Type 26 frigate and its gun
Gone are the days when "main caliber" meant something big and monstrous, firing shells weighing half a ton. Now even cruisers have two 127 mm cannons, and they can be called "main." Simply because there are no others, larger ones. However, it is not that simple.
Brief description based on articles in navylookout.
When the first Type 26 frigate enters service, the Royal Navy will fleet another type of gun will appear. Here it is mounted on the lead ship of the series, HMS Glasgow:
BAE Systems' renowned 127mm (5-inch) Mk 45 gun, already proven in naval forces around the world, will be a significant improvement on the existing medium calibre gun.
This is how it works:
And here we have an operational Mk45 5"/62 caliber Mod.4, mounted on the Australian destroyer HMAS Hobart:
A little history of the use of medium caliber guns in the English navy
The 5-inch gun is considered by the navy to offer a good balance of firepower for its medium size, and is commonly mounted on destroyers and battleships as a secondary armament. With the exception of the vintage muzzle-loading gun used in the late 19th century, the RN has not previously used a 127mm gun. The closest was the twin 5,25-inch QF Mark I .50 calibre gun, which was a general-purpose dual-purpose gun adopted during World War II.
Note: They were in service with the battleships of the King George V class, the battleship Vanguard, and cruisers. Defense type "Dido" and anti-aircraft protection of naval bases. Its shell weighed 36 kg - this was considered the heaviest weight that the gun crew could easily handle, while maintaining the rate of fire necessary for anti-aircraft fire. It was developed as a weapon capable of hitting destroyer-type surface targets and fighting aviation. It was in service with the fleet from 1940 to 1985.
Most destroyers and frigates built in the 60s were armed with twin QF Mark V 4.5" guns (later renamed Mk 6). In the picture we see a QF Mk6 4.5"/45 with the side armour removed and for some reason only one barrel:
From the 1970s onwards, most RN land units adopted the 113mm (4,5in) Vickers Mk 8/55 gun, which was then adopted by the navy. This lighter mount replaced the twin QF Mk6s. After some issues were ironed out, the Mk 8 became a reliable gunner with a maximum rate of fire of 26 rounds per minute, firing a 36,5kg ER (Extended Range) shell to a range of around 27,5km.
HMS Manchester in 2005 firing a Vickers Mk 8/55 gun mounted in a Mod 0 turret
Since 1998, the Mod 0 turret has been significantly upgraded to the Mod 1 standard. Electric motors have been installed for all servo drives instead of hydraulics, which has reduced weight and increased safety and reliability. Round weapons The fibreglass shield was replaced with a more angular body designed to reduce radar signature:
In 2004, when the Defense Department was studying the possibility of upgrading the armament of future Type 45 destroyers, United Defense had already proposed a 5"/62 (127 mm) Mark 45 Mod 4 gun for these destroyers, but the proposal was rejected as too expensive. In response, BAES came up with a proposal to install a 4.5" (114 mm) Mark 8 Mod 1 gun hull with a barrel of no less than 155 mm/39 caliber from the AS-90 self-propelled howitzer. This could unify the naval and army weapon systems.
BAE called the proposal Third Generation Maritime Fire Support (TMF). The company claimed that the recoil force would not exceed the capabilities of the Mod 1 turret, and estimated that such a design would weigh 24,5 tons, compared to 22,5 tons for the 4,5-inch Mark 8 Mod 1 and 26,4 tons for the original Mod 0. BAE predicted that the most significant modification would be the switch to a push-pull loading cycle to handle separate charges. The company estimated that this change would reduce the rate of fire to approximately 12 rounds per minute. The gun shield would also need to be modified to accommodate higher elevation angles. BAE later acquired United Defense, ending the competition.
In its proposal, BAE stated that the Mark 8 Mod 1 gun mount could also be used for a "Fourth generation Maritime Fire support weapon", which would see a longer 155mm/52 barrel gun, but this combination would require a stronger gun design.
