Under this demand, the US Navy has made various technical improvements to the MK45 naval gun. At the same time, new ammunition was developed. The Mk45Mode4 naval gun, which has been greatly improved, is now the first to be equipped on the newly-commissioned "Alibek" class guided missile destroyer 1.
The Mk45Mode4 naval gun weapon system, which is composed of 127mm high-energy gun, extended-range guided projectile and fire control equipment, has greatly improved its response ability, adaptability and damage ability.
In terms of improving automation, Mk45Mode4 naval gun has made the following improvements: all kinds of ammunition (including conventional ammunition, propellant and fuze) in the gun base filling barrel are automatically loaded, unloaded, loaded and fired.
In order to obtain the required range, trajectory and damage effect, we can determine, select and set the types of bombs, propellants and fuzes by ourselves.
It can communicate with other shipborne fire support departments and other systems through internal digital interfaces and telephones, and receive and display target data from sensors and fire control systems.
The structural improvement of Mk45Mode4 naval gun includes: the barrel length is increased from 54 times to 62 times, the base ring and ear bracket are made of stronger materials, and many parts in the sliding assembly are redesigned.
Due to the new performance requirements and the launch of ERGM, the load of the gun itself has increased, and the recoil/reentry system, the gun shell, the cartridge case tray and the shell throwing mechanism have also been improved, resulting in an increase in the weight of the gun by about 10% compared with Mk45-2. In order to reduce the radar cross-sectional area, the stealth design of the turret is carried out. The whole turret is angular and the stealth performance has been greatly improved.