The Bushmaster III is a 35 mm automatic/semi-automatic cannon designed and built by

Alliant Techsystems Alliant Techsystems Inc. (ATK) was an American Aerospace manufacturer, aerospace and arms industry, arms manufacturer headquartered in Arlington County, Virginia. The company operated across 22 states, Puerto Rico, and internationally. ATK reven ...

, based on the 25 mm

M242 Bushmaster The M242 Bushmaster chain gun is a 25 mm caliber, 25 mm (25×137mm) single-barrel chain-driven autocannon. It is used extensively by the United States Armed Forces, U.S. military, such as in the Bradley fighting vehicle, as well as by other NAT ...

. The weapon has been selected as primary armament for the CV9035 export versions of the

CV90 The Combat Vehicle 90 (CV90) (, strf 90 or Stridsfordon 90) is a family of Swedish tracked armoured combat vehicles designed by the Swedish Defence Materiel Administration (FMV), Hägglund & Söner and Bofors during the mid-1980s to early 1 ...

infantry fighting vehicle An infantry fighting vehicle (IFV), also known as a mechanized infantry combat vehicle (MICV), is a type of armoured fighting vehicle and armoured personnel carrier used to carry infantry into battle and provide direct fire, direct-fire suppo ...

s (IFV) currently in service with the Danish,

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and

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...

armies. The Bushmaster III is a

chain gun A chain gun is a type of autocannon or machine gun that uses an external source of power to cycle the weapon's action via a continuous loop of chain, similar to that used on a motorcycle or bicycle, instead of diverting excess energy from the ...

, like the other members of the Bushmaster family, which grants it great dependability and safety from ammunition cook-off even though it does result in lower rates of fire. The caliber is the NATO standard 35×228 introduced by the Oerlikon KD in the 1950s.

50 mm version

The

U.S. Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of the United Stat ...

is testing the Bushmaster 50 mm cannon as a counter rocket, artillery, and mortar (C-RAM) and counter

unmanned aerial vehicle An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) or unmanned aircraft system (UAS), commonly known as a drone, is an aircraft with no human pilot, crew, or passengers onboard, but rather is controlled remotely or is autonomous.De Gruyter Handbook of Dron ...

(C-UAV) weapon. Initially developed under the Extended Area Protection and Survivability Integrated Demonstration (EAPS ID), it fires a 50×319 mm cartridge and has been successfully tested in tracking distant moving targets using

interferometric Interferometry is a technique which uses the '' interference'' of superimposed waves to extract information. Interferometry typically uses electromagnetic waves and is an important investigative technique in the fields of astronomy, fiber opt ...

radar as a sensor, fire control computer, and radio frequency transmitter and receiver to launch a course-correcting projectile. The command guided interceptors have a thruster that receives commands for maneuvering and warhead detonation, with a

tantalum Tantalum is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Ta and atomic number 73. It is named after Tantalus, a figure in Greek mythology. Tantalum is a very hard, ductility, ductile, lustre (mineralogy), lustrous, blue-gray transition ...

tungsten Tungsten (also called wolfram) is a chemical element; it has symbol W and atomic number 74. It is a metal found naturally on Earth almost exclusively in compounds with other elements. It was identified as a distinct element in 1781 and first ...

alloy liner to form forward propelled penetrators to defeat C-RAM targets, and steel body fragments to destroy UAVs. The systems can destroy UAVs at a range of and at a height of . Converting the Bushmaster III to the 50 mm version can be accomplished by changing the barrel and a few key parts allowing it to fire the SuperShot 50 cartridge. Separately, under the Army's Advanced Lethality and Accuracy System for Medium Caliber (ALAS-MC) effort, Northrop Grumman (which had acquired Alliant Techsystems) was contracted to develop a 50 mm derivative of the Bushmaster III called the XM913 for the Next Generation Combat Vehicle (NGCV), later designated the

XM30 Mechanized Infantry Combat Vehicle The XM30 Mechanized Infantry Combat Vehicle (MICV), formerly known as the Optionally Manned Fighting Vehicle (OMFV), is a U.S. Army program to replace the M2 Bradley infantry fighting vehicle. MICV is one part of the Next Generation Combat Vehicl ...

(MICV), that would replace the

Bradley Fighting Vehicle The Bradley Fighting Vehicle (BFV) is an American continuous track, tracked armored fighting vehicle of the United States developed by FMC Corporation and now manufactured by BAE Systems Land & Armaments, formerly United Defense. It is named for ...

. Although a further evolution of the Bushmaster III, this weapon fires the 50×228 mm cartridge rather than the 50×319 mm SuperShot 50 cartridge of the previous up-gunned variant. Various rounds include the XM1203 armor piercing sabot round and XM1204 high explosive round with a programmable fuse including delay and airburst.

Specifications

*Recoil: 14,000 lb (6300 kg) *Weight: :Receiver: 150 lb (68 kg) :Feeder: 80 lb (36 kg) :Barrel: 250 lb (113 kg¹) :Total: 480 lb (218 kg) *Rate of Fire: Semi-automatic or 200 rpm *Power Required: at 24 volts *Clearing Method: Open Bolt, semi-closed bolt *Safety: Absolute hangfire protection *Case Ejection: Forward ''¹ Includes gun barrel, drive motor, recoil system and integral dual feeder.''

References

External links

Alliant Techsystems (ATK) Bushmaster III Automatic Cannon Fact Sheet
* http://www.deagel.com/pandora/m242-bushmaster-iii_de00142003.aspx {{Chain guns Autocannon Chain guns Vehicle-mounted weapons Alliant Techsystems 35 mm artillery Military equipment introduced in the 1990s