In 2007, the UK Ministry of Defence even awarded BAE a research contract to develop TMF. However, the project was cancelled in late 2010 due to major defence budget cuts.
Since then, a model of the 155 mm gun in the Mk8 turret has been preserved:
If the proposal were supported, it could stimulate joint development of ammunition and increase their range by 50%.
At the time of writing (August 2022), the 114mm Mk 8 Mod 1 gun is in service as the main armament for the RN's 18 remaining escort vessels. It has developed into a reliable, versatile weapon with good accuracy and a combat record spanning from the Falklands in 1982 to Libya in 2011. Unfortunately, it is a dead-end calibre and has not benefited from any of the new developments in modern ammunition that are increasingly being used on standard NATO guns.
Back in the 2000s, the RN flirted with ditching the Mk 8 in favour of the Type 45, but in the end, for budgetary reasons, they had to make do with refurbished guns salvaged from decommissioned Type 42 frigates. Production of the Mk 8 has long ceased, and the only viable option for new ships, for both the Type 26 and Type 31, was to buy modern weapons available on open production lines.
Note: The Type 31 is a multi-role frigate being built by Babcock International for the UK, Indonesia and Poland. It is intended to be smaller and cheaper than the Type 26.
Work on the Global Combat Ship programme began in 2010, when BAE Systems received a grant from the Ministry of Defence, the last major study on the design of the ship, which would eventually be called the Type 26. A competition for the frigate's weapons, known as the Maritime Indirect Fires System (MIFS), was announced in 2012 ('indirect fire' because medium-calibre projectiles are typically fired in a ballistic arc rather than a straight line).
It was no surprise that in July 2016 BAES won a £183m contract to supply the Mk 45 to the first three Type 26 frigates. The deal also included simulators, a fire control system, ammunition and an option for a second batch of five frigates. The Mk 5 is manufactured by BAES in the US at its Louisville, Kentucky, facility, but work to integrate the gun with the new combat management system, Artisan radar and Sea Eagle FCEO system will involve UK facilities. The costs are likely to be significant, but will not need to be repeated for the second batch of ships.
Note: Fire-Control Electro-Optical (FCEO) is an electronic fire control system, Sea Eagle is an FCEO system manufactured by Chess Dynamics. The company claims that the optical camera will be able to detect Drone type "Shahed" at a distance of 15 km, and infrared - at a distance of 35 km. The system can control any guns with a caliber from 30 to 127 mm.
Now, actually, about the gun.
If you believe the press (and why not), then this gun has an American origin. Guns of this caliber were in service with the US Navy since pre-war times (meaning WWII), and although they had a lower rate of fire than the British 4.5", they fired heavier shells. As for the Mk45, it was born in the 1960s in the 5/54 version, after United Defense took the L54 Mk19 barrel and combined it with the Mk45 turret. It replaced the Mk42 gun of the same caliber, which had a higher rate of fire (40 rounds per minute instead of 20) and a larger supply of shells ready to fire (also 40 instead of 20). It is not entirely clear why the military did not like the Mk42. Most likely, its weight (62 tons) and reliability, which did not quite satisfy them.
In terms of time, this is roughly equivalent to the British Mk8, developed in the 1960s, and the very first American version, the Mod 0, entered service with the US Navy in 1971. In 1980, the Mod 1 was introduced, which no longer had to be manually set, but electronically. It also introduced the ability to remotely select from six types of ammunition, and metallurgists improved the barrel, doubling its service life. The Mk45 Mod 2, with minor improvements to the control system and ammunition handling subsystems, is still in service on older US Navy cruisers and some export customers.
Here she is on the Ticonderoga-class cruiser USS Cowpens:
It is still a short 54 caliber barrel variant with a rounded turret.
In the mid-1990s, development of the Mod 4 variant began specifically to support extended-range guided munitions. The design was significantly strengthened to provide higher muzzle energy, and the barrel was lengthened to 62 calibers with increased recoil. And, of course, the platform was fully stabilized:
An ammunition recognition system and a new control system were also added. The Mod 4 version was officially certified during trials on board the USS Winston S. Churchill (an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer) in July 2000. Currently, some 240 Mk 45s (including 150 Mod 4s) are in service with 11 countries, with the RN becoming the 12th customer.
