PICATINNY ARSENAL, N.J. - A small contingent of engineers attached to the Naval Surface Warfare Center, Indian Head Explosive Ordnance Technology Division?'s Picatinny Detachment (NSWC IHEODTD) are responsible for testing, delivering and installing all Mk38 Mod 2 25mm machine gun systems on U.S. Navy and Coast Guard ships.
The job, which requires the team to travel across the globe roughly 65 percent of the year, also mandates that they perform in-service trouble shooting, and lifecycle support for the systems.
Some of the small staff transferred from the Naval Surface Warfare Center, Port Hueneme Detachment, Louisville Ky., while others were new hires. One new hire is Kevin MacCheyne, who recently retired from the U.S. Marine Corps as a first sergeant for the Marine Corps Reserve Unit here at Picatinny, Golf Company, 2nd Battalion, 25th Marine Corps Regiment.
Before that MacCheyne was a Master Gunner while serving as a Tank Crewman, and achieved Master Gunner status. This experience would help MacCheyne land the position with the Navy upon retirement, permitting him to continue work at Picatinny without relocating.
After the gun system completed the Factory Acceptance Test at the prime contractor, it is then transferred to Picatinny for functional testing at the Navy?'s Range Facility before being delivered to the fleet for installation on-board ship. Upon arrival at Picatinny, engineers such as MacCheyne, now an engineering technician, install a M242 Bushmaster canon and transport the mount to the Navy?'s Range Facility for testing.
The Bushmaster M242 ?"It?'s the same gun as on the Bradley Fighting Vehicle or the Marine Corps LAV," (Light Armored Vehicle) MacCheyne said.
The M242 fires a 25mm projectile and is a single-barrel weapon which may be fired in semi-automatic, burst, or automatic modes.
Depending on ship classes, each ship will be installed with one to four MK 38 systems and the gun can be rotated approximately 180 degrees to provide protection at almost every angle of the ship.
One such functionality test saw the engineers fire 55 rounds from each side of the system?'s two ammunition belt feeds, one left, one right.
The Navy?'s Range Facility includes a Firing Bay, Gun Workshop, Conditioning Room, a Control Room with observation windows, and dual slug butts. One slug butt is equipped with a smash plate for testing High Explosive Rounds, while the other is sand filled for testing Target Practice Rounds. The engineers sit in the observation room and use a remote operating console wired to the MK 38 Mod 2 machine to fire rounds down the 88-meter range. The system is wired exactly as it would be on ship.
"It runs off 24 volts. Two 12-volt batteries and 115 volt AC plug," said Ryan Guttormsem, a Mechanical Engineer.
"You could literally run this system by plugging it into your car if you wanted to," Guttormsem said.
There is a commander?'s safety panel that is located in another area of the ship so that the weapon cannot be fired without authorization. Once that switch is engaged and approval is given, the operators can engage their targets.
There is a laser range finder that seeks out targets and once engaged the operator can switch to one of five modes; Single, Low Burst (three rounds at 100 rounds per minute), High (five rounds at 180 per minute), Low Continuous (100 per minute for as long as the trigger is engaged), and High Continuous (180 rounds per minutes for as long as the trigger is engaged).
Guttormsem initiated commands to MacCheyne as to where and how many test rounds he wanted fired. MacCheyne would then repeat the commands, acknowledging receipt of the orders, and fired the rounds down range.
A camera attached to the bore of the weapon system captures live footage which can be seen back in the control room.
Once the test is complete and the system is deemed functional the gun is dismounted, and the system is then transported to a port to be installed. The Navy?'s engineers and technicians at Picatinny coordinate extensively with the shipyards and the fleet in order to perform the gun installation.
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