The ''Autoloaded and SCALable Outperforming guN'' or ASCALON is a French
smoothbore
A smoothbore weapon is one that has a barrel without rifling. Smoothbores range from handheld firearms to powerful tank guns and large artillery mortars. Some examples of smoothbore weapons are muskets, blunderbusses, and flintlock pistols. ...
140 mm
tank gun
A tank gun is the main armament of a tank. Modern tank guns are high-velocity, large-caliber artilleries capable of firing kinetic energy penetrators, high-explosive anti-tank, and cannon-launched guided projectiles. Anti-aircraft guns can also ...
of 50 calibers designed by
Nexter
KNDS France (formerly known as Nexter, GIAT Industries or ''Groupement des Industries de l'Armée de Terre'', Army Industries Group) is a French government-owned weapons manufacturer, based in Versailles. The company was wholly government-owne ...
. This gun is currently mounted on the latest prototype of the
EMBT, the
Leclerc Evolution
Leclerc Evolution is a French prototype of the enhanced List_of_main_battle_tanks_by_generation#Fourth_Generation, fourth-generation main battle tank (MBT) developed and manufactured by the KNDS France.
The project was presented during the Euro ...
prototype and is proposed for the
MGCS project.
History
ASCALON origins date back to the FTMA (Future Tank Main Armament)
NATO
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO ; , OTAN), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental Transnationalism, transnational military alliance of 32 Member states of NATO, member s ...
programme, a joint venture formed in 1988 by then
GIAT Industries
KNDS France (formerly known as Nexter, GIAT Industries or ''Groupement des Industries de l'Armée de Terre'', Army Industries Group) is a French government-owned weapons manufacturer, based in Versailles. The company was wholly government-owned ...
,
Royal Ordnance Factories
Royal may refer to:
People
* Royal (name), a list of people with either the surname or given name
* A member of a royal family or royalty
Places United States
* Royal, Arkansas, an unincorporated community
* Royal, Illinois, a village
* Royal, ...
and
Rheinmetall
Rheinmetall AG () is a German automotive and arms manufacturer, headquartered in Düsseldorf, Germany. The group was promoted to the DAX, Germany's leading stock market index, in March 2023. It is the largest German and fifth largest Europe ...
. The
Watervliet Arsenal
The Watervliet Arsenal (WVA) is an arsenal of the United States Army located in Watervliet, New York, on the west bank of the Hudson River. It is the oldest continuously active arsenal in the United States, and today produces much of the arti ...
joined them in 1997 and the joint venture was renamed the RGR Armament GmbH group. The outcome of this collaboration was the creation of the
NATO-standard 140 mm two-piece ammunition designed to succeed the
120×570mm NATO
120×570mm NATO tank ammunition (4.7 inch), also known as 120×570mmR, is a common, NATO-standard (STANAG 4385), tank gun semi-combustible cartridge used by 120mm smoothbore guns, superseding the earlier 105×617mmR cartridge used in NATO-stand ...
.
The French, for their part, funded the construction of a lengthened
Leclerc turret armed with a 140 mm smoothbore gun. The T4 turret was unveiled in 1996.
In September 2016, the T4 turret was mounted on a former Leclerc MARS recovery vehicle and christened with the name of ''Terminateur'' (Terminator).
Firing trials of Terminateur were conducted by Nexter Systems and the
DGA in summer 2018 at the
firing range of Alcochete. The 140 mm gun was modified to use new, one-piece
telescoped ammunition
Telescoped ammunition is an ammunition design in which the projectile is partially or completely enveloped by the propellant. Examples include ammunition for both hand weapons and artillery. caseless ammunition, Caseless ammunition is often tele ...
.
In April 2021, Nexter unveiled a modified version of its 140 mm weapon system under the acronym ASCALON and the gun was later displayed at the 2022 edition of
Eurosatory
Eurosatory is the largest international exhibition for the land and air-land defence and security industry. It is held every two years in the Paris-Nord Villepinte Exhibition Centre, Paris, France. In 2022, it gathered over 1,700 exhibitors and ...
.
May 2024 firing trials demonstrated that the 140 mm gun tube can be replaced by a 120 mm gun tube in less than an hour.
Description
The ASCALON has been designed to be integrated into an armoured vehicle with a combat mass of less than 55 tonnes. The barrel is covered by a faceted
thermal sleeve
A thermal sleeve, or blanket, is a device around the length of a gun barrel of a large caliber gun, typically found on modern tanks. Its primary purpose is to provide a more consistent temperature to the gun barrel, preventing distortions due to ...
and to reduce the recoil effort, the gun is fitted with a pepperpot
muzzle brake
A muzzle brake or recoil compensator is a device connected to, or a feature integral (ported barrel) to the construction of, the muzzle or barrel of a firearm or cannon that is intended to redirect a portion of propellant gases to counter re ...
.
The 140 mm APFSDS is 1.3 meters long and weighs around 30–35 kg. The muzzle energy on target, at 2000 m, is 10 MJ with a growth potential up to 13 MJ. A 140 mm NLOS sub-caliber guided ammunition has also been developed.
See also
*
*
References
External links
{{Post WWII French tank guns
Tank guns of France
120 mm artillery