The Mk 45 is a mostly automatic weapon. It holds 20 rounds of ready-to-use ammunition in a loading drum just below the gun. It takes just under a minute to fire all of that ammunition. And it's "mostly automatic" because once the drum is empty, it must be reloaded manually, which requires a crew of six: a gun commander, a console operator, and four loaders who manually load the rounds into the hoist. Here it is, clearly shown:
Here, it appears, is a "control operator." The photo was taken on the Ticonderoga-class cruiser USS Mobile Bay, which is armed with two Mk45 Mod 4 guns. In the background is the vertical elevator that feeds the shells into the loading drum.
And here we see one of the four loaders, on the same cruiser.
To be completely precise, the gun of the new British frigate will be slightly different from the American ones. Its full name is Mk45 Mod 4A 127mm Medium Caliber Gun with a barrel length of 62 calibers. What is the difference between Mod 4A and just Mod 4, I still haven’t found. Perhaps the answer lies in the next paragraph of the article:
The Type 26 destroyers' weapons magazine will be equipped with a fully automated ammunition handling system (AHS), capable of continuous fire with just one operator.
This is what the new weapon looks like in cross-section
If anyone is interested, here is a link where you can download more detailed information about the weapon in pdf format: Mk45
The Mk 45 cannon is separately loaded, unlike the Mk 8 ammunition. This complicates logistics, but allows the loads to be used for different types of projectiles and provides flexibility for future developments.
The Mk 45 has similar performance to the Mk 8 (Mk 8 figures in brackets), although it is a slightly heavier weapon. It elevates at 20° (38°) per second more slowly and traverses at 30° (42°) per second. This reflects the Mk 8's original design intent as an air defence weapon, while the Mk 45 has always been primarily an anti-land and anti-sea weapon. The Mk 45 has a better altitude range of -15/+65º (-10/+55º).
When using standard ammunition, it has a lower rate of fire of 16-20 (20-26) rounds per minute and fires 31 kg (21 lb) HE (3,2 kg) projectiles containing 3 kg (36,6 lb) of explosive to a maximum range of approximately 27,5 km (45 mi). Standard ammunition types available for the Mk XNUMX include: HE-PD (High Explosive), HE-VT (High Explosive with Adjustable Fuze), HE-CVT (High Explosive with Controlled Fuze), and Illuminator.
The Mk 45 above-deck mount weighs 22,6 tonnes, and the entire system, including below-deck equipment and AHS, weighs 60 tonnes excluding ammunition. A 20-round drum loader allows for separate loading of ammunition, including various fuse configurations and special propellant charges for long-range ammunition. Ammunition and firing sequence can be controlled remotely from the fire control console without operator intervention in the weapons bay.
The Mk 45 is equipped with built-in testing and self-diagnostic systems to facilitate maintenance, as well as a remotely controlled misfire recovery system. Mod 4 shipboard trials, during which more than 2500 rounds were fired continuously at maximum rate of fire, resulted in only three misfires during the entire testing period. Overall, the Mk 45 has demonstrated exceptional operational reliability.
Ammunition Handling System AHS
BAES has developed an AHS system for the Type 26 frigates that helps reduce crew size.
AHS system
In addition to being a safer way to move ammunition quickly, the system easily pays for itself in reduced personnel costs. The AHS will be installed on Australian frigates and is being offered to other Mk 45 customers. It can be retrofitted to existing ships without the need to open the hull. The AHS can feed the loading drum at a rate of six rounds per minute using a single shuttle system or 6 rounds per minute using a dual shuttle system. The AHS racks have a maximum capacity of 10 rounds, but the frigate has several times that amount and can be loaded manually "in the pauses" (???) between battles. The total capacity of the frigate's magazines is not disclosed, but some reports suggest that the Type 192 destroyer can hold up to 45 800-inch rounds, while the US Arleigh Burke-class destroyer can carry 4,5 680-inch rounds.
