Video: review about naval gun systems manufactured by Leonardo.

On October 23, 2019, Navy Recognition editorial team has visited one of Leonardo's aerospace, defence and security site in Brescia. The tour was focused on the Naval and Airborne small-calibre guns manufacturing. It was a good opportunity for Navy Recognition to see the wide range of weapons systems made by Leonardo (from Kalibre 12.7mm to 40mm).

Leonardo display at DIMDEX 2018 (Picture source: Army Recognition)

Leonardo's Brescia site is specialised in the production of small-scale land and naval systems that have consistently been chosen as the light armaments by the Italian Army, Navy and other international Armed Forces. A few years ago the plant began to produce airborne armaments including machine guns and pintle mounts for helicopters and air/ground-based defence systems which are loaded onto cargo aircraft. During the visit to the plant, Leonardo showcased five weapon systems and their specifications.

OTO HITROLE 20mm:

HITROLE 20mm is fitted as a standard option with three barrels 20 mm x 102 mm Gatling gun. The system, if requested, can be fitted with single-barrel machine guns of 12.7mm in calibre, 12.7mm Gatling gun, 40mm AGL, or, as growth potential, six barrels 20 mm x 102 mm Gatling gun and 30 mm LF chain gun.

High capacity ammunition storage (750 rounds 20mm) guarantee the necessary operative flexibility and autonomy for close-in protection against sea-based threats and air targets.

HITROLE 20mm can be easily operated by a single operator through a Remote Control Console and joystick or can be controlled by the ship’s Combat Management System.

OTO HITROLE G:

The HITROLE G is a modern, fully stabilized, electrically operated and remotely controlled naval weapon system that can be fitted with a range of single or multi barrels cannons, well suited for policing operations and countering asymmetric threats.

An “on mount” high capacity ammunition storage (400 rounds 12,7mm), plus additional ammunition depots under the mount, guarantee the necessary operative flexibility and autonomy for close-in protection against sea-based threats and air targets.

HITROLE G can be fitted with single barrel cannons of 12,7mm, or 7,62mm, or 5,56mm in calibre or 40mm AGL, while the choice for multi-barrel Gatling cannons is of 12,7mm or 7,62mm, or 5,56 mm in calibre.

OTO HITROLE N:

HITROLE 12.7mm naval turret is a modern system fully controlled from a remote station via an advanced control console that allows the gunner to operate from a protected position within the ship's structure: any operation, including loading and recocking, can be undertaken with maximum safety for the operator.

Low weight and high level of flexibility make this turret particularly suitable for installation as the main armament of any small patrol vessel engaged in border control, maritime traffic interdiction or as secondary armament on larger ships for self-protection in the anti-terrorism role.

HITROLE 12.7mm turret is a stand-alone system with stabilization achieved via built-in Gyros system: no external signal is required by the turret from other ship systems. Upon request, the HITROLE® 12.7mm turret can also be linked to other Electro-Optical sensors onboard the ship and functional interface to ship’s Combat Management System can also be provided.

OTO Marlin 40:

The Marlin 40 Type-A naval mount consists of an unmanned mounting capable to be controlled exclusively by an external Combat Management System (CMS).

The combination of a high rate of fire and modern programmable ammunition enables the system to efficiently and effectively engage a large number of targets. In particular, the high operative flexibility covers most typical modern naval scenarios including generic surface threats, fast crafts, anti-ship helicopters and fast attacking aircraft as well as various missiles.

The gun mount operates with a high fire rate, 40mm cannon fed through a 72 ready-to-fire round magazine capable of managing a dual-feed ammunition system. The system can be set up according to three different configurations based on customer requirements.

OTO TWIN 40L70:

The Twin 40L70 Compact provides high rate of fire (600 rds/min) very effective with proximity-fuzed ammunition, good availability of ready-to-fire ammunition for automatic firing, maximum reliability, advanced design resulting in complete automation, readiness for operation, and low maintenance requirements, complete remote control and high servo-system performance, maximum firing accuracy and low reaction time, operability in NBC conditions.

The Twin 40L70 Compact provides effectiveness and reliability especially under the most challenging operations, such as anti-missile defence (subsonic sea-skimmers), anti-aircraft defence;
ship-to-ship engagements.

The Twin 40L70 Compact is in service with more than 20 Navies and is available in two versions. The Type A, with a 736 round magazine and the Type B, with a 444 round magazine. Type A and Type B can both be installed above-deck or with the magazines below-deck.