MONARC
MONARC ( Mo modularly N aval A rtillery C oncept ) was a concept with which the possibility was tested that normally used naval guns of the German Navy by the gun turret of the 2000 tank to replace.
As a result, these ships would have been able to effectively fight land and sea targets with the 155 mm gun. The challenge was, on the one hand, to ensure on the ship side that the higher recoil forces when fired compared to a 76 mm gun are absorbed by the ship's structure, and on the other to modify the turret so that it functions reliably in the new environment. This so-called navalization included measures to protect against corrosion , but also changes to the howitzer's fire control system . It was the declared aim of MONARC to keep these changes as small as possible in order to derive the greatest possible benefit from the advantages of a weapon introduced in the Bundeswehr , such as low acquisition costs , secure spare parts supply and established operator training.
The principle feasibility of the concept was demonstrated in 2002 when the turret of a self-propelled howitzer 2000 was temporarily mounted on a Sachsen-class ship under construction and successfully tested.
After it was originally planned to arm the frigates of the Baden-Württemberg class with 155 mm guns and possibly also to retrofit the units of the Sachsen class already in service with them, these projects were finally abandoned in 2007. The reasons for this lay not only in the high costs of the MONARC project and the technical immaturity of the navalization components, but also in the political component of the decision, as the Italian company Oto Melara has been supplying the German Navy with guns for decades.
Instead of the 155 mm gun, the new 127/64 Lightweight gun from Oto Melara is now being used on the F125 class frigates. Due to the development of the Vulcano ammunition with a long range (more than 100 km), it meets the requirements originally placed on the MONARC project.
Individual evidence
- ↑ deagel.com: MONARC Mounted on F124 Frigate , accessed on March 26, 2016
- ↑ org.au: THE MCG PROBLEM - The Navy - Vol_74_No_1-Jan-2012 , accessed on March 26, 2016