MK110 Gun Production Under Way in Louisville

By Richard R. Burgess, Managing Editor

BAE Systems has shifted production of its Mk110 57mm gun system from Sweden to its facilities in Louisville, Ky., and is on track to build four guns for the Zumwalt-class DDG 1000 destroyer there, said Tom Danczyk, BAE's program manager for the gun.

BAE delivered its first three Swedish-built Mk110 guns to the Coast Guard National Security Cutter Bertholf and the first two Littoral Combat Ships (LCSs), Freedom and Independence. The first Louisville-built gun has been delivered and tested, and was put on display for the first time at the Navy League's Sea-Air-Space Exposition May 4-6 at the Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center, National Harbor, Md. This unit will be installed on the third LCS, a Freedom-class ship being built by the Lockheed Martin LCS team in Marinette, Wis.

BAE will build four Mk110s in 2010 and deliver them to General Dynamic's Bath Iron Works, Bath, Maine, for installation on the first two Zumwalt destroyers. The gun also has been baselined for the Coast Guard's Offshore Patrol Cutter program.

The Mk110 is a development of the Bofors Mk3 gun and is designed for rapid-fire against surface, air and shore targets. Danczyk said the gun could be useful in the anti-piracy role as well.