Frag Out! Magazine
Issue link: https://fragout.uberflip.com/i/840553
inside the block action unit. After the breech is locked, the cannon is ready to fire. The rate of fire is six rounds per minute, which means that one shell leaves the barrel every 10 seconds, but it is capable to shoot 15-second three-shell burst. To fire the burst, the crew places the first shell in the chamber, the second at the forward assist, and the third in the transfer arm; propellants are passed by loaders. The sustained rate of fire is two rounds per minute. The firing angle of the gun-howitzer covers a full traverse range in horizontal plane, i.e. 360º, and a vertical plane elevation of – 3.5º to +70º. The maximum speed of turret rotation and of the cannon elevation angle change is 10 degrees per second in each case. After the whole ammunition supply is depleted (40 rounds), the shells are reloaded manually from a wheeled ammunition supply vehicle carrying 96 shells and 96 propellants. The total time of reload is 15 minutes. The March 2017 trials were conducted with the use of ammunition manufactured in Poland under a license. They were standard OFdMKM rounds without the gas generator and OFdMKM DV rounds with the gas generator, including KZ584 fuses, manufactured by ZM Dezamet under a license of Slovak ZVS Holding. Caseless modular propellants manufactured by Czech Explosia, soon to be produced in Poland, were used as well. A test involving the strongest propellant (#6) proved that an OFdMKM round fired from an L/52 barrel demonstrated a range of fire of 32 km, and an OFdMKM DV round – of 42 km, which meets the army's range requirements for ammunition without a gas generator (Hollow Base) and with a gas generator (Base Bleed). The tests also showed that the dispersion over distance was 260 m at the tested range of fire. It's a typical value for non-guided ammunition, and does not differ in essence from the values demonstrated by other cannon types. For instance, in the case of the American M777A2 howitzer, it is up to 200 m over a distance of 15 km. This is why combating small-sized targets, concealed high-value targets or targets in danger close range involves the use of: cluster rounds, which makes it possible to increase the area of impact and eliminate dispersion; and guided ammunition, which makes precision firing possible. In the nearest time to come, Krab crews will be using, however, the above mentioned HB and BB rounds as it is ordered and manufactured in Poland. There www.fragoutmag.com