Free Republic

The U.S. Army has made an urgent purchase of a specific type of 30mm cannon shells on behalf of U.S. Special Operations Command. Without the ammunition, the service said the U.S. Air Force’s AC-130W Stinger II gunships would be forced to use alternative rounds that would be unacceptably inaccurate and dangerously unreliable. In June 2017, the Army approved a plan to purchase up to 200,000 PGU-46/B 30mm cannon rounds from Orbital ATK. The service did not publicly disclose the total potential dollar value of the contract, but had to issue a so-called justification and approval document to explain why they...

U.S. Army has established a second source (General Dynamics) for 30mm cannon ammunition. This is to insure there are no interruptions in deliveries, and some competition when it comes to production quality and price. The U.S. Army is using over half a million 30mm cannon rounds a year for its AH-64 Apache helicopter gunships. Each round costs over $100. In Iraq and Afghanistan, the most accurate cannon fire comes from the 30mm autocannon on the AH-64 helicopter, and such support is very popular. This is partly because of the increased emphasis on reducing civilian casualties. During the heaviest combat in...