The AK-630 is a

Soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

and Russian fully automatic naval,

rotary cannon A rotary cannon, rotary autocannon, rotary gun or Gatling cannon, is any large-caliber multiple-barreled automatic firearm that uses a Gatling-type rotating barrel assembly to deliver a sustained saturational direct fire at much greater ra ...

close-in weapon system A close-in weapon system (CIWS ) is a point-defense weapon system for detecting and destroying short-range incoming missiles and enemy aircraft which have penetrated the outer defenses, typically mounted on a naval ship. Nearly all classes of l ...

. The "630" designation refers to the weapon's six gun barrels and their 30 mm caliber. The system is mounted in an enclosed automatic turret and directed by MR-123

fire-control radar A fire-control radar (FCR) is a radar that is designed specifically to provide information (mainly target azimuth, elevation, range and range rate) to a fire-control system in order to direct weapons such that they hit a target. They are someti ...

and television detection and tracking. The weapon's primary purpose is defense against aircraft and helicopters. As one of the tried-and-true CIWS systems available, effectiveness against

anti-ship missile An anti-ship missile (AShM or ASM) is a guided missile that is designed for use against ships and large boats. Most anti-ship missiles are of the sea-skimming variety, and many use a combination of inertial guidance and active radar homing. ...

s has been demonstrated over the years in exercises, making it the staple anti-air weapon of most Soviet naval vessels. The AK-630 can also be employed against ships and other small craft, coastal targets, and floating mines. Once operational, the system was rapidly adopted and installed in every new Soviet warship (from mine-hunters to aircraft carriers) with up to eight units on larger vessels; hundreds have been produced in total.

History

It is reported that Gun and Shell Factory makes the AK-630 in India.

Design

Minsk port bow AK-630 CIWS gun fire control radar

The complete weapon system is called A-213-Vympel-A, which comprises the AK-630M Gun Mount, MR-123-02 Fire-Control Radar System, and SP-521 Electrical-Optical Tracker. A single MR-123 radar system (NATO Reporting Name: Bass Tilt) can simultaneously control two guns, either two 30 mm gun mounts, or two 57 mm gun mounts, or one 30 mm gun and one 57 mm gun. The radar system can engage aerial and surface targets at respectively. The electro-optical system can detect a MiG-21–sized aerial target away, while torpedo boat–sized surface targets can be detected at a range of up to . Features include surveillance and tracking modes, high jamming immunity, laser range finder and TV optical sight. It is in operation on almost all Russian navy ships from fast attack boats to the . The gun mount is fully automated, and can also be remotely controlled by an operator from either the control console or via a remotely mounted gunsight. It has a higher firing rate than both the Goalkeeper and Phalanx (Block 1 and older)

CIWS A close-in weapon system (CIWS ) is a point-defense weapon system for detecting and destroying short-range incoming missiles and enemy aircraft which have penetrated the outer defenses, typically mounted on a naval ship. Nearly all classes of ...

models. They are often mounted in pairs, with as many as four pairs mounted on the larger ships, providing an effective point defence (last) layer. However, like all gun-based CIWS, they suffer from short engagement times and the need for multiple volleys to effectively eradicate a threat.

Development

The AK-630

has several versions and sometimes the

Kashtan CIWS The Kortik (, "dirk") close-in weapon system (CIWS) is a modern naval air defence gun-missile system deployed by the Russian Navy. Its export version is known as Kashtan (, English: Chestnut), with the NATO designation CADS-N-1 Kashtan. The Korti ...

's sub-systems and its derivatives are also included.

AK-630

The design of the AK-630

was initiated in 1963, with the first operational prototype completed in 1964. Trials of the complete system, including

radar Radar is a system that uses radio waves to determine the distance ('' ranging''), direction ( azimuth and elevation angles), and radial velocity of objects relative to the site. It is a radiodetermination method used to detect and track ...

and controls went on until 1976 when the system was accepted for service.

