Will the DN-4000 of the Vietnam Coast Guard be equipped with an automatic control turret?
Equipping the 750-ton patrol boat of the Fisheries Surveillance with an automatic weapon station opens up the prospect of integrating it into many other ships.
At the Vietship 2018 exhibition, clear graphic images of the design and weapon configuration of the 4,000-ton DN-4000 large patrol ship for the Vietnam Coast Guard were made public for the first time.
Contrary to previous predictions, the DN 4000 did not carry the 76mm Oto Melara or AK-176M naval gun, nor the 23mm-2ML, but it was equipped with two 25mm 2M-3 twin-barreled cannons positioned right in front of the command cabin.
The 2M-3 gun is considered inadequate for a modern ship like the DN-4000 because it is completely manually controlled, without modern electro-optical aiming equipment or remote operation mechanism.
|
| Graphic image of large patrol ship DN-4000 for Vietnam Coast Guard. |
In the future, with the development of defense potential as well as weapons and equipment, integrating a more powerful weapon into Vietnam's largest and most modern patrol ship is possible.
Things have become even more favorable recently when the Vietnam Fisheries Surveillance force installed a remote-controlled weapon station with automatic guns on the 750-ton medium-sized patrol ship numbered KN-472.
|
| Remotely controlled weapon station integrated on patrol boat KN-472 of Vietnam Fisheries Surveillance. |
This remote-controlled weapon station has a very flexible modular structure, it can carry many different gun and cannon sizes from 12.7 mm to 35 mm and can be easily mounted on many different types of boats.
This new weapon is an extremely promising candidate for replacing 1 or 2 2M-3 gun mounting positions on the DN-4000 patrol boat. It is predicted that the above weapon module will use a 23mm gun barrel similar to the 23mm-2ML or can also carry 35mm ammunition with an electronic fuse to take full advantage of the features.
The most reasonable weapon configuration for the DN-4000 should be an automatic gun platform installed in a high position, right below the command cabin, while the remaining position will be equipped with a 76 mm Oto Melara Super Rapid gun, giving the ship many times more capabilities than the basic design.
This has become even more necessary as recently many large patrol vessels of law enforcement forces in the region have been equipped with more powerful weapons, making them no less than naval patrol vessels.
