Military

MK149 20mm Armor-Piercing, Discarding Sabot

The 20mm MK149 was developed with a significant anti-armor capability, optimized exterior ballistic performance and short time-of-flight. GD-OTS has produced in excess of 20,000,000 rounds of MK149 ammunition for the U.S. Navy's Phalanx Anti-Ship Missile Defense System.

The 20mm MK149 was developed with a significant anti-armor capability, optimized exterior ballistic performance and short time-of-flight. General Dynamics Ordnance and Tactical Systems has produced in excess of 20,000,000 rounds of MK149 ammunition for the U.S. Navy's Phalanx Anti-Ship Missile Defense System.

The US Navy has replaced the MK149-2 Phalanx round with a DU penetrator by the MK149-4 Phalanx round with a tungsten penetrator. In 1988 the Navy opted to transition the CIWS 20mm round from DU to tungsten. The Navy made the decision based on live fire tests that showed that tungsten met the Navy's performance requirements while offering reduced probabilities of radiation exposure and environmental impact. It should be noted that the "soft" targets the CIWS was designed to defeat-anti-ship missiles at close range-are far easier to destroy than "hard" targets like tanks. Substantial stocks of DU ammunition delivered prior to that date remain in the inventory.

The Alliant Techsystems Inc. MK149-4 Phalanx features a saboted tungsten subcaliber projectile with excellent antiship missile and antiarmor capabilities, as well as short time of flight to target. It is compatible with all 20mm M197 and M61 chain gun systems and Phalanx CIWS. In addition, it is effective in Vulcan Air Defense Systems.

In July 2000 the Department of the Army - Headquarters, Operations System Command, Rock Island, Ill., awarded Primex Technologies, Inc., base and option contracts totaling $3.8 million to produce 331,800 rounds of the 20mm MK149 Armor-Piercing, Discarding Sabot Cartridge as a Foreign Military Sale through the U.S. government. The 20mm MK149 ammunition is utilized in the Phalanx Gun System. Primex Technologies is the sole developer and a qualified producer of this round. Work will be performed at the company's Marion, IL facility. Primex Technologies, Inc., a defense and aerospace company headquartered in St. Petersburg, Fla., maintains core businesses in munitions, propellants, satellite propulsion systems and electronic products.

Team: 20mm Ammunition
Height (max): 168mm
Weight: 253g
Number Produced: 3M+
Muzzle Velocity (nominal): 3700 f/s
Chamber Pressure (typical): 60,500 psi
Trace (typical): Untraced