Germany to send WS-61 Westland Sea King helicopters to Ukraine
Germany has committed to sending Ukraine six of its 21 retiring WS-61 Westland Sea King multirole, amphibious helicopters.
The Dillon Aero M134D Gatling Gun will be offered by FN Herstal as an additional option to its airborne pintle mounted systems under a teaming arrangement announced between the two companies on 13 October.
Under the agreement FN Herstal’s airborne pintles will be capable of connecting to the M134D in addition to the existing FN MAGR 58M, and FN M3M(GAU-21) machine guns, with all three variants qualified by FN Herstal.
Each armament conversion kit fulfils a different mission requirement. The FN MAGR 58M is a 7.62mm cal machine gun with maximum rate of fire of 1,000 RPM; the M134D, also known as the ‘Minigun’ is a 6 barrel Gatling Gun with rate of fire of 3,000; while the FN M3M (GAU-21) is a .50 cal firing at 1,100 RPM.
The armament swap on FN Herstal’s systems connections will take minutes, allowing users to swap from the FN MAGR 58M to the M134D or to the FN M3M (GAU-21) on FN Medium Pintle Systems for maximum flexibility.
In offering users the ability to configure the weapon systems with the armament of choice, FN Herstal aims to improve the helicopter’s modularity and adaptability to specific missions and threats.
Germany has committed to sending Ukraine six of its 21 retiring WS-61 Westland Sea King multirole, amphibious helicopters.
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