QUANTICO MARINE BASE, Va. – U.S. Marine Corps armored combat vehicle experts needed an automatic 30-millimeter cannon with electro-optical fire control for the Marine Corps Amphibious Combat Vehicle (ACV). They found a solution from Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace in Kongsberg, Norway.
Officials of the Marine Corps Systems Command at Quantico Marine Base, Va., announced an $80.2 million order to Kongsberg last week for the Protector Remote Turret 20 (RT20) ACV medium caliber cannon for enhanced firepower in amphibious operations.
The RT20 is a compact, lightweight, marinized turret with either a 30-millimeter XM813 or MK44 Bushmaster automatic cannon with linkless ammunition handling for reliability, and sensors like day cameras, thermal imagers, and laser rangefinders.
This order is for 52 full-rate-protection RT20 weapons turrets for the ACV medium caliber cannon (ACV-30) vehicle With options, the RT20 contract could reach a value of as much as $282.8 million.
Motion control
The RT20 supports under-armor reloading, and advanced fire control that offers ballistic compensation for lead angle, cant, tilt, and vehicle motion. The gun system weighs about 2,700 pounds, and enables remote operation from inside the vehicle to free space and boost crew safety.
The RT20 provides precision fire from as far away from the vehicle 3,000 meters, hunter-killer capabilities, and compatibility with coaxial 7.62-millimeter machine guns or 12.7-millimeter guns and anti-tank guided munitions. Production supports full-rate ACV-30 vehicles, emphasizing modularity for crewed or uncrewed operation.
The ACV is a wheeled combat vehicle that moves Marine infantry warfighters from ships offshore to fight their way onto invasion beaches. The Marine Corps could end up purchasing as many as 204 vehicles over the next few years to outfit some of its 10 amphibious assault companies.
The ACV is designed to accommodate new capabilities as technology evolves, such as reconnaissance sensors, electronic warfare (EW) equipment, anti-air sensors and weapons, and integration with uncrewed aircraft.
Tell me more about electro-optical fire control of the Kongsberg RT20 automatic cannon ...
- The Kongsberg PROTECTOR RT20 remote turret features advanced electro-optical fire control for its 30-millimeter automatic cannon. This system integrates day cameras, thermal imagers, and laser rangefinders for precise target detection and tracking in all conditions. It automatically computes ballistics, and compensates for lead angle, cant, tilt, and vehicle motion to enable accurate fire from inside the vehicle. Networked architecture supports wireless operation, hunter-killer modes, and target sharing via integrated combat solution.
BAE Systems delivered the first ACVs in November 2019 to the 1st Marine Division. The first batch of 18 ACVs went to a platoon of the 1st Marine Division's 3rd Assault Amphibian Battalion at the Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center in Twentynine Palms, Calif.
BAE Systems engineers base their ACV design on the Superav 8x8 amphibious armored personnel carrier developed by the Italian company Iveco Defence Vehicles.
ACVs are designed to operate through enemy direct fire, indirect fire, and land mines with low-profile visual and infrared signatures, modular protection, and other armored vehicle technologies.
The vehicles can swim to shore from as far as 12 miles out to sea, switch from operating in the water to ground operations without pause, and then maneuver with M1 Abrams main battle tanks in a mechanized task force. The ACV can destroy relatively light enemy combat vehicles similar to itself.
Marine Corps fire support
The ACV will provide direct fire support for Marine infantry, and can carry 17 Marines at speeds of at least eight knots at sea amid waves as high as three feet.
On shore, the ACV has high-ground clearance and a V-shaped hull to resist the effects of land mine blasts, and can operate with a wheel blown off. Each ACV has a crew of three, an M2 .50 caliber machine gun in a remote weapons station, with the potential to install a stabilized dual-mount M2/Mark 19 grenade launcher turret.
On this order, Kongsberg will do the work in Johnstown, Pa., and Kirkegaardsveien, Norway, and should be finished by November 2028. For more information contact Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace online at www.kongsberg.com/kda/what-we-do/defence-and-security/remote-weapon-systems/protector-rt20, or Marine Corps Systems Command at www.marcorsyscom.marines.mil.
