Voting
?What about new design for our website
- Excellent
- Very Good
- Good
Voting Number 1647
- 'Birds of Goodness' executes 43rd humanitarian aid airdrop in north Gaza
- EDGE Becomes a Global Player in Non-Lethal Technologies by Acquiring Industry Leader CONDOR
- Birds of Goodness executes 42nd humanitarian aid airdrop in north Gaza
- Birds of Goodness executes 41st humanitarian aid airdrop in north Gaza
- Birds of Goodness delivers over 3000 tons via 40 airdrops since humanitarian operation commenced.
- 'Birds of Goodness' executes 39th humanitarian aid airdrop in north Gaza
- 'Birds of Goodness' executes 38th humanitarian aid airdrop in north Gaza
- Saab delivers fourth GlobalEye to the UAE
- Birds of Goodness executes 37th humanitarian aid airdrop in north Gaza
- Birds of Goodness executes 36th humanitarian aid airdrop in north Gaza
- Birds of Goodness executes 35th humanitarian aid airdrop in north Gaza
- Led by the Commander of Joint Operations .. A delegation from the Ministry of Defense, has initiated several-day visit to the People's Republic of China
- Birds of Goodness executes 34th humanitarian aid airdrop in north Gaza
- Birds of Goodness' executes 33rd humanitarian aid airdrop in north Gaza
- Birds of Goodness delivers over 2,000 tonnes of aid via 32 airdrops since humanitarian operation began
- On the 2nd day of Eid al-Fitr... Birds of Goodness Executes 31st Humanitarian Airdrop and Eid Clothing in North Gaza
- On the first day of Eid Al-Fitr,UAE and Jordan conduct 14th joint food aid airdrop in northern Gaza
- UAE and Jordan conduct 13th joint food aid airdrop in northern Gaza
- 'Birds of Goodness' Executes 29th Humanitarian Aid Airdrop and Eid Clothing in North Gaza.
- UAE and Jordan conduct 12th joint food aid airdrop in northern Gaza
2015-12-01
ORBITAL ATK SEEKS M.E. PARTNERS
The UAE and Middle East generally constitute an important potential customer for the company Orbital ATK Armament Systems Division, hence it is keen to investigate the prospect of cooperative development and production in the region.On the sidelines of DSEI in London DANIEL OLSON, Vice President and General Manager of the division outlined to NATION SHIELD about how keen Orbital ATK is to enter into a joint venture in the UAE to have a more permanent presence there. This will maintain continuity, build credibility and ensure Orbital ATK is always in touch with the customers. Olson also spoke about some of the state-of-the-art products Orbital ATK offers. Excerpts:
By Sakha Pramod
Orbital ATK’s Armament Systems is participating in DSEI. What are the highlights?
I think there are several. We have a portfolio of products that is right now very relevant for what is happening in the region. The escalation of conflicts is feeding interest in our portfolio. So our cannons business in particular is very popular. We are the largest producer of medium caliber chain cannons in the world. We have about 15000 of those installed around the world.
And there are a lot of new vehicle platform competitions currently under way that we’re participating with system integrators and so our expectation is that we are going to see a lot more worldwide sales of our cannons; in particular, our Mark 44 which is a 30 mm that is convertible to 40 mm with airbursting capability. Our full suite of ammunition remains an area of interest for coproduction as countries seek their own indigenous capability for producing, not being dependent on a different sovereign source for their ammunition.
And we are really focusing on trying to introduce our precision capabilities to the world. As an example our precision guidance kit is the only US qualified precision guidance kit for artillery right now can convert legacy inventories of conventional 155mm artillery projectilesto precision weapons.
Can you elaborate on the coproduction aspect?
For instance, if a country had a greater need for more ammunition or maybe they wanted to add a different capability, coproduction is a very quick way for them to expand their sovereign capabilities. We would come in and help with our expertise and help them produce either a different type of ammunition or maybe help increase their expertise and efficiencies so that larger quantities can be produced more efficiently and reliably. One of our methods to providing coproduction capabilities is where we would provide certain parts of that so that it would be simply a matter of them putting together a line where they would be able to assemble the ammunition without having to start from the beginning.
Do you have any potential customers in the Middle East for your Bushmaster?
Yes. We have several potential customers for both land and sea based platforms where our Middle Eastern allies are upgrading their defense capabilities. While I can’t talk about these in detail, our customers are interested in working with us because of our cannon’s long history of reliability and effectiveness – and the fact that we stand behind our cannon’s through aftermarket services where we would provide maintenance and training as well as spares and upgrades as necessary.
