The Department of Defense of the United States of America transmitted on November 19, 2019 its approval to Congress regarding an Indian request for the acquisition of 13 cannons of 127 mm/62 caliber Mk 45 Mod 4. Congress did not having no obvious reason to refuse the agreement, the Indian Navy (Indian Navy) should be able to install these parts on thirteen future destroyers which will adopt an American standard in terms of naval systems which is called for new developments.
Le 5-inch/54 caliber (Mk 45) lightweight gun or light cannon of 127 mm/54 calibers (Mk 45) is the only naval artillery piece present on the foredeck of large escorts (destroyers and cruisers) or major surface combatants since its introduction in 1971. Only frigates differ from this standard by retaining a 76 mm piece (Oliver Hazard Perry class), or even 57 mm (Littoral Combat Ship and program FFG(X).
This light 127 mm/54 caliber gun (Mk 45) introduced in 1971 exists in five versions: Mod 0 (1971), Mod 1 (1980), Mod 2 (1988), Mod 3 (never entered production) and Mod 4 (2000). This latest development includes an extension of the length of the barrel which is increased from 54 to 62 calibers in order to allow longer combustion of the powder and therefore increase the velocity of the ammunition leaving the muzzle. Furthermore, the turret itself was redesigned to reduce its mass and its radar signature.
Le 5-inch/54 caliber (Mk 45) lightweight gun Mod 4 is a system with a total weight of 69,72 tonnes. It includes the 127 mm/62 caliber turret and its rotating part to which is added an automatic loading system Ammunition Handling System (AHS). The rate of fire can reach 6 rounds per minute with a single ammo shuttle supplying the room from the magazine (192 rounds). The rate of fire can reach 10 rounds per minute with the presence of a second shuttle.
The part's characteristics allow it to rotate 30 degrees/second in azimuth, with possible acceleration to 38 degrees/second, along an arc of more than 170 degrees on the front sector. The elevation of the part is between – 5 and + 65 degrees at a speed of 20 degrees seconds, possible acceleration to 38 degrees/second. 20 rounds are pre-loaded. The range reaches approximately 18 nautical miles (36 km) thanks to the extension of the caliber (Mod 4) with the standard shells (5-inch/54 MK 92 MOD 1). The muzzle exit velocity for a standard shell is 823 ms-1 (Mach 2,4).
It should be noted that theUS Navy develops with BAE Systems the shell Hyper Velocity Projectile (HVP). It results from research byElectro-Magnetic Laboratory Rail Gun (EMRG) conducted by the Office of Naval Research (US Navy) and BAE Systems (2005 – 2018) to develop, in particular, the shell of the electromagnetic cannon to reach Mach 7. The results were reused to design the shell HVP. With a maximum speed of Mach 3, it would have the ability to intercept missiles and aircraft up to more than 50 nautical miles (92,6 km). The unit cost of producing the shell HVP would be 87 euros (000), or almost ten to twenty times less than that of an anti-aircraft missile. L'US Navy demonstrated the use of shells HVP during the RIMPAC 2018 annual exercise: the DDG-105 USS Dewey fired 20 of these shells from his 5-inch/54 caliber (Mk 45) lightweight gun Mod 4. The Indian Navy participated in this exercise with the INS Sahyadri.
Mod 4 equips the Arleigh Burke destroyers from the DDG-81 USS Winston S Churchill and will do the same up to the units of Flight III (DDG-128 USS Ted Stevens et seq.). The Mod 4s will replace the Mod 2s of 22 Ticonderoga class cruisers still in service (5 out of 27 decommissioned) as part of the Cruiser Modernization Program. Indian Navy will be the seventh foreign navy to adopt the 5-inch/54 caliber (Mk 45) lightweight gun Mod 4 for part of its combat vessels. Five of Mod 4's seven client navies are based in the Indo-Pacific theater.
India has submitted an acquisition request for thirteen 5-inch/54 caliber (Mk 45) lightweight gun Mod 4 by the procedure Foreign Military Sales (FMS). This is a government-to-government agreement which is the prelude to trade negotiations. The Defense Security Cooperation Agency (Department of Defense) transmitted its approval to Congress, allowing the latter to decide on the merits of the agreement. There seems no reason why the American Parliament should also give its consent.
The agreement, as with all FMS, provides for a maximum sizing of demand in order to leave full latitude for future contractual negotiations between the client country and the American manufacturer or manufacturers concerned so as not to have to request Congressional approval again in the event of an excess. initial ceilings. This is why the announced amount of 927,56 million euros is so high for 13 complete weapon systems, 3500 standard shells 5-inch/54 MK 92 MOD 1, spare parts, training of personnel by personnel under contract to the manufacturer(s), the supply of technical documentation and training systems.
The date of the first deliveries has not yet been communicated; this can very well be explained by the commercial negotiations currently being carried out which will necessarily have to agree on this point between the two parties.
The Indian surface fleet is modernizing and benefiting from an expansion in the number of its ships through four different projects for its frigates and destroyers. These thirteen cannons will not equip the buildings of the project 15A or Kolkata class (INS Kolkata (2014), INS Kochi (2015) and INS Chennai (2016) because they have all already been admitted to active service. These pieces of naval artillery are most likely intended for vessels currently under construction or to be laid up.
Le project 15B is a modernized and redesigned (stealth) evolution of the class Kolkata. The class Visakhapatnam includes three buildings already launched but still in completion: the INS Visakhapatnam (2021?) INS Mormugao (2022?) and INS Imphal (2023?). The fourth unit, the INS Porbandar (2024?) was laid down in 2018 and is expected to be launched next year. They should all receive a 5-inch/54 caliber (Mk 45) lightweight gun Mod 4.
Le project 17A is the improvement of 17 project or class Shivalik (3) which is itself the Indian resumption of the plans for the Talwar class frigates (batch 1 (3), batch 2 (3), batch 3 (2) and batch 4 (2) or pproject 11356 (Krivak III). Project 17A or Nilgiri class consists of 7 frigates: INS Nilgiri (2022), INS Himgiri (2023), INS Taragiri (2023), INS Udaygiri (2024), INS Vindhyagiri (2024), INS Dunagiri (2025), INS Mahendragiri (2025). The head of the series was launched on September 28, 2019 at the Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Limited (Mumbai) shipyard. They should all receive a 5-inch/54 caliber (Mk 45) lightweight gun Mod 4.
The remaining two pieces (4 pieces for project 15B, 7 pieces for project 17A) can be explained according to two hypotheses. The first is that the Indian Navy may not intend to order so many naval artillery pieces through this procedure. The second is that a fourth surface building project could be involved. Could these be the two Talwar batch 4 class frigates which are to be laid down at Goa Shipyard Limited? The main artillery piece is provided on the first six units by Russia. But what would stand in the way of a different choice for the last two units? The future remains project 18 still on the drawing board but there was talk of an electromagnetic cannon.
The Indian order does not include the HVP shell which does not yet benefit from a commercial proposal. But it would not be surprising if the Indian Navy came out in favor if the US Navy ever transformed the test into a program.