What is the current development status of close range artillery? What role will they play in future naval battles?-瞭望新时代网

What is the current development status of close range artillery? What role will they play in future naval battles?

2024-08-23

In the movie 'The Wandering Earth 2', meteorites fall like raindrops from all over the sky. The close range artillery is at full fire, with bullet marks like flying fire dragons in the dark night, shattering meteorite fragments one by one, giving a strong visual shock. Art originates from life. In the real world, the firing of close range guns can indeed present a similar situation. However, its "battlefield" is mostly on warships, and its main defense targets are enemy missiles, aircraft, etc. With high firing rate, rapid response capability, etc., it aims to weave the "golden shield" of warships and intercept such targets that have already broken through the outer defense line of warships again. Currently, many countries in the world attach great importance to the application of close range guns on warships. Typical close range gun systems include the Dutch "Goalkeeper", the American "Dense Formation", the Russian "Kashtan", and the French RAPID Fire. So, why are close range guns favored by various countries? What is its current development situation? What role will they play in future naval battles? Please refer to the interpretation in this issue. The unique existence of warship defense is that warships are the main platforms for maritime operations, especially for some large warships. With their equipped weapons and equipment, they can carry out various tasks such as sea and land strikes. At the same time, warships are also a key target for opponents to strike in actual combat. The threat of opponent weapons is multidimensional - it may come from the sea or underwater, or from the air; It may come from near or far away. In order to survive and play a role on the battlefield, warships particularly emphasize both offense and defense, constructing a multiple defense system consisting of long-range missiles, short-range missiles, and close range guns. In the defense system of warships, close range guns are a unique presence. Close range artillery, in simple terms, refers to artillery systems used for close range defense. This artillery can automatically search, detect, track, and lock incoming targets within a relatively close range, firing a large number of shells in a very short time, constructing a dense "barrage" in the air, intercepting incoming targets through physical destruction, and protecting the safety of warships. Due to its unique function, close range guns are often metaphorically referred to as the "Golden Bell Shield" of warships. The emergence of close range guns can be traced back to World War II. At that time, the main aerial threat faced by the ships in the aircraft carrier fleet was the bombing and attacks of enemy carrier based aircraft. In view of this, some countries' navies began to use anti-aircraft guns and heavy machine guns on warships for air defense, which marked the beginning of the development of close range guns. After World War II, with the improvement of fighter jets and anti-ship missiles, anti-aircraft guns and heavy machine guns with limited range and slow firing rates gradually became inadequate in carrying out protective tasks. The navies of various countries have changed their thinking and started to find ways to obtain weapons with high firing speed and rapid response capability, and the close range gun system is one of them. The United States is one of the countries that started developing close range artillery systems earlier. Since 1978, the basic "dense array" close range gun system has been mass-produced and put into service on US Navy ships and some other countries' warships. Later, its improved version was purchased and installed by many countries. The Soviet AK-630 close range gun entered service earlier than the American "dense formation" close range gun system. Although the AK-630 close range gun also uses a 6-barrel Gatling machine gun design, it uses a 30mm caliber machine gun instead of a 20mm caliber machine gun, which has greater power per shell. Russian weapons manufacturing companies have continuously improved it, resulting in the AK-630 close range gun and its derivative models still in use today. The Dutch "Goalkeeper" close range gun system was in service in the early 1980s and also used Gatling machine gun design, but its number of barrels increased to 7. The 'goalkeeper' close range artillery system. During this period, some other countries also began to develop or purchase close range artillery systems for their own navies. As a result, warships of various countries entered a period of development where close range guns served as "personal guards". From its name alone, the close range gun seems to be a very common and ordinary weapon with distinct characteristics of "stability, accuracy, and ruthlessness". However, in reality, after decades of development, close range guns have already been endowed with richer connotations. If we compare early close range guns with current ones, the performance gap can be described as' incomparable '. Taking the "dense array" close range artillery system as an example, its early models could only sigh at the arrival of anti-ship missiles with maneuverability, but now the improved "dense array" close range artillery model can effectively respond to anti-ship missiles with similar capabilities. Looking at the development of close range artillery systems in various countries, it can be seen that through continuous improvement and technological support, the characteristics of "stability, accuracy, and ruthlessness" of close range artillery systems have become more prominent. The 'stability' of close range artillery refers to its ability to reliably function. As the last line of defense for warships, it is crucial to be able to play a role at critical moments. To achieve this, the development of close range artillery systems is mostly based on some mature artillery technologies. For example, the "Dense Formation", AK-630, and "Goalkeeper" close range gun systems all use Gatling machine gun designs. The MIDAS close range gun system jointly developed by Germany and the Netherlands is different in that it adopts a rotating bore design instead of a rotating barrel design, but it is also based on the mature product BK27 cannon, which is also installed on multiple types of fighter jets such as JAS-39 "Eagle Lion". It is worth mentioning that the reason why the MIDAS close range gun system did not adopt the Gatling machine gun design is because German researchers discovered that the Gatling machine gun has a process from the beginning of firing to reaching the maximum firing rate. Although this process is short in time, it will still provide an opportunity for incoming anti-ship missiles to take advantage of, making them a "fish in the net". To compensate for this shortcoming, the MIDAS