Euronaval Online 2020: Nexter presents its RapidFire 40mm naval gun system.

At the digital edition of Euronaval Online 2020, the international naval defense and maritime security industry virtual exhibition, the French Company Nexter Systems presents its 40mm RapidfFire, the latest generation of naval gun system jointly developed by Nexter Systems and Thales.

Nexter RapidFire 40mm naval gun system (Picture source Nexter)

The RapidFire 40mm naval gun system consists of an over-deck self-contained gyro-stabilized gun mounting armed with the CTA 40, Case Telescoped Armament System (CTAS) cannon, designed to fire 40mm telescoped ammunition.

The RapidFire 40mm naval weapon system offers new very short-range air defense systems able to destroy different types of aerial threats including manned and unmanned targets. It features a latest-generation multi-threat (air and surface), multi-environment (land and naval) gun system, with a cost of engagement commensurate with the value of the threats.

The RapidDFire is a weapon system that offers high precision thanks to its optronic fire control system integrated on the turret, its advanced algorithms, powerful gun and automatic ammunition management system allowing the best reactivity and efficiency for the operator.

The 40 RapiFire naval gun has a firing rate of up to 200 rounds by minute using airburst ammunition. The concept of air burst ammunition came up in order to increase the efficiency of the gun systems against air-to-surface missiles, UAV’s, etc. The idea is basically to create a cloud of particles that have high kinetic energy and penetration capability on the path of the threat and be able to hit targets that are very difficult to hit with the classical ammunitions.

The 40mm RapidFire has an effective firing range of 4,000 meters against air targets and up to 2,500 meters against surface threats. It can fire in a fully autonomous mode and is equipped with infrared and daylight TV channels as well as a laser range finder.