SHAH ALAM: It appears that more ammo – kaboom – stuff are on the way to their local users, army and navy – based on the request of bids for multi modal transport operators (MTO) to ship the stuff back here. This time the orders included 30mm cannon ammo – naval and ground stuff, multi purpose 12.7mm rounds and tank training rounds.
Being shipped from Sweden are an unknown quantity of 30mm and 12.7mm ammunition. Based on the description of the rounds, I am assuming that these are Nammo manufactured ammunition meant – 30mm for the Gempita and the 12.7mm for the various M2 machine guns of the army.
The multi-purpose and multi-purpose tracer rounds according to Nammo, provides excellent penetration, blast, fragmentation and incendiary effects against a multiple range of targets.
Although the Nammo ammo are the same ones for the MSI guns onboard various RMN ships, it appears that the tender for these naval rounds was won by a company offering ammo made in the US. This is probably because the RMN tender specified an aluminium case 30mm ammo in its tender. The Nammo rounds use brass cartridges and are qualified by the US Navy and US Marines. Anyhow the high explosive incendiary and high explosive incendiary tracer rounds will be shipped from Portsmouth Port, Virginia.
It is interesting to note that the 30mm cannon on KD Keris and its sister ships used steel cartridge ammunition as most Russian and Chinese weapons. I believed the Turkish made SMASH RWS 30mm cannon on the MMEA NGPC will be able to use the Nammo rounds as well though I am not sure where the agency are sourcing them.
The third MTO tender was for 125mm tank imitator or training rounds for the Pendekar. The shipment appears to be imported from a former Yugoslavia republic – Serbia, Bosnia or Montenegro – as the port of shipment listed in the tender is Ploce port, Serbia or Bar port, Montenegro. Again, I have no access to all of the tender documents hence the assumptions on them.
— Malaysian Defence
View Comments (15)
Any difference in performance if the casings are made from aluminium or brass?
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Not that I am aware off
We had previously sourced 12.7mm from Nammo. The first batch of 25mm was produced under license by SME but I have no idea if it’s still the case.
On the 125mm ammo; if it was from Prentis in Bosnia; it would be shipped from Split in Croatia. The fact that the ports listed are in Serbia and Montenegro would indicate the supplier is in Serbia.
What happened to all those locally made 30mm & 12.7mm ammos. They ceased production?
Reply
No idea
From your previous articles, those LMS uses the same NATO cartridge standards (30x173mm) not russian standards cartridge (30x165mm, as on our MiGs and Sukhois)
https://www.malaysiandefence.com/lms-part-2/
Theoretically aluminium casing should be cheaper than brass. Some are wary of the possibility of crack to the aluminium casing as aluminium is softer than brass. but there must be valid reasons why RMN specifically specified aluminium casings for its 30mm rounds.
BTW marhalim, any tungsten 30mm AP rounds we bought for the gempitas?
M113 hull attacked by 30mm rounds
http://s3.amazonaws.com/the-drive-staging/message-editor%2F1526408252256-m113.jpg
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Yes thats what I thought previously but I was told that they used steel cased ammo during the delivery ceremony for Keris
The important thing is the round must not jam the barrel after firing. During the early 2000 when the British Battle group in Helmand province guns using British. 50 cal jams after every two rounds forcing one company to abandon their .50 HMG n depending on their GPMG n SAW only to fight off the Taliban
Probably for the Army (based on prev tender):
54840 rounds of 30mm TP-T
17100 rounds of 30mm MR-T
325000 rounds of 12.7mm MP
Could be due to cost as aluminium is cheaper material than brass but lighter than steel (which is cheaper than aluminium).
Why can’t we purchase ammunition from singapore? ST-Kinetics produce wide range of ammunition which suit our needs and save cost on shipping
Reply
No idea
Maybe because of oxidation. Aluminium oxide leave a very thin layer of aluminium oxide that isn't really reactive to anything and actually protects the underlying surface from the environment. Brass, when they oxidize, leave behind a rather sticky green stuff that might jam on the chamber
Alex,
Verdigris.
B,
Good question. Maybe it’s the pricing.
We placed an emergency order for a million 7.72mm rounds in 1960. Not sure if we ordered anything from then after that.