Advanced Gun System

Advanced Gun System
Test firing of Advanced Gun System
Place of origin	United States
Service history
In service	2010–present
Used by	United States Navy
Production history
Designer	United Defense (now BAE Systems Land & Armaments)
Designed	1996
Manufacturer	BAE Systems Land & Armaments
Produced	2010–present
Specifications
Weight	104 tons
Caliber	155 mm (6.1 inch)
Elevation	+70 / -5 degrees
Rate of fire	10 rounds per minute (rpm)
Effective firing range	83 nautical miles with Long Range Land Attack Projectile (LRLAP)

The Advanced Gun System is a naval gun system developed and produced by BAE Systems Armaments Systems (formerly United Defense) for the Zumwalt-class destroyer of the United States Navy. The first magazine was delivered to the U.S. Navy on 25 May 2010.

Originally designed for mounting as a vertical gun, this 155 millimetres (6.1 in) gun has since been designed and produced for mounting within a more conventional turret arrangement. The AGS is designed to offer a weapon system capable of delivering precision munitions at a high rate of fire and at over-the-horizon ranges. As a vertical gun system it would only have been capable of firing guided munitions; the turret mounting will allow the use of unguided munitions as well.

The development of new ammunition for the AGS under the name Long Range Land Attack Projectile (LRLAP) is another major advance offered by the AGS program; it features separate projectile and propellant portions. The munitions are to be highly accurate, with a circular error probable (CEP) of 50 m (160 ft) or less. Lockheed Martin's flight test of the munition in July 2005 had a reported a flight distance of 59 nautical miles (109 km; 68 mi).

There has been research on extending the range of naval gunfire for many years. Gerald Bull and Naval Ordnance Station Indian Head tested an 11 in (280 mm) sub-caliber saboted long-range round in a stretched 16"/45 caliber Mark 6 gun in 1967. The Advanced Gun Weapon System Technology Program (AGWSTP) evaluated a similar projectile with longer range in the 1980s. After the battleships were decommissioned in 1992, the AGWSTP became a 5-inch gun with an intended range of 180 km (110 mi), which then led to the Vertical Gun for Advanced Ships (VGAS). The original DD-21 was designed around this "vertical gun", but the project ran into serious technology/cost problems and was radically scaled back to a more conventional 6.1 inch Advanced Gun System (AGS). One advantage of this move was that the gun was no longer restricted to guided munitions.