BAE Fires 1st Shot from NLOS Cannon Prototype

(Minneapolis, Minnesota, October 6, 2008) -- BAE Systems successfully fired the first round from the first XM1203 Non-Line-of-Sight (NLOS) Cannon prototype at a U.S. Army test site.

"The first firing of a cannon using an onboard power system is a significant achievement for our soldiers and the Future Combat Systems (FCS) program. Now we have a Manned Ground Vehicle that can demonstrate its battlefield mission," said Mark Signorelli, vice president of Army Programs at BAE Systems. The system's predecessor, the NLOS Cannon Firing Platform, utilized a remote hardstand to support its firing.

The first round was fired by the same prototype the Army and the FCS One Team debuted on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. in June 2008. The company took the prototype through final laboratory tests before it went to the Army test site in August. The successful firing of the first round through the NLOS Cannon prototype demonstrates BAE Systems is on schedule for soldiers to begin user tests with the system and experience push-button firepower capability as early as next year.

The NLOS Cannon is a fully automated, 155-mm, self-propelled howitzer being designed and built by BAE Systems, in partnership with General Dynamics Land Systems and the FCS Lead System Integrator team of Boeing and Science Applications International Corporation. The NLOS Cannon is an integral part of the FCS program and the lead vehicle in the family of eight FCS Manned Ground Vehicles.

BAE Systems has two prototypes undergoing testing with four additional prototypes moving through the integration phase.

Source : BAE Systems PLC (LSE: BAES.L) - click here for more information