Alliant Techsystems has received nearly $15 million in orders for its Mk44 Bushmaster automatic cannon from four international customers. Each of the countries, including Portugal and Slovenia, are buying this latest-generation gun technology for the first time. The orders are for a mix of vehicle-based and naval applications.
ATK's Mk44 is the gun system of choice for many of the world's medium-caliber fighting platforms -- including ground vehicles, surface warfare ships and aircraft. The Bushmaster cannons are battle-proven gun systems that offer the effectiveness and reliability the warfighter needs, as well as lower operating costs than the competition.The Mk44's dual-feed Chain Gun technology allows the gunner to switch between different types of Ammunition instantaneously. The Mk44 can fire all types of 30mm x 173mm Ammunition including the new Air Bursting Munition (ABM) ATK is developing for the United States Navy and Marine Corps. It also easily converts to fire Super Forty 40mm Ammunition for enhanced performance; thereby offering significant embedded growth capability over competing systems. One European customer's Mk44's will be equipped with the ABM fire control system that allows the operator to program each round to detonate at a particular point down range. This gives the gunner the ability to defeat targets behind walls, around corners and in challenging environments; thereby offering significant new options to the warfighter. |