This is a computer-generated image of the AHS system, viewed from a different direction than in the movie. You can see that the "arm" or "shuttle" can slide in four planes along the rails and pick up shells from the rack. The rack on the left has been scaled down to show the entire 32-shell cell.
With the Mk 45, the Royal Navy has a well-supported system that benefits from ongoing improvements and a broad customer base. It will also simplify logistics, particularly improving interoperability with the US Navy. The Mk 45 (and 57mm Mk 3) are in service with the UK’s most important ally, and stocks are likely to be available on US Navy transport support vessels, offering greater resupply opportunities.
Although the Mk 45 is slightly larger, much more reliable and has greater lethality, overall in its finished form it is not much different from the RN's existing medium calibre guns, although new ammunition developments have allowed it to significantly increase its range and accuracy.
Here the article ends. The last lines of the article promised a story about new developments of shells for Mk45, but in Navylookout I found only a small description of the modular system Kingfisher - this is again a development of BAE Systems. It is proposed to create a shell for a 127-mm gun, which can carry a lot of different things: small depth charges, acoustic buoys or acoustic decoys.
Some information can be found in third-party sources. For example, armyrecognition reports that at the Euronaval-2018 exhibition, BAE showed the Vulcano guided projectile, which can be in 127-mm and 155-mm versions and has a firing range almost three times greater than that of a conventional projectile:
And the well-known The War Zone reported in 2019 that during the RIMPAC-2018 exercises, the destroyer USS Dewey fired 45 HVP, or Hyper Velocity Projectile, projectiles from its Mk20 gun, which should actually make up the ammunition load of future railguns. The guns don’t exist yet, but the ammunition for them already exists, and the military decided to try to adapt them to firing from a conventional 127-mm gun. The projectile is sub-caliber, flies at a speed of 3M, and should increase the ship’s ability to fight helicopters, drones, and even cruise missiles. rockets, and costs 10-15 times less than a rocket.
So, apparently, the new guns of the new frigates will not be left without new ammunition.
Official gun specifications taken from BAE Systems brochure:
Weight with turret - 24 kg
Barrel length - 62 calibers
Initial projectile velocity is 830 m/sec.
Firing range - 37 km
Turret rotation speed: 38 deg/sec
Elevation angle - -15…+65
Vertical aiming speed - 20 deg/sec
Rate of fire: 16–20 rounds per minute
Loading is separate.
In conclusion, let's see what attentive English readers write there.
1. Kingfisher has been in development for some time now. It may be taken seriously, as are other projects. It will be interesting to compare Kingfisher to the Malloy T-600 quadcopter as a device for dropping acoustic buoys and depth charges. It is assumed that UAV It will also be able to drop light torpedoes.
2. This is so stupid I am speechless. A depth charge of several kilograms of explosives will not penetrate even the hull of a WWII submarine, let alone a modern submarine made of much stronger steel. I am surprised that Navy Lookout believed this, but I am almost certain that the people of the RN ASW will not pay attention to it.
3. The T26 has two Phalanx 20mm mounts for CIWS, but I think it would be better to ditch them and get two 40mm mounts with 3P smart ammunition (again, this is a BAE Systems development: a projectile with a pre-fragmented submunition, a programmable fuse and a remote fuze). The T5's 26" would be good for defense, and this capability would be enhanced by new ammunition with a higher velocity and longer range. I think the T45 (the existing destroyers in the British Navy) should ditch its 45mm gun and replace it with a 57mm gun, which is more suitable for air defense, and it should ditch its Phalanx and go with 40mm.
4. How is that "tungsten dart" going to find a submarine that is moving away from where they thought it was when the gun fired that "5" depth charge? The "dumb" depth charges and mortars of the post war era have been replaced by real 12" torpedoes equipped with their own sonars that do their own searching after they are dropped in the water. Dumb ideas that required even dumber answers to basic problems are not the answer.
And so on.
Thank you for attention.
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