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VIDEOS:
First video shows excellent speedy cross-country mobility of M113 Gavin light tracked AFV and how it can plow through water and swim. 30mm autocannon HEI round explosive effects shown.
www.combatreform.org/asp30mmonM113GAVIN.wmv
One of the benefits of being gas-operated instead of electrically fired like the M231 version on the AH-64 Apache is ASP-30mm can be removed from the air/sea/ground vehicle and fired from a ground mount
www.combatreform.org/asp30mmonTRIPOD.wmv
Critical to defeating pirates/terrorists on the high seas, we need an explosive shell autocannon that can be mounted on very small boats; bullet-shooting machine guns lack the lethality to intimidate and destroy these enemies. Notice that even the civilian gunner has dressed up correctly to play the part of a deck gunner with kevlar helmet, flak jacket and floatation vest over the top.
www.combatreform.org/asp30mmonNAVALGUNMOUNT.wmv
The following unarmored wheeled trucks and dune buggy mounting of ASP-30 are not protected, mobile or stable enough in my opinion but included to show it is possible and the shaking and rolling of the entire vehicle when firing indicates the recoil forces involved
www.combatreform.org/asp30mmonBSHUMVEETRUCK.wmv
www.combatreform.org/asp30mmonFAVdunebuggy.wmv
To show a little of the autocannon firepower now possible, we have this video gun camera footage from Iraq of a 224th Attack Aviation Battalion AH-64 Apache lighting up some Iraqi terrorists in soft-skin trucks using the M230 30mm autocannon. This cannon can also be mounted on M113 Gavin light tracked AFVs in an AV30 turret or a gas-operated ASP-30 version can be mounted on the existing .50 caliber cupola. We could have such things if we didn't waste $BILLIONS on Strykers trucks.
30mm Chain Gun in action (MPA) file
U.S. Army Center for Lessons Learned (CALL) reports in CHAPTER II: Universal and Enduring Techniques and Procedures to Support Tactical Operations in Afghanistan (Desert Environment) that during Desert Storm:
"The 30mm gun systems were very lethal and destroyed targets at ranges out to 4 kilometers when accurate. One T-72 turret (rear portion) was penetrated by 30mm HEDP rounds."
A big advantage of the 30mm HEDP -is not only will the one round do virtually everything you want, but effect is not that dimished by range. Adding programable priming (PP) would even further increase versitility and penetration. Imagine a company of ASP-30mm armed M113A3 Gavins or BV-206S (M973A2 Ridgway armored SUSVs) hosing down a formation of T-72s, each gun firing 7-8 rounds per second.
McDonnell Douglas was bought out by Boeing Phantom Works which has recently been bought out by Alliant Technosystems (ATK) in Minnesota. We tracked down the ASP-30mm developers and got this info from them:
Mr. Cal Calvert
ATK Phantom Works
(480) 324-8621
FAX: 8759
"The ASP-30 worked well, and it does fire the 30x113mm 30mm round which is what is most often called the "lightweight 30".
This has a lower time-of-flight than the 30 x 173mm A-10 Warthag round which is called the "GAU-8" round.
The big advantage of the lightweight 30 is the M789 HEDP round which is a shaped-charge dual-purpose round.
I know I'm giving you info that you know, but others may not.
The secret is that if the 789 round drops out of the air at any range (taking a little liberty here) that it will be just as effective. In other words, it is not dependent on velocity to do its job, (again with some liberty, as its optimum effectiveness is 1200-1500 meters as best I can recall, this is due to the spin rate of the projectile and the fluting of the shaped charge liner).
We have trialed the ASP-30 a lot over the years. It worked well, but never found a home. It was viewed by some as too big, when in reality for a 30mm gun it was quite small, but not to the users. So, we put it onto the shelf. It would take in my opinion the govt to get behind it and put the little remaining funding to the program to get it type-classified. We always ran into the costs, (everyone wanted 10 units) and you know what happens, it gets expensive, and then people couldn't afford this. MCD never wanted to invest to get into the market (had to recover all costs in the first 10 units, you know the type of thinking).
The weapon works well and would do the job, we shall see, perhaps we should think about getting the govt interested again, since we have two 30mm shooters in the program now, our electrically-fired 30mm M230 (Apache gun) and our Mk44 USMC/USN 30mm x 173mm". gun.
Air-Mech-Strike Study Group's reply:
We need a lightweight GAS-OPERATED 30mm autocannon that can be rapidly removed and attached so a BV-206S can roll-on/roll-off inside a CH-47D helicopter. Ditto that for a M113A3 Gavin rolling on/off a C-130 Hercules STOL fixed-wing aircraft to include parachute airdrop procedures. The ASP-30mm can be dismounted and fired on a tripod, an important capability for light Air-Mechanized Infantry to get the best defensive and ambush positions possible. The electrically-operated 30mm weapons ATK makes will NOT DO for the helicopter-transportable light tracked AFV with a CH-47 internal loading constraint.
However, the AV30 turret with the M230 will work on M113 Gavins that are transported primarily by larger internal volume fixed-wing aircraft for parachute airdrop and airland:
Slide 31 of 48