Leonardo Hystrix: exploiting naval artillery for the land-based counter-UAS role

In late January Leonardo organised a media event at its Brescia facility to unveil an ongoing initiative which aims at generating land-based counter-UAS capabilities exploiting existing naval artillery systems. The new family of products is known as Hystrix, hedgehog in Latin language, which gives well the feeling of a 360° defence. These systems are considered for the first defence layer of the Michelangelo Dome, the advanced integrated defence system against third dimension threats recently unveiled by Leonardo

Leonardo is working on three different calibres, the 76 mm, exploiting the 76/62 SP naval turret, 40 mm, this solution being based on the Marlin 40, and 30×173 mm, with the recently unveiled Lionfish 30, which will give birth respectively to the Hystrix 76 ADS, Hystrix 40 ADS and Hystrix 30 ADS, ADS standing for Air Defence System. Different options will be available, the three systems being proposed in static, relocatable, or mobile configurations. Static solutions will typically see the turret mounted on a container, the latter hosting electronics, power generation and communications, these being a key element as the system will be remotely controlled from a command post; when deployed close to a facility power may well be provided by the grid. The so-called relocatable solution sees the turret fitted on a flatbed, fitted with hydraulic jacks to allow easy load and unload the system from a tactical truck; once arrived on the deployment spot, the flatbed is unloaded, auto-levelling jacks ensuring the system is in horizontal position, electronics, comms and power being hosted in a purposely designed container installed on the flatbed itself. Such a solution is much more mobile than the one previously described, and providing the truck suspensions allow it, it might also be used on board the vehicle, eventually fitting the flatbed with outriggers. A trailer solution can also be envisaged. All three calibre turrets can be used in those roles. The mobile solution sees the turret integrated on an armoured vehicle; here the situation is different, and quite probably only the Hystrix 40 ADS can be integrated on a wheeled or tracked platform without major adaptations. For the 76 mm Leonardo explained that a Hystrix 76 ADS Light is being developed for this purpose, while no such solution is foreseen for the Hystrix 30 ADS, as Leonardo has already developed the HITFIST 30 NG for the Italian Army, a dedicated land turret based on the same X-Gun which is starting production at the Brescia facility. All Hystrix systems are being developed as potential first line effectors for the Michelangelo Dome.

For readability reasons we split the amount of information acquired during the visit in multiple articles that our readers can find hereafter. As the calibre is the same, but the round is not, we added information on the HITROLE 30, a remotely controlled weapon station armed with the newly developed Blaze gun, which adopts the same configuration of the X-Gun, but this time chambered for the 30×113 mm round, in the article on the Hystrix 30 ADS. Additional info on naval turrets became available during the visit, which are summarised in a dedicated article.

Leonardo Hystrix 76 ADS, a land-based air defence and C-UAS based on the 76/62 naval gun

Leonardo Hystrix 40 ADS, the Marlin 40 moves on land to counter UAS

Leonardo 30 mm new C-UAS systems: Lionfish 30-based Hystrix 30 ADS and Blaze-based HITROLE 30

Photo courtesy Leonardo