Ordnance Factory Medak (OFM) on Monday entered into a contract with the Indian Coast Guard for the Supply of 10 CRN-91 Guns. The contract was formally handed over by Deputy Inspector General of Coast Guard Bhibhuti Ranjan to OFM General Manager P Babji, at Coast Guard Headquarters, New Delhi.

This Close Range Naval (CRN) Gun is a Naval Version of the 30 mm automatic gun installed on a ship and gyro stabilised. It is directed by an electro-optic fire control system (FCS) for day and night use mounted on an improvised cupola. It can also be remotely operated.

The CRN-91 is a naval version of the Medak gun that is licence manufactured by OFB Medak for fitment on the BMP-2 Sarath. The original design is that of the 2A42 Shipunov gun of 30x165 mm calibre. It has a maximum rate of fire of 500 rds/min and a sustained rate of 200 to 300 rds/min.

It has a dual feed mechanism, meaning it can alternate between armour piercing tracer and high explosive incendiary & fragmentation tracer projectiles that are electrically primed, meaning that instead of a firing pin striking the primer and thus igniting the propellant the primer is activated through an electric current.

The cannon is guided by the BPK 2–42 electro optical sight, and the entire assembly is gyro stabilised in pitch and yaw axes. The sight has a capability to operate in both day & night conditions. It is remotely operable.

The sight’s features are as follows:

Day System
Magnification: 6X
Field of view at least: 10°
Periscope height: 221 mm
Night system
Magnification at least: 5.5X
Field of view at least: 6°40′
Periscope height: 248 mm

It serves onboard various OPVs, Pollution Control Vessels and other smaller ships in the Indian Coast Guard. Recently the Landing Craft Utility MK-IV being commissioned into the Navy also features this gun.

(With Agency Inputs)