U.S. weapons maker Northrop Grumman has displayed for the first time the XM913 50mm Bushmaster chain gun at the annual Association of the United States Army (AUSA) conference in Washington, D.C.
The new 50mm Bushmaster chain gun being developed by Northrop Grumman is designed for the U.S. Army’s Next Generation Combat Vehicle.
The Northrop-built 50mm Bushmaster Chain Gun can hit ranges more than twice as far as the roughly 2-kilometer range of the Bradley Fighting Vehicle’s existing M242 25mm cannon. The 50mm is being engineered to address this potential disparity, by hitting ranges well over 4km.
“Dozens of countries have either parity or overmatch to the Bradley Fighting Vehicle’s M242,” a Northrop statement says.
The 50mm cannon can blend a variety of emerging, high-tech armored vehicle attack technologies into a single system — to include advanced fire-control, automated targeting sensors, next-gen ammunition, new computer processing speed and longer-range medium caliber attack options.
Currently, the 50mm Bushmaster is one of the most powerful medium-caliber weapon systems ever created for an armored vehicle.
Firepower from Next Generation Combat Vehicle’s 50-millimeter cannon will bring a longer-range, more-lethal measure of firepower to medium caliber armored vehicle attack.
The Next Generation of Combat Vehicles, or NGCV, allows the Army to achieve combat vehicle overmatch in close combat against the pacing threat. It delivers decisive lethality with manned and unmanned teaming as part of a combined arms team in the future operating environment.
Family portrait of the 30×113, 30×173, 40mm, & 50mm systems at #AUSA2019 pic.twitter.com/TmLyQdRa6q
— Gregory Knowles (@2805662) October 15, 2019