BAE Systems has successfully fired the first round from its Non-Line-of-Sight Cannon (NLOS-C) Concept Technology Demonstrator (CTD) using a Zone 4, 38-caliber cannon tube at Yuma Proving Ground, Arizona. NLOS-C is the lead manned ground vehicle system under the US Army's Future Combat System program.

The lighter-weight 38-caliber length tube replaces the CTD's 39-caliber length tube which fired more than 1,193 rounds on the NLOS-C CTD system since August 2003. The successful integration and firing of the 38-caliber tube - in less than one month - demonstrates BAE Systems has successfully reached the next step in the development path toward fielding NLOS-C Increment 0 prototypes in 2008.

"The integration of the 38-caliber cannon onto this system continues to prove that BAE Systems is a world-class armament system developer," said Jim Unterseher, Director of Army Programs for BAE Systems at Minneapolis. "As this technology continues to mature, it is yet another indication that a new artillery weapons system will be in the hands of soldiers very quickly."

BAE Systems
23.07.2005