close range gun system has chosen the rotating bore BK27 machine gun, which is easier to quickly achieve the highest firing rate. Many close range guns adopt a multi barrel design with the aim of increasing firing rate and weaving the barrage more tightly. The original intention of adopting this design is also to ensure that the close range gun can reliably function. Moreover, most countries' close range artillery systems adopt independent designs, so even if other weapons and equipment on board are damaged, their effectiveness will not be affected. The accuracy of close range artillery refers to its ability to intercept incoming targets with greater precision. If the early close range artillery systems used a combat process of "aiming, calculating advance, obtaining fire control elements, and shooting" with the characteristic of "flooding", today's close range artillery systems adopt a more defensive approach similar to waiting for a rabbit. Its combat process is "collecting and analyzing target motion trajectories - determining maneuvering modes and possible routes - assigning machine gun fire control elements - pre deploying barrage on the incoming target route". During this process, some countries' close range artillery systems can simultaneously monitor the flight path of shells and incoming targets, timely determine the intersection point of shells and targets, and improve the success rate of intercepting incoming targets. This enhancement in capability is based on the improvement of equipment performance such as radar and computers. Early close range artillery systems had already begun to rely on computers, and now this reliance is more comprehensive and in-depth. Under computer control, radar, photoelectric sensors, mechanical drive devices, etc. will form a highly automated defense system, quickly searching and tracking targets, and sorting them according to the threat level of incoming targets. Priority will be given to attacking targets with higher threat levels, making counterattacks more timely and efficient. Some close range guns, such as the MIDAS close range gun system, have directly abandoned the traditional computer fire control structure and replaced the central computer that previously integrated data processing, weapon control, and other capabilities with virtual computers. The relevant computing units and functions are deployed separately in some subsystems. Through this decentralized design, even if some subsystems are damaged, the virtual computer can still play a necessary role in controlling the close range gun to intercept incoming targets more accurately. The 'ruthlessness' of close range artillery refers to its further improvement in resistance effectiveness. Close range guns generally have the ability to engage multiple targets, such as the Dutch "goalkeeper" close range gun system. Not only that, some of the sensing devices of the close range artillery system have independent horizontal rotating bases, which can maintain the search for surrounding incoming targets while engaging the target, preparing for effective response in the next step. Increasing the number of gun barrels is an effective approach for countries to enhance the resistance of close range guns. Currently, many converted close range guns are designed with 6 or 7 barrels, but in some countries, the number of converted close range guns exceeds 10 barrels or even more. The Spanish "Meloca" close range artillery system does not adopt a rotary tube design, but instead uses a parallel connection of multiple artillery pieces, with a total of 12 barrels. While improving the performance of close range guns themselves, countries are also constantly working on the shells used in close range guns. At present, the shells used in close range artillery include tail stabilized armor piercing shells, high explosive shells, etc. Some shells have both direct and indirect hit capabilities, capable of detonating targets at longer distances or directly destroying targets at closer distances. The "Millennium" GDM-008 close range gun, jointly developed by Germany and Switzerland, uses programmable electronic fuses to control the detonation time and distance, significantly improving the killing effect. The "Millennium" GDM-008 close range artillery system. The French RAPID Fire close range gun uses 40mm caliber buried shells, which not only increases the payload but also enhances the power of a single shell. RAPID Fire close range gun system. The Russian "Kashtan" close range artillery system adopts a design concept that combines missiles and artillery, further enriching the concept and connotation of close range artillery. The dual enhancement of the "cannon" and "bullet" functions enables close range guns to respond to more incoming targets. The MIDAS close range artillery system can respond to incoming submarine launched, air launched, supersonic anti-ship, and terminal mobile anti-ship missiles. Switzerland's "Haitian Top" 25mm 4-cell close range gun can strike targets coming from above. The integration of technology facilitates iterative development with a firing rate of tens of thousands of shells per minute, a range of 2000-5000 meters, and advanced auxiliary systems, enabling some close range guns to have the ability to resist supersonic anti-ship missiles. However, the emergence of hypersonic anti-ship missiles has posed a new "survival challenge" for close range guns. Can close range artillery effectively respond to many new changes? At present, we are unable to provide an answer. However, it can be certain that close range artillery systems will continue to exist for a considerable period of time. This long-term existence is based on the practical needs of the battlefield and the continuous improvement of close range artillery capabilities. Among them, the assistance of technology integration cannot be underestimated. In short, under the guidance of battlefield demand, the development of close range artillery will continue in the following aspects: firstly, highlighting the characteristics of "stability, accuracy, and ruthlessness" to further enhance its capabilities. In order to effectively complete close range defense tasks against an increase in target types and performance, close range guns must continuously improve their capabilities, including automation and autonomy. The application of technologies such as artificial intelligence and big data in the military field can clearly lay a solid foundation for this. With the integration of higher levels of artificial intelligence into the system, the response of the "mind" of close range artillery will be more sensitive, and the "ears and eyes" will be more "sharp", so as to quickly and accurately identify enemy targets in complex battlefield environments and complete resistance actions with "quick eyes and quick hands". Secondly, it may involve more weapons and equipment

Edit：Xiong Dafei Responsible editor：Li Xiang

Source：XinHuaNet

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