AMP to greatly improve ABRAMS’ main-gun ammo capabilities
Orbital ATK, a global leader in aerospace and defence technologies, who recently hosted a BUSHMASTER Users Conference outside Kingman, Arizona, USA (here, here, and here). Yesterday announced that the company was awarded a U$45 million dollar contract to complete development of the next generation 120 mm multi-purpose round for the ABRAMS Main Battle Tank. The award funds the final development and qualification for the US Army’s Advanced Multi-Purpose (AMP) round.
The contract calls for a 30-month development and qualification deliverable, and also includes three exercisable options for initial and full-rate production that could bring the total contract value to $119 million dollars.
“Our development of advanced ammunition types provides combat overmatch for the soldier,” Dan Olson, Vice President and General Manager for Orbital ATK’s Armament Systems Division of the Defense Systems Group, explained. “When fielded, AMP will greatly improve the ABRAMS’ main-gun ammunition capabilities by closing the Anti-Tank Guided Missile (ATGM) and wall breach capability gaps.”
Mönch conducted an in-depth interview with Oslon, to be found here.
Using the ABRAMS’ ammunition data link, the gunner will use the fire control system to programme the AMP fuze for a specific operational mode (point detonate or airburst). The versatility of the round lies in the crew’s ability to specify the engagement mode which in turn, greatly reduces crew reaction time and increases battlefield survivability.