Always attentive to offering the world’s armed forces innovative solutions responding to the evolution of their operational requirements, Belgian company John Cockerill Defense presents a world premiere at IDEX 2021, the international land defense exhibition in Abu Dhabi with its new concept of lightweight, precise, powerful, and protected multi-role turret, the Cockerill® 1030.

The new John Cockerill Defense Cockerill® 1030 turret was unveiled at IDEX 2021, a land defense exhibition in Abu Dhabi, UAE.  (Picture source Army Recognition)

This turret is based on the huge experience acquired with all the Cockerill® products and with more than 600 units fitted with Mk44S gun delivered and more than 1000 turrets now in service in the world. This experience, coupled with a high level of expertise in turret development and quality standards, guarantees a high level of reliability and performance in terms of precision, stabilization, integration…

The up-to-date electronic architecture is also common to our new CPWS Gen. 2 and offers digital technology and an open architecture that allows the integration of multiple sights, AT missiles, smoke grenades launchers,… while being manufacturer agnostic.

The new John Cockerill Defense Cockerill® 1030 turret concept is a lightweight, low profile, remotely operated, modular turret fitted with a 30x173mm gun such as the Mk44(S) is now under development and will be ready mid-2021. It's lightweight (<1,5t with ballistic protection level 2 in standard configuration) and small ring (1,5m) with up to 200 ready-rounds, fitted with 2 digital sighting systems (panoramic and gunner linked to the gun), with a high elevation (up to 70°) and able to integrate a huge range of add-ons such as (AT missiles, rockets, APS, 360° close observation,…) makes it ideal for all vehicles and missions (APC, IFV, anti-drones, amphibious,…) that needs high firepower with high performance and ideal situational awareness.

The concept of modularity of the Cockerill® 1030 allows it to be multi-mission capable with fully configurable turrets based on customer needs. We are able to propose either a full option turret with ballistic protection level 4, 200 ready-rounds with Anti-Tank missiles for maximum protection or an ultra-lightweight turret without ballistic protection for amphibious vehicles or even a low-cost one-man version.

Thierry Renaudin, CEO of John Cockerill Defense: “We are proud to present for the first time on the Middle East market this new innovative concept that combines power and lightness. All our experience and know-how in terms of reliability and performance are concentrated in this turret. Its modularity, a real asset of the entire John Cockerill Defense range, enables us to respond to the needs of the armed forces in an innovative and efficient way. I'm looking forward to discovering it during the first firing tests scheduled for mid-2021.”