Login
iscover
German automotive and arms manufacturer Rheinmetall has unveiled a new uncrewed turret system for its new-generation main battle tanks.
To continue reading the rest of this article, please log in.
Create free account to get unlimited news articles and more!
Rheinmetall presented the Concept Uncrewed Turret (CUT), the concept demonstrator of an uncrewed turret for a next-generation main battle tank at the Eurosatory 2024 defence and security exhibition held at Paris Nord Villepinte exhibition centre from 17 to 21 June.
The main armament of the CUT is Rheinmetall’s 130mm Future Gun System with 51 calibre lengths. Ammunition is fed via the bustle-mounted autoloader from two magazines in the rear of the turret. The ammunition capacity consists of 25 cartridges. A coaxial .50 heavy machine gun is also fitted.
In addition, the commander’s Main Sensor Slaved Armament (MSSA) remote controlled weapon station is equipped with a Rheinmetall RMG762 machine gun. This has three rotating barrels; if one is hot-fired, another barrel is brought into firing position and the machine gun is ready to fire again. With its high firepower, the RMG762 is also expected to be suitable for fighting small UAVs drones. The commander’s MSSA remote controlled weapon station also has an integrated smoke grenade launcher.
“The crewless turret has both a hunter-killer and a killer-killer capability,” according to a company statement published earlier this week.
“The reconnaissance capability can be further enhanced with small on-board reconnaissance drones.”
Both the commander and gunner, who like the other crew members, are housed in the chassis of the platform, have their own day and night vision optics with integrated laser rangefinders. The gunner uses the modern SEOSS 400 optics.
This is also installed in the commander’s MSSA, as the commander and gunner can observe independently of each other and both assign and engage targets.
“The electrically powered turret also houses the fire control system, parts of the C4I equipment and other parts of the sensor system, including a metrological sensor,” according to the company statement.
“The SAS (Situational Awareness System) ensures superior situational awareness. Active hard-kill protection systems such as Rheinmetall’s Active Protection System (APS) or – as shown at Eurosatory – Iron Fist as well as soft-kill protection systems such as MUSS and the ROSY rapid obscurant system protect the crew and the platform from a wide range of enemy threats. The uncrewed turret is accessible from above via a maintenance hatch.
“With the CUT concept demonstrator, Rheinmetall is once again demonstrating its leading role in the development of future-proof systems for the networked battlefields of the future.”
