Denel Land Systems2008-09-16 15:57:43
Unique 20mm weapon and ammunition progress well
In the two years since the unique 20mm Neopup was launched on the market, Denel PMP and Gemaco Precision Engineering made significant progress with the development of the weapon and its ammunition.
"Not only have we completed the range of 20mm x 42 calibre rounds to include PRAC, HEI, SAPHEI, and APC, but the weapon was also improved quite a lot," said PMP's executive marketing manager, Mr Phaladi Petje.
Both the weapon and PMP's unique ammunition are on display in Hall 5 at AAD2008 taking place in Cape Town this week (17 to 21 September 2008).
The Neopup is a compact area weapon (845mm long, telescoping to 770mm stowed) and weighing only 6kg empty. A design improvement from the launch model is a rotary magazine containing six rounds plus one in the chamber.
To the surprise of the developers, the rotary magazine significantly improved the weapon's accuracy over the original straight magazine, whilst also offering ergonomic advantages.
"As an area weapon the Neopup with its range of 20mm ammunition has no match," Phaladi Petje said. "It has direct or suppressive application and its effectiveness extends to targets under cover.�
With its bursting head, the 20mm round gives cannon firepower to an infantry soldier. Rifles and machineguns in 5.56mm or 7.62mm calibre, consume large quantities of ammunition to provide effective suppression. Their effectiveness often relies on direct hits, while 20mm bursting munitions need not be as accurate.
Tony Neophytou, designer of the Neopup (and Denel's successful NTW-20 anti-materièl rifle) explained:
"There are hardly further improvements one could make to a conventional small-calibre assault rifle or machinegun. The obvious solution lies in something totally, radically new - which is a weapon light enough to carry and fire, but firing ammunition that can do the work of bursting munitions, like PMP's 20mm x 42."
With this round, the probability of hit (PH) is greatly enhanced, which is what is required of any type of force multiplier. The psychological impact of exploding munitions on the enemy diminishes their will to fight.
"If in any doubt, the question that should be asked is whether you would prefer your enemy to have this weapon," Tony said.
In the military mind, 20mm ammunition has always been associated with recoil forces in excess of what the infantry soldier can handle without a weapon mount. In the Neopup a very effective recoil mitigating system removes that problem.
"Having taken care of recoil, we proceeded to design a man-portable area weapon with such devastating firepower over ranges up to 1000m that it is nothing more than a quantum leap forward," Tony Neophytou said.
The weapon can solve problems in a completely new way, bearing in mind the new nature of conflict, notably close operations in various environments.
"It is ideal for peacekeeping operations, too, where the combatants have to rely on the military assets at their disposal at that point," Neophytou explained. "In a rapidly deteriorating situation, they can rely on the available long range heavy firepower of the 20mm Neopup, rather than calling reinforcements which might be unavailable."
The Neopup is a stand-alone system, intended as a primary weapon that does not have to be supported. A major advantage for infantry is that it requires no special tools and can easily be stripped down to a bare number of components. Its mechanism is a gas-operated rotating bolt.
With an eye on minimal risk, it uses existing technology. It is versatile for multiple roles in combat, peace support, internal security and law enforcement applications.
PMP as a world-renowned supplier of small and medium calibre ammunition is supporting the Neopup with a range of 20mm x42 rounds.
The Neopup delivers the 110g projectile at a muzzle velocity of 310m/s - an advantage for infantry requiring accurate short time of flight firepower.
"PMP has extensive experience with development of custom ammunition like the 20mm x 82 rounds for Denel's NTW-20," Petje said. "Our trials with the 20mm x 42 in the Neopup proved very successful over ranges of 1000m - despite the entire round being 105mm long in a 42mm long case.�
The development of crowd control ammunition of less and non-lethal nature is also envisaged for use in this weapon.
In the two years since the unique 20mm Neopup was launched on the market, Denel PMP and Gemaco Precision Engineering made significant progress with the development of the weapon and its ammunition.
"Not only have we completed the range of 20mm x 42 calibre rounds to include PRAC, HEI, SAPHEI, and APC, but the weapon was also improved quite a lot," said PMP's executive marketing manager, Mr Phaladi Petje.
Both the weapon and PMP's unique ammunition are on display in Hall 5 at AAD2008 taking place in Cape Town this week (17 to 21 September 2008).
The Neopup is a compact area weapon (845mm long, telescoping to 770mm stowed) and weighing only 6kg empty. A design improvement from the launch model is a rotary magazine containing six rounds plus one in the chamber.
To the surprise of the developers, the rotary magazine significantly improved the weapon's accuracy over the original straight magazine, whilst also offering ergonomic advantages.
"As an area weapon the Neopup with its range of 20mm ammunition has no match," Phaladi Petje said. "It has direct or suppressive application and its effectiveness extends to targets under cover.�
With its bursting head, the 20mm round gives cannon firepower to an infantry soldier. Rifles and machineguns in 5.56mm or 7.62mm calibre, consume large quantities of ammunition to provide effective suppression. Their effectiveness often relies on direct hits, while 20mm bursting munitions need not be as accurate.
Tony Neophytou, designer of the Neopup (and Denel's successful NTW-20 anti-materièl rifle) explained:
"There are hardly further improvements one could make to a conventional small-calibre assault rifle or machinegun. The obvious solution lies in something totally, radically new - which is a weapon light enough to carry and fire, but firing ammunition that can do the work of bursting munitions, like PMP's 20mm x 42."
With this round, the probability of hit (PH) is greatly enhanced, which is what is required of any type of force multiplier. The psychological impact of exploding munitions on the enemy diminishes their will to fight.
"If in any doubt, the question that should be asked is whether you would prefer your enemy to have this weapon," Tony said.
In the military mind, 20mm ammunition has always been associated with recoil forces in excess of what the infantry soldier can handle without a weapon mount. In the Neopup a very effective recoil mitigating system removes that problem.
"Having taken care of recoil, we proceeded to design a man-portable area weapon with such devastating firepower over ranges up to 1000m that it is nothing more than a quantum leap forward," Tony Neophytou said.
The weapon can solve problems in a completely new way, bearing in mind the new nature of conflict, notably close operations in various environments.
"It is ideal for peacekeeping operations, too, where the combatants have to rely on the military assets at their disposal at that point," Neophytou explained. "In a rapidly deteriorating situation, they can rely on the available long range heavy firepower of the 20mm Neopup, rather than calling reinforcements which might be unavailable."
The Neopup is a stand-alone system, intended as a primary weapon that does not have to be supported. A major advantage for infantry is that it requires no special tools and can easily be stripped down to a bare number of components. Its mechanism is a gas-operated rotating bolt.
With an eye on minimal risk, it uses existing technology. It is versatile for multiple roles in combat, peace support, internal security and law enforcement applications.
PMP as a world-renowned supplier of small and medium calibre ammunition is supporting the Neopup with a range of 20mm x42 rounds.
The Neopup delivers the 110g projectile at a muzzle velocity of 310m/s - an advantage for infantry requiring accurate short time of flight firepower.
"PMP has extensive experience with development of custom ammunition like the 20mm x 82 rounds for Denel's NTW-20," Petje said. "Our trials with the 20mm x 42 in the Neopup proved very successful over ranges of 1000m - despite the entire round being 105mm long in a 42mm long case.�
The development of crowd control ammunition of less and non-lethal nature is also envisaged for use in this weapon.
For more information contact:
Po Box 7710
Pretoria
0001
South Africa
Tel: +27 12 620 3405
Fax: +27 12 664 5306