Toplite assemblies, five multi-function displays, five battery chargers, and one main assistance module kit. In March 2011 BAE Systems won a $33.9 million contract to upgrade as many as 150 of the shipboard machine guns.
The day and nighttime electro-optical suite features the Toplite III electro-optical fire-control system, with as many as four sensors for passive and active detection and recognition of targets at sea, on land, and in the air. It uses a 640-by-480-pixel array thermal imager, a CCD low-light TV camera, eye-safe laser range finder, and optional night-vision imaging system and laser target illuminator.
The Mk 38 Mod 2 machine gun system is a joint project of BAE Systems and Rafael Advanced Defense Systems Ltd. in Haifa, Israel. The weapon is for shipboard defense against small, agile surface threats.
The Mk 38 Mod 2 main weapon is the M242 Bushmaster 25-mm Chain Gun with a range of 1.5 miles and rates of fire as fast as 180 rounds per minute. The weapon can be remotely operated from the combat information center or in other protected ship structures.
BAE Systems will do the work on this contract in Haifa, Israel, and in Louisville, Ky., and should be finished by March 2015. Officials of the Naval Surface Warfare Center in Indian Head, Md., awarded the contract.
For more information contact BAE Systems Land and Armaments online at www.baesystems.com, Rafael Advanced Defense Systems Ltd. at www.rafael.co.il, or the Naval Surface Warfare Center Indian Head at www.navsea.navy.mil/nswc/indianhead.
