At the Navy League’s Sea-Air-Space 2018 exposition currently held near Washington D.C., BAE Systems is showcasing for the first time in the U.S. the Vulcano precision-guided munitions.
Vulcano 155mm on BAE Systems booth at Sea Air Space 2018
Back in June 2017, Leonardo of Italy and BAE Systems announced an initiative to pursue collaborations on new precision-guided solutions that will offer U.S. and allied military forces a range of low-risk, cost effective, advanced munitions for advanced, large caliber weapon systems.
The two companies anticipate offering new adaptations of Leonardo’s Vulcano — a family of gun-launched munitions that exceed the performance of currently available precision-guided projectiles — in a variety of gun systems, including the BAE Systems-built Advanced Gun System (AGS) and the Mk 45 naval gun. The AGS is currently on board the U.S. Navy’s Zumwalt class of destroyers, and the Mk 45 is widely used by the Navy and allied nations.
From left to right: Vulcano 155mm, Vulcano 5 Inch and Mark 45 Mod 4 naval gun system
The Vulcano family offers significantly greater range and precision, and is compatible with multiple land and naval platforms including 155mm and 5-inch (127mm) gun systems to defeat air, land and sea threats. The Vulcano family capitalizes on new and emerging technology based on a fin-stabilized airframe with canard control for extended range and terminal guidance, with mechanical interfaces that are the same as standard ammunition.
The latest adaptations of Vulcano are compatible with the majority of in-service artillery systems including Leonardo’s 127/64 LW and 127/54C naval guns, the BAE Systems-built Advanced Gun System (AGS) currently on board the U.S. Navy’s Zumwalt class of destroyers, and the more than 250 Mk 45 naval guns delivered to fleets worldwide. For land platforms, Vulcano can be fired from all variants of BAE Systems’ M777 and M109 howitzers and the majority of weapons for allied militaries around the world.
Video interview on Vulcano recorded at Sea Air Space 2018
Talking to Navy Recognition during Sea Air Space 2018, John Perri, Director of Business Development at BAE Systems / Weapons Systems explained "This is a system that is in LRIP with a couple of international partners, that we are going to leverage and look at bringing in the United States for integration into the DDG 1000 and offering it to the U.S. Navy for the Mark 45 naval gun system so we are talking about both a 155 mm and a 5 inch version."
Navy Recognition also learned that the 155mm variant of Vulcano has been tested in the United State in the summer of 2017.
BAE Systems chart.
The Vulcano 155mm projectile gives 39-caliber howitzers the capability to extend their range and precision well beyond current limits, minimizing engagement costs and collateral damage. The Vulcano 155mm GLR is a sub-caliber, fin-stabilized airframe, compatible with standard modular charges, with no additional on-board propulsion required. With a highly lethal payload consisting of insensitive explosive fill and a pre-fragmented warhead, Vulcano 155mm has the same mechanical interfaces as standard 155mm ammunition.
The Vulcano ammunition configuration for naval guns can be automatically loaded without any mechanical modification to the loading system. Vulcano is fully compatible with in-service 5-inch and 155mm guns with additional functionality including:
• Programmable initialization for fuze and guidance system
• Mission planner and technical fire control for trajectory computations, gun fire angles, selection of ammunition type and firing sequences.