AK-630M

During the deployment of the system, numerous problems that did not appear in trials were exposed in its application, and some modification of the original AK-630 was made to correct these problems, and in 1979, the new system was named as AK-630M and was accepted into service.

AK-306

A derivative of AK-630M was developed for light craft and this system was named as AK-306. Externally, the air-cooled AK-306 can be distinguished from the AK-630 by the absence of the water cooling system (a cylindrical jacket that surrounds the barrel cluster of the AK-630). Internally, the AK-306 (A-219) used electricity to power the automatics, instead of using the exhaust. This version also lacked radar control, being only optically guided, hence making it less of an anti-missile weapon and more of a surface-to-surface weapon, and the designation of the overall system is consequently changed from A-213-Vympel-A to A-219. The design started in 1974 and the system was accepted into service in 1980. When production was completed in 1986, 125 systems were in service.

AK-630M1-2

In 1983, a decision was made to update the design and modify the AK-630 system to include a second gun mounted above the first, which provides 10,000 rpm in total. The AK-630M1-2 "Roy" was roughly the same size and weight allowing installation in existing AK-630 mounts. Though the system proved to be successful, the AK-630M1-2 Roy was not accepted for production due to the maturity of a combined missile and gun system, then designated the 3M87 Kortik, but later called Kashtan. The single example of AK-630M1-2 Roy remains installed on the Project 206.6 class missile boat # P-44.

AK-630M2

In July 2007 at IMDS-2007, a modernized version of the AK-630M1-2 called AK-630M2 with two AO-18KD rotary cannons was showcased by OAO AK Tulamashzavod under the new name "Duet". Visually "Duet" differs from "Roy" in having a new mount with a stealthy low RCS design compared with the more traditional rounded AK-630 mounts. In 2012 it was announced that the new Ivan Gren-class landing ship would be armed with the modified AK-630M2 system. It is also used by the ''Buyan-M''-class missile corvette.Russian Navy Latest Buyan-M Corvette Vyshny Volochek Started Sea Trials
- Navyrecognition.com, 7 September 2017

H/PJ-13

H/PJ-13 is the Chinese upgraded version of AK-630M. The most obvious visual difference between AK-630 and its Chinese cousin H/PJ-13 is that the latter has a stealth turret. Instead of MP-123-02 fire-control radar originally used on AK-630M, a modified version of Type 347 radar is used. The original electro-optical system of AK-630M is also replaced by domestic Chinese system ZGJ-1B, and the fire control system is replaced by domestic Chinese ZFJ-1A fire control system. To improve its anti-missile capability, Chinese have also developed APDS round for H/PJ-13 to supplement/replace the original high explosive round of the AK-630M.

Kamand

The Kamand is an Iranian CIWS based on AK-630 to counter anti-ship missiles and low flying aircraft. The Kamand gun system is able to hit airborne targets at a range of two kilometres firing projectiles at a rate of 4,000 to 7,000 rounds per minute. The said system is installed on some Iranian naval ships like

Alborz The Alborz ( ) range, also spelled as Alburz, Elburz or Elborz, is a mountain range in northern Iran that stretches from the border of Azerbaijan along the western and entire southern coast of the Caspian Sea and finally runs northeast and merge ...

and

Sahand Sahand (), is a massive, heavily eroded stratovolcano in East Azerbaijan Province, northwestern Iran. At , it is the highest mountain in the province of East Azerbaijan. Sahand is one of the highest mountains in Iranian Azerbaijan, in addition ...

frigates.

Comparison with current CIWS

Operators

Current operators

* on

Steregushchy-class corvette The ''Steregushchiy'' class (), Russian designation Project 20380, is a class of corvettes being built for the Russian Navy. Designed by the Almaz Central Marine Design Bureau, subsequent vessels were built to an improved design (Project 20381 ...

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Former operators

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References

; Notes ; Citations