There isnt that much "detail" on the AGS in the public domain and hence I cant give any, however lets just say that gun is a "monster"!!!!

I don't know what was included in the 87 tonnes.  I got the number from here....

This page also notes that as of 2005, DDX would  have "only" 335 rnds
per mount.  If this is the case, then expecting 120 for a single mount
on a Burke doesn't seem unreasonable to me.


I don't know what the full up weight or volume requirements are for either Mk45 or AGS.  A loaded, 61 cell Mk41 VLS weighs around 220-230 tonnes, so figure half of that for the forward 32-cell VLS on a Flight IIA.  I imagine VLS's are rather dense, so the problem may be volume rather than weight. 

...and seeing the security blanket still in effect,

no choice but to accept this explanation, too.

I guess it is possible to develop a shore-bombardment missile based on ESSM. It should have the range of 8" guns on Des Moines class and carries the same amount of HE. Any ship that equips with Mk.41 can have 4 in each cell and fire them at 1 second interval. The missile can be configured so that it flies designated trajectory by GPS/INS as well as data link to the ship. Multiple-missile barrage can be carried out at different trajectories and still arrive the target simultaneously. An Arleigh Burke can carry nearly 400 of these, though 100 to 200 is more practical number.

However, I don't see why this kind of weapon will be developed due to changing tactical environment. There will be no Normandy-style landing in the future, and if there will be, this kind of  weapons and other solutions will be put on the table.

We had our chance with such a weapon: POLAR (Precision, Over-the-horizon Land Attack Rocket),
a LockMart in-house proposal for a marinized G-MLRS-type rocket, with a warhead up to 90kg and ranges approaching 200km.

Although little info is found online anymore, it's a safe bet that to get the 200km range, it wasn't going to be with the 90kg warhead.

But then again, if those recent developments with throttlable ram-rocket motors prove very favorable, a 9" diameter long range land attack rocket that can quad pack into VLS cells in place of ESSM quadpacks is still an option for the future, and has the pontential to carry larger warheads than even the vaunted LRLAP to greater distances, without the need for the massive AGS turret to fire them.

 

 

And also, don't forget LockMart's other in-house proposal, the multimode seeker-equipped P44, 10 of which can be packed in a pod that occupies the same dimensions as a 6-cell MLRS/HIMARS rocket pod (the P44 being 7" in diameter compared to MLRS' 9" diameter).

Recently, I've seen a couple of sites mentioning a P44/42, although what the /42 part means, I'm still trying to find out.

Needless to say, the P44 offer suggests a warhead up to 28 pounds (a metal-augmented Hellfire-class warhead), to a range of 70km.

But keep in mind: with future propulsion techniques, more energetic explosives, and improvements in electronics capabilities,

certainly there are plentry of possibilities that we will see these land attack missiles, equipped with all weather day/night sensors, that can be carried by the several dozens/few hundreds on any number of ships.

We may not see the idea of the Arsenal Ship surface again (at least not on par with a ship the size of the DDG1000), but mini-Arsenal Ships are certainly foreseeable: frigate-sized, with the primary role of littoral/amphibious support operations (LPD/LPH/LHA escorts?).

In effect, an LCS built with more teeth and enhanced overall capabilities in a similar-sized hull.

(Personally, I don't see everyone going modular like the USN is hoping the LCS will succeed at.)

Yimmy,



That's 300 GPS-guided, <20m CEP rounds vs thousands of unguided munitions.  If your targeting is good (a big 'if), guided munitions can make a huge difference.

It is a shame that they gave up on designing AGS to use regular, unguided 155mm rounds. 

...as it's a predominantly French design,

www.dtic.mil/ndia/2007fuze/SessionIIIA/campion.pdf

(SPADICO 1D Course Correcting Fuze)

 

Again, apologies to Herald-the-antiThales (sorry),

but this was the best I could do on short notice (have other pdfs of CCFs in development, on another computer...)

 

but anyhow, as these things mature and offer increasing accuracies (better than unguided saturation barrages offer),

only the LRLAP's long range will be its greatest saving grace...