Leonardo enlarges its multi-domain defence systems portfolio, entering the small calibres gun manufacturer market
With the naming of the first international customer, in addition to the Italian Navy, of its new multi-domain 30×173 mm X-Gun and the unveiling of two brand new products, the three-barrel Gatling 20 mm and the under-development single-barrel Blaze 30×113 mm weapon, Leonardo Defence business has enriched its products portfolio which will soon range from 20 to 155 mm passing through 30, 40, 76 and 127 mm naval and land weapon systems, in addition to smart fuses, guided and conventional ammunitions
“Today unveilings mark an historical milestone in the Leonardo Defence business development as a worldwide recognized gun manufacturer,” Luca Perazzo, deputy managing director of Leonardo Defence business, part of the Italian group’s Electronic Division, highlighted during the media presentation at Brescia facility. The latter previously known as Breda Meccanica Bresciana, is the home of smaller calibre naval solutions, the facility celebrating its 100th anniversary this year.
“It is the completion of a process we have started a few years ago when the world was different. From a prospective point of view, we were in advance to what is happening today, considering not only the latest guns but also the ammunition developments we have accomplished with industrial partners and national armed forces to counter challenging threats. The technology that was is being to the new weapons is totally of our property so that we own the full IPR (Intellectual Property Rights), having patented several solutions which are unconventional and innovative compared to our competitors’ products,” the Leonardo representative added.
Defence is one of the four business areas – the other being Airborne, Land & Sea, and UK – in which Leonardo Electronics Division is subdivided, and it deals with multiple market segments, including land, naval and soon airborne armaments and systems alongside ammunition, in addition to customer support.
“We are currently dealing with small, 12.7 to 40 mm, medium, 76 mm, and large, 127 mm, calibre guns and turrets in the naval weapon systems segment alongside decoy launchers. The 76/62 mm Super Rapido gun mount and its Single Deck 76/62 mm variant are best-selling weapon systems with a production rate which increased from 6 in 2016 to 22 guns in 2023. The 76/62 mm family is currently performing very well in the Red Sea, having been effectively used by at least four naval customers against the Houthi drones. As for the 127/64 mm LW gun mount with automated magazine and the capability of firing our Vulcano family of long range guided and unguided ammunition, it established itself as the most modern and effective large naval calibre in the world. In the airborne domain, we produce helicopter turrets and pintle mounts for larger and smaller calibre Gatling guns, alongside bomb guidance kits (Paveway, Enhanced Paveway and JDAM) that are produced under licence by Raytheon and Boeing,” Perazzo explained. “The qualification and the availability to take orders of the new Gatling 20 mm gun will allow to enter the airborne segment with a proprietary gun but, due to its multi-domain nature, it will also find applications in the land and naval environment,” the Leonardo representative told EDR On-Line aside the presentation.
“We currently produce 120 mm calibre guns for main battle tanks and armoured vehicles such as the Centauro II, while we maintain the capability for the 105 mm alongside the 155 mm artillery gun production. With the advent of the proprietary X-Gun 30 and the Blaze 30 we expect to significantly expand our footprint in the land and naval markets,” Perazzo explained. The land gun turrets product portfolio ranges from the HITROLE Light capable to accommodate the 7.62, 12.7 mm gun or 40 mm automatic grenade launcher, to the HITFIST two-man turret for 25 and 30 mm and the HITFACT Mk II turret for large calibre guns (105 and 120 mm). The latter are mainly installed on wheeled and tracked vehicles produced by the CIO Consortium between Iveco Defence Vehicles (IDV) and Leonardo (former OTO Melara company) but are also proposed for being installed on third party chassis. The business area is also involved in the main battle tanks and artillery (including self-propelled) production sector.
“In this moment business is growing very fast. We have recruited more than 200 people per year in the last three years and this trend is also expected for the next two-three years. The business is also growing by 20-25% per year. Currently, we are accommodating a significant growth in the naval and ammunition sector, which will be sided in the future by the land sector. Today we are under contract with CIO for the Centauro II armoured vehicle as well as the upgrading of the Ariete MBT. The Italian MoD and Army are working to renovate main battle tanks and armoured tracked vehicles components. These activities are expected to come in the next years and to make this growth even more significant,” he highlighted. During the media presentation, Leonardo representatives presented the two-man and unmanned versions of the HITFIST turret family armed with the X-Gun. These solutions could find applications in two Italian Army programmes, respectively the VBM Freccia Midlife Upgrade and the new A2CS (Army Armoured Combat System, formerly AICS) programme, for which the CIO consortium has received a Request for Quotation (RfQ), which also includes the market search for a technology partner to be involved on the platform side of the programme.