You have reported progress on the XM25 25mm Airbursting Weapon System, nicknamed ‘The Punisher’ - can you give us some more details?
We talked about that a couple of years ago,didn’t we? The simple answer to that is we had shown it at IDEX a couple of editions ago. For the most part it is finishing development for fielding in the US. And then we do not have any specifics on what foreign sales might be at this time. Right now it is only for the US. That does not mean later down the road we may not offer different versions. Maybe there is a possibility. Right now we do not have any customer outside the United States.
The M230 cannon arms the Apache helicopter and the Middle East is a major market for Apache. What are the main features of the M230?
Yes, we are actively marketing that. Not only current customers but we have prospective customers and the UAE is one. There are two versions of that cannon. One is the one that is on the Apache then there is the link-fed version which can be applied toeither a ground combat vehicle or for naval weapons applications. This variant uses the same ammunition as Apache and provides the same capabilities in terms of accuracy, reliability and effectiveness.
You have started production of Next Generation 120mm Tank Ammunition. Who are the end users and do they include some countries in the Middle East?
There are a couple of developments in 120 mm ammunition, particularly a new exportable kinetic energy round which we call the KET. So this ammunition provides the next generation of armor defeat. We have completed the development of KET and also have the approvals to export it. So we are marketing that now in the Middle East. You can see it here on display. But it is an improvement over what is currently available on the export market in terms of its target defeat capabilities and we demonstrated that capability in recent tests.
So if you are familiar with penetrating rounds for 120 mm, in the United States we use it with depleted uranium penetrating rod which is specified by the army. We realize that many countries are not interested in using depleted uranium but tungsten is an alternative. So we have been able to use our expertise and move into that type of tungsten-based penetrator.
So if you are familiar with penetrating rounds for 120 mm, in the United States we use it with depleted uranium penetrating rod which is specified by the army. We realize that many countries are not interested in using depleted uranium but tungsten is an alternative. So we have been able to use our expertise and move into that type of tungsten-based penetrator.
Do you have technology for scalable warheads that can reduce collateral damage?
It is really difficult to do that in high rate production. We take a different approach. We focus on precision and so you make the warhead appropriate for the target that you are after then you put it right where you want whether that be through a more accurate projectile or a guided projectile. And so we are really focused on precision being able to guide it once it is fired and that is what our PGK does and we are looking at other applications to take that technology and apply it to medium, large caliber and so on.
Not so much changing the effect of the warhead but it is more about guiding the warhead to where it should go. We also have a lethality enhanced warhead. We can make the war head smaller and still get the same impact as a larger warhead. That is our normal approach to creating new technology and capability. So, it’s not so much changing ammunition or the warhead, its more about putting it where you want it to go and scaling the warhead appropriately for mass production. That is what we do.
Not so much changing the effect of the warhead but it is more about guiding the warhead to where it should go. We also have a lethality enhanced warhead. We can make the war head smaller and still get the same impact as a larger warhead. That is our normal approach to creating new technology and capability. So, it’s not so much changing ammunition or the warhead, its more about putting it where you want it to go and scaling the warhead appropriately for mass production. That is what we do.
Anything else that you want to highlight?
Our strategy in the Middle East is not just increasing the sales and penetration of our current weapon systems. What we are doing is introducing precision to more weapons and getting those qualified and available to our partners in the Middle East. That is our focus now. So whether it be a small guided bomb, we call Hatchet, a six pound guided weapon systems or guiding a large cal 120 mm tank round or a medium caliber round which we currently sell in the Middle East. That is what we are after because we have those platforms in place and we want to make those platforms more lethal and more affordable. And along with that to transfer some of those technologies so that they can be produce by our allies for their defense.
Does the UAE participate in coproduction and co-development or own these advanced weapons?
UAE does not own those yet. But we are talking to different agencies. We are pursuing a lot of different things in the Middle East primarily to introduce our technology in the area. And increasing the interest in what we do and increasing the capability that you have to manufacture in those countries.
Name a few of your products that you target to market in the UAE?
The M230 LF which is a link-fed Apache gun, and the lightweight 30 ammunition for that cannon. We are pursuing a program in UAE for small caliber ammunition coproduction, small caliber ammunition sale, co-development of precision type weapons.
UAE is a good market for you. What about Saudi Arabia and other countries in the Middle East?
Saudi Arabia is a good market too. We are active in Qatar. We have some activity in Jordan with our special mission aircraft and specialized gunships as well. We have historically had a number of programs and today, are currently active in a number of smaller pursuits around the region .
Visitors Comments
Related Topics
.
No Comments