No plans to add 30mm guns to UK aircraft carriers
The UK government has confirmed there are no plans to fit 30mm naval guns to HMS
Queen Elizabeth or HMS
Prince of Wales, despite growing concern over drone threats to warships.
Responding to a written question from Lord Lee of Trafford, Defence Minister Lord Coaker said the carriers already rely on a layered defence approach.
.“There are no plans to fit a 30mm weapon system to HMS Queen Elizabeth or HMS Prince of Wales,” he said. “The Queen Elizabeth Class carriers are equipped with a range of defensive systems, which along with escort vessels and wider force protection measures, provide a layered defensive system that is effective against a wide range of threats, including emerging uncrewed aerial threats.”
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The decision comes despite the carriers having been designed with four positions for 30mm gun systems, none of which have been installed since the ships entered service.
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The DS30M Mark 2, widely used across the Royal Navy’s surface fleet, is a stabilised 30mm cannon system designed to counter fast attack craft and small surface threats, and has also been adapted in some cases to engage aerial targets such as drones.
The system uses an electro-optical director and can be controlled from elsewhere on the ship, allowing operators to track and engage targets without direct line-of-sight from the mount itself. Its stabilisation and dual-feed ammunition system enable engagement of multiple target types at ranges of up to around 5km, with the ability to switch between ammunition types depending on the threat.
Originally introduced to address gaps in the Royal Navy’s ability to deal with swarming small boat attacks, the system has since become a standard close-range defensive weapon across surface combatants, complementing other systems such as Phalanx close-in weapon systems and escort-based air defence.