GAU-2B Mini-Gun Offers Additional Defensive Protection

BAE Systems tells ANN it has installed a remotely operated defensive weapon system aboard a US Air Force CV-22 Osprey, in preparation for ground-fire and flight testing.

The hardware installation and ensuing fit-check, completed in January, follow the company's recent selection to develop an interim all-quadrant defensive weapon system for the Osprey, as reported by ANN.

The Special Operations Command (SOCOM), which awarded the contract to integrate and test the weapon mission kit on the CV-22, is currently performing ground testing, with flight testing to follow. SOCOM oversaw the successful installation of the system hardware aboard the aircraft in January at Hurlburt Field, FL.

"BAE Systems installed the weapon hardware to confirm the system's suitability to CV-22 and its mission," said Clark Freise, vice president of defense avionics for BAE Systems. "We will work with SOCOM to complete the development of this system and to demonstrate its effectiveness in protecting these aircraft and the Special Operations forces they carry."

Using a GAU-2B mini-gun mounted to the belly of the aircraft, the weapon is designed to provide 360 degrees of accurate, sustained suppressive fire throughout the CV-22's flight envelope -- addressing what many see as a weakness to the current Osprey configuration, which sports a single, rear ramp-mounted machine gun.

The weapon is based on BAE Systems' Remote Guardian System, a company-funded effort to develop a common airborne defensive capability for the V-22 and other special-mission rotary- and fixed-wing aircraft. BAE Systems designed the hardware and precision control systems without access to aircraft drawings or solid models, relying in part on its knowledge of the CV-22 as provider of the platform's flight control system.

FMI: www.baesystems.com, www.navair.navy.mil/v22/