Above is the Prototype RAMICS gun and mount on an MH-60S helicopter.
The gun is an upgrade of the the 25 mm M242 Bushmaster cannon stretched to fire the same 30mm round as the GAU-8 Avenger gun found on the A-10 Warthog.
First thought up in 1997, the AN/AWS-2 Rapid Airborne Mine Clearance System (RAMICS) system took a 30mm cannon and mounted on the side of a Seahawk helicopter with the idea being that it could blow the ever loving shit out of mines detected afloat or just under the surface. In 2002 Northrop Grumman started working on the program.
From their site:
“RAMICS uses a gated electro-optic Laser Imaging Detection and Ranging (LIDAR) sensor for target re-acquisition and a 30mm MK44 Bushmaster II gun for neutralization.
The gun uses a MK 258 Mod 1 armor-piercing, fin-stabilized tracer round which is stable during flight, and after penetrating the water, supercavitates to greatly reduce drag and improves underwater flight performance. Supercavitation takes place when the tip of the high velocity RAMICS projectile vaporizes the water to steam allowing the projectile to travel through the resulting gas pocket in the water column. The accuracy of the system will destroy the mine with a minimum number of rounds.
The system has undergone a series of tests to confirm projectile depth and lethality. Testing in November 2002 validated the system’s operational utility and application to future missions. RAMICS has also demonstrated rated capabilities to penetrate earth, metal and a six foot solid block wall.”
Funding was cut in 2011 although it was tested “capable of deflagrating a mine down to 13m depth; causing rapid sinking down to 45m; and slow sinking of mines at 60m.”
Yes, capable of hitting a sea mine through 196-feet of seawater and still having enough force to cause it to sink. Why would we want to fund something like that?
