Leonardo is known the world over for the excellence of its naval artillery, the widely used 76/62 Super Rapido in all of its various versions, and the 127/64 Light Weight.
With its latest designed and developed LIONFISH series, Leonardo has consolidated its position as market leader in the small calibre artillery segment as well.
The LIONFISH series is designed to meet the ever-growing demand for light multi-role solutions that can be used for patrolling, protecting forces and defending installations. To adapt to every requirement, the series consists of three 12.7-calibre turrets – Lionfish ULTRALIGHT, INNER RELOADING e TOP– and a 20-calibre turret, the Lionfish 20.
The key features that the entire series has in common are modularity, a minimum need for maintenance and intuitive use, which minimizes training requirements and contributes to minimizing costs over the life cycle.
All of the turrets are easy to install, even on the smaller vessels, because they do not penetrate the deck and guarantee target engagement with great precision, even in bad weather conditions at sea owing to their complete stabilisation on 2 axes (elevation and Azimuth). Each turret can independently calculate the firing solution, and is equipped with a coaxial electro-optical unit with high-definition daylight camera, infrared camera and laser range finder for tracking the target. The optics are also built in-house. The MINI COLIBRÌ can be fitted with either a better performing cooled infrared sensor able to sight and identify a threat at a greater distance, or an uncooled infrared sensor that costs less.
Based on the sensor use, the discovery radius can reach a good 12 km, with identification between 3.3 and 2.7 km.
As the name suggests, the ULTRALIGHT is the lightest turret and weighs less than 180 kg. It has a minimum impact on the platform on which it is installed, and has an elevation radius ranging from -20° to +70° to provide coverage against both surface targets and drones and helicopters. The ULTRALIGHT can also be used on land vehicles or installations, as well as on vessels weighing less than 10 tons and under 10 metres in length. This model has already been tested on unmanned vessels as well.
The INNER RELOADING, weighing less than 215 kg, introduces a stealth coverage that protects it from environmental elements and makes the turret harder to be detected by adversaries. It can also be applied to land vehicles and installations.
The TOP offers the best performance of the series. Its coverage is more complete and it boasts a high level of stealth, as well as the best Cooled IR optics. It weighs less than 300 kg. It stands out owing to the maximum depression range it offers, up to -30°, so as to be able to engage even targets extremely close to the hull. This can make the difference when resisting threats that range from pirates boarding to the more atrocious scenario of attacks with suicide boats.
All the turrets share a basic architecture and the same support components to be installed below deck, naturally starting from the control console with 17” touchscreen and 2 multi-function joysticks providing full remote control.