Rapidfire Turret – A New Generation of Artillery to Take Down Drone Swarms
The threat posed by drones to civilian and military targets in the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war has generated enormous interest in drones globally.
Although small, slow, and easy to shoot down, drones pose a significant threat when they come in swarms.
Counter-drone technology is rapidly emerging to respond to drone threats
Now, Nexter and Thales have unveiled the latest version of the RAPIDFire autonomous gun turret to counter these dangerous low-level aerial threats.
While Nexter is the leading French land Defense company and a European major player in the ammunition sector. Thales is a French aerospace and Defense leader in the fast-growing market of Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS).
RAPIDFire autonomous gun turret was recently unveiled at the Euronaval 2022 naval Defense exhibition in Paris.
RAPIDFire can autonomously and automatically seek out, acquire, lock, and destroy all types of threats such as unmanned aerial systems, fighter jets, attack helicopters, and missiles at up to 4,000 meters (2.4 miles). With a ready rack of 140 rounds of ammunition, enough for around 30 interceptions, the system offers effective firepower against swarms of drones.
This remotely operated naval and land artillery system has been chosen by the French defense procurement agency (DGA) to equip future French Navy vessels with an effective close-in defense capability against air and surface threats.
The system is configured for the future Anti-Aerial Airburst (A3B) round that cannot be jammed, decoyed, or triggered by clutter while dealing with airborne targets. The remotely operated turret has a high-precision optronic fire control system with multispectral sight. It also has a high-rate laser rangefinder that automatically selects the appropriate ammunition to counter multiple threats.
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