“The ammunition sector is another fast-growing market for us, where in addition to conventional rounds in the 76- and 127-mm calibre, we have developed and are producing long-range unguided and guided Vulcano ammunition in the 76-, 127- and 155-mm calibres, together with the DART highly manoeuvring guided round for the 76 mm Super Rapido gun. In this sector, we are partnering with different companies for the pyrotechnics elements as we have been always concentrated on the design of the ammunition and the smart fuses. Our 4AP fuse is currently probably on the top of the fuses available for this kind of ammunition.”
La Spezia’s 240,000 m2 site accommodates the headquarters, development and test facilities in addition to the gun barrels and main components production lines for all the segments, and the Super Rapido/Single Deck and 127/64 LW Vulcano alongside armoured vehicle turrets assembly and production lines. The Brescia’s 150,000 m2 site is home to the small calibres up to 40 mm naval systems and turrets, while two more sites of respectively 6,000 m2 and 15,000 m2 near Rome are dedicated to Larimart activities.
To cope with fast-increasing market demands and the enlargement of the production portfolio, the Defence business has launched some years ago the enforcement of the industrial base and supply chain, in addition to the workforce which today stands over 1,400 employees across the four plants. Due to a strong turnover registered in the last years the personnel average age of Defence business is 43 years with an outstanding low in Brescia with an average of 37 years, “with younger engineers having been involved in the new guns development,”. The supply chain has been streamlined, enforced, and structured under national boundaries, allowing to have double or triple suppliers of key elements to sustain the expected orders increase .
“Our in-house production is today focused on barrels, breech blocks and breech rings for all proprietary weapons, as well as on big machined parts, such as the 127 and 76 cradles and mounts, and vehicle turrets. We are also upgrading our equipment and preparing the warehouses for the assembly lines to handle the under-discussion tanks and tracked armoured vehicles programmes for the Italian Army. On the electronic side, we buy components and assembly and integrate in-house solution designed by ourselves (including software). Electro-optic components come from other Leonardo business area or third parties, depending on customers’ requirements. Artificial Intelligence (AI) solutions have been developed in cooperation with other Electronic Division business areas. As anticipated we are increasing both barrels and components production: we are currently doubling the production rate for the 76 mm and 120 mm turret systems and expanding the barrel production for the current and new proprietary guns, namely the 30 mm X-Gun and the incoming Gatling 20, in the La Spezia site”, explained Perazzo, adding that considering only the naval domain the guns line of business is currently interacting with more than 30 customers around the world.
“In the coming years, we are to expand the recently renovated assembly lines to accommodate the new small calibres products on the Brescia site,” the Leonardo representative continued. “All new generation Lionfish turrets including the 12.7 mm Ultra Light, 12.7 Inner Reloading and Top 12.7, alongside the Lionfish 20 and 30, have already multiple customers for each product,” Perazzo unveiled. During the visit to the site, in addition to the firing of the X-Gun 30 in the tunnel firing range (70 meters long, with additional 10 meters of arresting sand) the company representatives showed for the first time the new Lionfish 20 equipped with the Rheinmetall 20 mm KAE gun. Leonardo is under contract to provide these turrets to equip the Hellenic Navy’s FDI frigates under construction by Naval Group. Two other undisclosed customers have selected and contracted these turrets.
On the current assembly lines EDR On-Line could also see the 25 mm KBA gun mounts in the “man on the mount” and remote control variants respectively for the last Italian Navy FREMMs (11th and 12th) and the seventh PPA, the Marlin WS 30 mm with independent line of sight (ILOS) as well as the ODLS 20 (OTO Decoy Launching System) 20-cell launcher for both anti-air and anti-torpedo decoys (Mobile Target Emulator and Mobile Jammer Target Emulator by Leonardo Underwater business), to be supplied to the Italian Navy. On a separate assembly area some Marlin 40 mm turrets were also visible. This weapon has been sold in East Asia, Northern and Eastern Africa, according to Leonardo; it is known that Indonesia and Nigeria are among the users, while no details were disclosed for the Northern Africa customer.
While the Lionfish 30 equipped with the new X-Gun 30 mm has been contracted to be installed by the Italian Navy on the new PPX OPVs and the Royal Canadian Navy on the new Canadian Surface Combatant programme frigates, the Lionfish Top 12.7 has been acquired by the Royal Netherlands Navy to equip a range of amphibious and support ships and could be procured also for the new combatant platforms such as the ASW frigates (ASWFs). The German Navy will to equip the F126 frigates with that same turret, while the Italian Navy will install it on an undisclosed initial platform, which EDR On-Line understood being the SDO-SuRS Special and Diving Operations – Submarine Rescue Ship). The 12.7 Inner Reloading turret is understood being procured by the Italian Navy to equip the combat boats built by Baglietto Navy as part of Trieste LHD amphibious organic assets, and by an undisclosed international customer, while no information was released on the 12.7 Ultra Light customers.
Photos courtesy Leonardo
