In the last few years Leonardo has been very active in the turrets and cannons domains, developing new products and increasing production capacity, especially for barrels of different calibres. At the Paris exhibition the main Italian defence group showcased two new turrets, the Hitfist UL, for Unmanned Light, and the Hitrole C-UAS, armed respectively with the 30×173 mm X-Gun and the 30×113 Blaze gun, both recently developed by Leonardo
The Hitfist UL was mounted on the CL2X, the uncrewed ground vehicle developed by IDV and unveiled at Eurosatory. “This turret is fully ITAR free, and is specified to be very light to be installed on uncrewed systems or on amphibious platforms, as it is the same turret that will equip the VBA 8×8 amphibious armoured vehicle for the Italian Army and Navy,” Luca Perazzo, Deputy Managing Director Defence Systems at Leonardo Electronics explained. The amphibious requirement led Leonardo to develop a turret which mass in combat order is under 1.5 tonnes in the configuration adopted on the VBA, protection requirements being lower compared to a crewed turret. Height is also reduced, another positive factor considering the criticality of the centre of gravity in a floating system.
Firepower is provided by the X-Gun, 150 ready rounds being available in the dual-feed system, which can be reloaded from under armour when empty. A 7.62×51 mm machine gun is mounted coaxially over the main weapon, while 12 smoke grenade launchers, six per side, are integrated in the lower part of the turret front armour.
“The Hitfist 30 UL is fitted with two Janus D independent line of sight to cover the 360 degrees and to have a complete awareness of the mission environment,” Luca Perazzo underlined. The turret can be controlled by one or two operators, in the latter case it can be used in hunter-hunter, hunter-killer and killer-killer modes. The optronic suite is similar to that installed in Leonardo Hitfist 2-man turrets; the stabilised gimbal, with a -20°/+70° elevation, hosts an HD (1920×1080 pixels) day TV camera with optical zoom with Field of View (FoV) from 1.7° to 40°, a cooled MWIR thermal camera with a 640×512 matrix and optical zoom providing a 2.4°-24° FoV, and a and a Class 1/1M laser rangefinder with a 30 km range.
The Hitfist UL can integrate two externally mounted antitank missile launchers. The X-Gun has an elevation arc of -10°/+70°, and can employ all standard 30×173 mm ammunition available on the market. Leonardo is developing a new 30×173 mm smart-fused ammunition, while KNDS Ammo Italy is close to finish the development of its 30×137 mm airburst munition, for C-UAS use. “For this use, the Hitfist UL fire control system can be fitted with artificial intelligence algorithms to maximise the effectiveness against drone swarms,” Perazzo said, adding that Leonardo is also developing the capability to track different targets at the same time. For C-UAS use, the maximum elevation can be increased to +85°.
Countering the drone threat is the specificity of the second item unveiled at Eurosatory by Leonardo, the Hitrole C-UAS remotely controlled weapon station (RCWS), the last born of the Hitrole family. “The Hitrole is usually armed with a 12.7 mm machine gun. Now we have developed a 30×113 cannon, the Blaze, which is fully ITAR-free and is based on the same technology used on the X-Gun,” Luca Perazzo said introducing the new system. Electrically driven, the Blaze has a single feed and 200 rpm rate of fire. A 30×113 mm ammunition with a programmable fuse is being developed, Leonardo leveraging its experience acquired with 76 mm naval ammunition. EDR On-Line understands this is a miniaturised version of the well known 4AP fuse, standing for 4 Action Plus, capable to operate in target proximity, height of burst, time, point detonation and delayed point detonation modes. The RCWS is non- intrusive, the ammunition magazine on the right side containing over 150 rounds, while on the left we find the optronic suite, which also contains a day camera, a cooled MWIR camera, and a laser rangefinder. EDR On-Line understood that the same algorithms used on the bigger turret in the C-UAS role are employed in the smaller system.
In combat order the Hitrole C-UAS has a mass under 400 kg, and its elevation is -20°/+85°, the same of the Hitrole UL in the antidrone configuration. The Viking 2.4 drone exhibited by IDV in the C-UAS configuration was fitted with the RCWS as well as with a mast-mounted Janus-D, ensuring longer range detection and identification capability. The Hitrole C-UAS will also be fitted on the new Italian Main Battle Tank as the secondary weapon, to deal with the drone threat.
Photos courtesy IDV and P. Valpolini
