The first magazine built for the Advanced Gun System (AGS) is en route to the Bath Iron Works (BIW) shipyard in Bath, Maine, for installation in the hull of the first Zumwalt-class guided-missile destroyer.
The AGS magazine — the largest fully automated magazine ever built — is in transit by barge from the BAE Systems assembly facility in Cordova, Ala., and is expected to arrive at BIW in mid-May, said Steven J. Kelly, director of business development for BAE Armament Systems, speaking to reporters April 29 in advance of the Navy League’s 2010 Sea-Air-Space Exposition.
The AGS magazine stores 300 155mm Long-Range Land-Attack Projectile (LRLAP) rounds and feeds the rounds to the gun to allow it to sustain fire at 10 rounds per minute. BAE Systems is completing the full-scale design and qualification of the LRLAP, which was tested successfully out to a range of 63 nautical miles. The design goal for range is 83 nautical miles.
The fully electric AGS is designed to provide long-range precision fire support from sea to shore in support of ground forces. BAE is building four AGS systems for the first two of three Zumwalt-class destroyers under a $276 million contract awarded in June 2007.
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