CTA Completes 400mm Cannon And Ammunitions Trails

Anglo-French gun maker CTA International today announced that it has completed the trails on its 40mm cannon and the first two of five ammunition types it’s developing, according to Defense news.

Following the wait on completion of certification by French and U.K. ministries on qualifying the revolutionary weapons, the announcement was made.

The trials on the cannon and armor-piercing and target-practice rounds are complete and the findings are in “the process of review” David Coughtrie, CTAI’s business director was quoted as saying.

The gun, with its unique rotating breech, takes up considerably less room than conventional medium-caliber rivals and uses an ammunition design in which the projectile is telescoped in a cartridge can and surrounded by propellant giving lethality, length and volume-reduction benefits.

The British Army has ordered the weapon in order to upgrade its Warrior infantry fighting vehicle being developed by Lockheed Martin and a Scout vehicle by General Dynamics.

Meanwhile, France will use the gun for its EBRC armored reconnaissance and combat vehicle requirement, to be competed for by Nexter and others in the coming months.

Before the approval process begins, CTAI executive stated that it is expecting to complete a general purpose point-detonation round in about 12 to 15 months.

After the fourth quarter 2015 trails completion, trails on an air burst round, which is the same as the general purpose point-detonation round but with a different fuze will be carried out.

And an anti-air round and a cheap reduced-range practice round follows, which saves on barrel wear.

The qualification and demonstration phases of the program have seen the delivery of 14,000 rounds of ammunition, 16 cannon systems and 32 barrels, CTAI executive was quoted as saying. 

The CTAI executive also said that the company is awaiting an order from the British for 50,000 rounds of ammunition, three cannons and 48 barrels to support the integration programs on Warrior and Scout vehicles.

Nexter, which recently showed the CTAI-equipped turret with which it plans to compete for the EBRC program, plans to undertake its first manned firing trials in the first quarter of next year as it quickly ramps up its effort to secure the deal for the French Army requirement.