Company insight Superior firepower
A joint venture between BAE Systems and NEXTER Systems, CTA International is responsible for the development, qualification, production and in-service support of the 40CTAS – a weapons system that provides enhanced versatility and superior firepower over any other medium calibre system. We speak to Sylvain Richy, managing director of CTA International, to learn more about the company and its products.
Could you give a brief overview of the history of CTA International and the CT40 weapon? Sylvain Richy: CTA International was established in the 1990s as a joint venture between GIAT Industries in France and Royal Ordnance in the UK. These companies had the shared vision of creating a revolutionary medium-calibre weapon through international cooperation between allies. Today, these joint-venture parent companies are Nexter Systems and BAE Systems, and CTA International has delivered over 600 of its CT40 weapons and 100,000 rounds of CT40 ammunition. Currently, there are three Nato customers for the weapon: France, the UK and Belgium. The ‘CT’ in CT40 stands for ‘Cased Telescoped’, which is the novel technology at the centre of the weapon that has enabled CTA International to create the world’s most powerful and compact medium-calibre weapon.
Top: Jaguar EBRC 6x6 fighting vehicle Bottom: The Ajax fighting vehicle Right: Sylvain Richy, managing director of CTA International
think that the digital sensors and versatility of our weapon will make it well-suited to this application. I like to think about the CT40 weapon as
“The CT40 weapon can defeat a BMP-3 infantry fighting vehicle followed immediately by an Orlan-10 UAV for significantly less than the comparative cost of using an ATGM or MANPAD.”
The major parts of the CT40 weapon are the cannon, gun control equipment, weapon computer and ammunition-handling system. The ammunition-handling system is a real differentiator for the CT40 weapon, as it gives users the capability to quickly switch between ammunition natures to address a wide-range of potential threats. For example, the CT40 weapon can defeat a BMP-3 infantry fighting vehicle followed immediately by an Orlan-10 UAV for significantly less than the comparative cost of using an ATGM or MANPAD. I’m excited to see the CT40 weapon integrated into an unmanned vehicle, as I
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a metaphor for the power and resilience brought about by international cooperation.
Could you speak a little more about the weapon’s versatility? Specifically in the context of manned vs unmanned systems? Between 2003 and 2007, CTA International integrated the CT40 weapon into both manned and unmanned turrets. At the time of the two major vehicle programmes, Ajax and Jaguar, the decision was made to install manned turrets. As requirements and technology
enablers such as manned-unmanned- teaming evolve, we increasingly see a future environment in which unmanned ground vehicles (UGVs) will deploy in parallel with crewed systems. There will be a balance to strike between manned and unmanned platforms in order to deploy en masse in an effective and sustainable way.
The CT40 weapon would provide the optimum ratio of firepower and size for such solutions, in addition to the weapon being fully digitised. The CT40 weapon is packed with digital sensors and a central ‘brain’, giving live feedback to the user about system status and activity. The weapon can be operated at a vehicle level, or as part of a networked battlefield, with sensors decoupled from the platform they’re attached to, and targets addressed with the most appropriate ammunition for the job. We see a growth path for the weapon toward active health monitoring, easing the cognitive burden on vehicle crews, while increasing the volume of
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