BAE Eyes V-22 All-Quadrant Gun For CH-47

BAE Systems is drawing up a plan to integrate its Remote Guardian System (RGS) defensive gun on the Boeing CH-47 Chinook heavy-lift helicopter as the all-quadrant weapon is prepared for in-flight firings on the Bell Boeing V-22 Osprey tiltrotor.

The remotely operated 7.62mm gun system is being qualified on U.S. Air Force Special Operation Command’s (AFSOC) CV-22 and BAE has been looking into expanding its application to other aircraft (Aerospace DAILY, June 23). “The RGS has been fired during hover and cleared for live fire in flight. Now we need to go do it,” says John Nix, vice president, defense avionics business development.

The 800-pound RGS comprises an electro-optical/infrared sensor installed in the V-22’s forward cargo-floor “hellhole,” turreted gun in the aft hellhole and handheld controller for the crew chief. Installation in the CH-47 or Sikorsky CH-53 would be similar, Nix says.

“The CH-47 hellhole set up is dimensionally almost identical, and the CH-53 is very similar, so these are two easy platforms to target,” he says. BAE is developing a detailed integration scheme for the Chinook so it can “engage the customer in dialogue,” Nix says, adding “The U.K. and U.S. are interested.”

A CH-47 installation might use a .50-caliber GAU-19 gun instead of the 7.62mm GAU-17 on the Osprey.