04/27/2009

Rheinmetall Modular Charge System: mission-oriented, flexible and combat-proven

Today's armed forces make a major contribution to safeguarding global collective security, ensuring that future generations can grow up in peace and freedom. As always, achieving a balanced combination of operational effectiveness, lethality and force protection is the top priority.

Highly mobile, hard-hitting artillery assets are able to respond in scalable fashion to a wide variety of threats at long ranges. Artillery thus continues to play a critical role – whether the mission is defending national territory at home or projecting power abroad.

As one of the world's leading suppliers of systems and equipment for ground forces, Rheinmetall Defence supplies the world's armed forces with a comprehensive range of state-of-the-art hardware and flexible solutions – all from a single source. A good example of this from the field of propellants is the Modular Charge System (MCS) DM72/ DM 92, made by Rheinmetall Nitrochemie.

Developed in the early 1980s and fully qualified for calibres 39 and 52 in 1996, this modular propelling charge system complies completely with the specifications of NATO's Joint Ballistic Memorandum of Understanding (JBMoU). The MCS can be readily used with projectiles and artillery systems that meet these standards. It also meets the LOVA (“low vulnerability”) specifications in STANAG, achieving excellent “Criterion IV-V” results in every test.

The only propelling charge system qualified for Climate Zone A1, MCS is suitable for use at temperatures ranging from -46 °C to + 71°C. At 21°C and a muzzle velocity of 945 m/s, the range of an L15 projectile is over 30 kilometres.

MCS is a bi-modular design: a basic charge for range zones 1 and 2, and standard charges for zones 3 to 6. This means that only two module types are necessary, which also contributes significantly to handling safety. A further advantage of MCS is its R5730/5733 propellant. This assures reduced barrel erosion, resulting in longer barrel life.

Since the start of serial production in 1996, Rheinmetall Defence has manufactured more than 1.5 million modules. Germany, Norway, the Netherlands, Italy and Greece have all procured MCS; the Dutch Army is now using it successfully in Afghanistan. In Turkey, too, the MCS DM92 has been supplied for qualifying the MKEK projectile.