Northrop Grumman breaks out the big guns at AUSA

With the growing threat of attacks by small unmanned aircraft systems on the battlefield, Northrop Grumman is pitching gun-based air defense systems designed to take down waves of aerial threats.

At the Association of the United States Army’s annual convention, Northrop showed off its newest 50mm Gun-Based Air Defense system dubbed the Raid Hunter and the latest iteration of the M230.

Both systems are part of Northrop’s patented Bushmaster Chain Guns , a collection of medium-caliber, vehicle-mounted machine guns that operate using an external power source.

Kenn Todorov, the company’s vice president and general manager of command and control & weapons integration, called the Raid Hunter “a cost-effective, flexible tool to decisively defeat evolving threats” intended to overwhelm defense systems.

According to the specs sheet, the system relies on AI targeting and precision-guided 50mm ammo, which proximity fuzes detonate near a target.

Todorov added that the weapon “addresses a critical short-range defense gap by delivering rapid, high-capacity protection against complex, mass aerial threats like cruise missiles and drone swarms.”

Since its introduction in August, the Raid Hunter has completed aeroballistic testing — meaning it was tested against aerial targets — that confirmed pre-test predictions and performance expectations.

Modeled after the M230 gun for Apache attack helicopters, the M230 Link Fed Dual Feed Bushmaster Chain Gun , or M230LF, can be mounted to an assortment of vehicles, ranging from 4x4s to large ground vehicles to patrol boats.

But what’s special about it is that it can use two feed paths, which allow operators to switch between standard proximity-fuzed 30x113mm rounds for countering drones and high-explosive, dual-purpose rounds for armored targets.

With a dual-feed system, an operator will be able to quickly select the best ammunition for the given target rather than completely changing out the loads. Plus, the new variant shares 60% of the same parts as the single-feed model.

According to Northrop’s spec sheet, the M230LF can fire 200 rounds per minute with a “highly reliable” 22,000 rounds between mean time of failure.

Daniel Terrill is a contributor to Military Times. He’s been reporting on military issues, the gun industry, and the outdoors for nearly two decades. Although writing is his passion, he’s been a Marine, police officer, and, perhaps the most dangerous job of his career, a substitute teacher.

随着战场上小型无人机系统攻击的威胁日益增加，诺斯罗普·格鲁曼公司正在推销以火炮为基础的防空系统，旨在击落一波又一波的空中威胁。

在美国陆军协会的年度大会上，诺斯罗普公司展示了其最新的 50 毫米炮基防空系统“突袭猎手”和 M230 的最新版本。

这两个系统都是诺斯罗普公司获得专利的“大毒蛇”链式机枪的一部分，这是一系列中口径车载机枪，使用外部电源运行。

该公司副总裁兼指挥控制和武器集成总经理肯·托多罗夫称“突袭猎手”是一款“经济高效、灵活的工具，可以果断击败不断演变的威胁”，这些威胁旨在压倒防御系统。

根据规格表，该系统依靠人工智能瞄准和精确制导的 50 毫米弹药，近炸引信会在目标附近引爆。

托多罗夫补充说，这种武器“通过提供快速、高容量的防护，抵御巡航导弹和无人机群等复杂的大规模空中威胁，弥补了短程防御的关键缺口。”

自 8 月份推出以来，“突袭猎手”已经完成了气动弹道测试——这意味着它接受了针对空中目标的测试——这证实了测试前的预测和性能预期。

M230 链式双供弹大毒蛇链炮（M230LF）仿照阿帕奇攻击直升机的 M230 机炮设计，可安装在各种车辆上，从 4x4 车辆到大型地面车辆再到巡逻艇。

但它的特别之处在于它可以使用两条供弹路径，这使得操作人员可以在用于对抗无人机的标准近炸引信 30x113 毫米弹药和用于装甲目标的高爆双用途弹药之间进行切换。

双弹匣供弹系统使操作员能够快速选择最适合特定目标的弹药，而无需完全更换弹药。此外，新型号与单弹匣供弹型号有 60% 的零部件相同。

根据诺斯罗普公司的规格表，M230LF 每分钟可发射 200 发子弹，平均故障间隔时间为 22,000 发，具有“高度可靠性”。

丹尼尔·特里尔是《军事时报》的撰稿人。近二十年来，他一直报道军事问题、枪支行业和户外运动。虽然写作是他的挚爱，但他曾是一名海军陆战队员、一名警察，还做过一份或许是他职业生涯中最危险的工作——代课老师。