KNDS Group has been awarded a contract for 25000 40 mm cased telescopic ammunition (CTA) for the RAPIDFire weapon systems and Jaguar 6x6 RECCE vehicles.

KNDS Group announced the contract signed with the French Defence Procurement Agency (DGA) to deliver 25000 40 mm CTA rounds for the Jaguar 6x6 RECCE vehicles of the Army and the new RAPIDFire 40 mm weapon system for both the Army and Navy.

The contract includes 18000 training rounds and the serial production of airburst ammunition to counter aerial targets more effectively.

While Jaguar 6x6 has been serving for some time in the Army, the RAPIDFire weapon system is a new addition as a deployable multi-purpose system to provide short-range air defence capabilities.

Likewise, the palletised system will also see widespread use in the French Navy ships to counter asymmetric threats (UAVs or small vessels) and missiles, with the current line of ships being limited to machine guns or smaller calibre autocannons against the former.

40CTC Autocannon

40CT is a joint development of France and the U.K. to obtain higher firepower compared to 25 mm and 30 mm chain guns but in a smaller package compared to weaponry of larger calibre.

To achieve this, the design uses cased telescopic ammunition, having the projectile embedded into a casing and a compact loading mechanism. The mechanism feeds ammunition perpendicularly to the barrel instead of parallel like in conventional mechanisms and rotates the rounds to bring them into the firing position.

40CTC can use a variety of ammunition types, including point detonating general purpose, APFSDS-T, general purpose airburst, and the recent airburst type optimised for air targets.

Author: Kaan Azman

Editor: Özgür Ekşi