BAE Systems to build computer-controlled deck gun for U.S. Coast Guard national security cutter

WASHINGTON, 3 Dec. 2015. Shipboard weapons experts at BAE Systems are building a laptop computer-controlled medium-caliber rapid-fire deck gun for the eighth and last of the U.S. Coast Guard's Legend-class national security cutters to defend against swarms of attack boats and other surface threats.

Officials of the Naval Sea Systems Command in Washington awarded an $8.9 million contract modification Wednesday on behalf of the Coast Guard to BAE Systems Platforms & Services segment in Minneapolis for a MK 110 Mod 0 gun weapon system for a Coast Guard long-endurance cutter.

The MK 110 consists of a 57-millimeter rapid-fire gun, ammunition hoists, power distribution panels, muzzle velocity radar, barrel-mounted television camera, and a ruggedized laptop computer gun control panel.

The Coast Guard needs the MK 110 gun to defeat medium- and short-range surface targets, and provide warning and disabling fire in support of anti-surface warfare.

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The Coast Guard will install the weapon on the national security cutter USCGC Midgett (WMSL 757) upon completion. The Midgett is under construction at the Ingalls Shipbulding yard in Pascagoula, Miss.

The eight Legend-class cutters are replacing the Coast Guard's 12 Hamilton-class high-endurance cutters that have been in service since the late 1960s and early '70s.

The national security cutters are capable of operating anywhere in the world in virtually any sea condition for intercepting suspect vessels, rescuing swimmers, fishery protection, maritime homeland security missions, counter terrorism, or coastal patrol missions.

The vessels are 418 feet long, 54 feet wide, and displace 4500 tons, which makes them larger than the Navy's recently retired Perry-class frigate. In addition to the MK 110 gun, the national security cutter has a flight deck for helicopters, can launch interceptor boats from its stern, and has a variety of machine guns.

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The MK 110 gun has a digital fire control system, and fires automatic salvos of the 57-mm Mk 295 ammunition as quickly as 220 rounds per minute and a range to nine miles.

The 6-mode programmable 57-mm Mk 295 ammunition is effective against aircraft, boats and ships, or ground targets. Operators can switch from warning to live fire to engage a target in seconds, and the servo-controlled electro hydraulic gun laying subsystems provide endurance and accuracy, even in rough seas.

On this contract BAE Systems will do the work in Louisville, Ky., and should be finished by March 2018. For more information contact BAE Systems Platforms & Services online at www.baesystems.com, the U.S. Coast Guard at www.uscg.mil, or Naval Sea Systems Command at www.navsea.navy.mil.