USA: Manufacturing high-tech cannon system

The new weapon system is called the Non-Line-of-Sight Cannon (NLOS Cannon) and will be the most impressive of all the pistols ever designed. It will operate completely automatically and can fire 6 bullets per minute.

Researcher Nipun Bhutani , NLOS-Cannon project director (Photo: Photonics.com)

The NLOS-Cannon gun is part of the US Army's future combat modernization program .

Sandia National Laboratories (Sandia National Laboratories) in California are improving a set of large and light-weight pompoms for the US military. This is an advanced program to design guns of a high technical level.

Currently, the US military uses more than 20 types of pompon guns, mainly aircraft guns or infantry support and mechanized units. The Self Propelled 8-inch Howitzer is the largest automatic left-hand gunfire.

The new weapons system currently under construction is called Non-Line-of-Sight Cannon (NLOS Cannon). It works fully automatically and can fire 6 bullets per minute.

The US military expects this new vehicle to be fast and light in weight to be able to transport 3 units on a dedicated C-17 cargo plane in the battlefield. Sandia is studying rigorous adjustment of the laser ignition system, a key system of the NLOS-Cannon gun.

NLOS-Cannon is part of the future combat system (Future Combat Systems- FCS), a modernization program for the US military. The cannon will be the product of a partnership between BAE Systems, a division of Boeing Company and Sandia National Nuclear Security Division laboratory.

Laser igniter

Laser ignition system is fabricated by the Center for Engineering Research and Engineering (ARDEC) in cooperation with Kigre Company. This part is placed on the back of the cannon. There, a laser beam is ignited through the open lock to electrically charge and launch a shell. However, researcher Nipun Bhutani, director of the NLOS-Cannon project said that in the first sample test, the repulsion and impact of the firing process made the ability to observe be reduced effectively.

He said: 'The laser ignition system works more automatically, faster and more accurately than the mechanical method, and it is also safer. However, it is clearly not a long-term solution if reliability cannot be maintained. '

Instead of canceling the concept of laser ignition to support the traditional mechanical ignition mechanism, the US military has called on experts at Sandia to handle the collision problem around many parts.

The new weapon system currently under construction will be the most impressive of the ever-designed guns (Photo: Photonics.com).

Isolation system reduces vibration force when shooting

In order to reduce the vibration generated by the shooting, Sandia and ARDEC have proposed a laser isolation and locking system. The vibration damping isolation system is widely used to prevent susceptible devices from being shaken by their environment. Typical examples include isolating fragile laboratory equipment from vibrations generated from the floor or isolating car and aircraft from vibration due to engine operation.

Sandia, in cooperation with BAE Systems and ARDEC, is improving an NLOS Cannon gun isolation system. The system acts as a filter to reduce jitter.

In addition to the quarantine system, Sandia researchers will move on to experiment with better quality laser electrodes.

Minh Minh