Turkey’s ASELSAN to supply weapon system to Croatia

Turkish defense systems producer ASELSAN yesterday signed an agreement with Croatian shipbuilder Brodosplit to supply a remote-controlled stabilized naval gun system to the Croatian coast guard.

The sale is ASELSAN's first export of the gun system to an EU country or a NATO member, the company said in a statement. Brodosplit will buy the 30 millimeter SMASH Remote Controlled Stabilized Naval Gun System, worth 4.2 million euros ($4.56 million).

In December last year, Brodosplit won a contract to supply five coastal patrol boats for the Croatian coast guard. The 41.85-meter boats will be fitted with the 30 mm automatic machine guns, two manually-operated 12.7 mm machine guns and four manually-operated portable anti-aircraft rocket systems.

The SMASH Remote Controlled Stabilized Naval Gun System is a remotely-operated stabilized weapon station fitted with a 30 mm Mk44 Bushmaster-II Canon. SMASH configurations incorporate advanced features like remote operation, a built-in electro-optic sensor system for autonomous operation, day and night operation, stabilized turret, automatic target tracking – detect, track and fire on the move – and ballistic computation.

The system can be operated remotely by using the remote gun control unit and hence provides gunners protection from counter fire. The SMASH system is capable of firing 200 rounds-per-minute with its dual feed 30 mm automatic cannon.