Previously known as Breda Meccanica Bresciana and celebrating its 100th anniversary this year, the latter is home to the company’s smaller calibre naval solutions up to 40 mm. With entering into the small calibre gun manufacturer market, Leonardo has enriched a product portfolio which will soon range from 20 to 127 mm passing through 30, 40, and 76 calibre naval turrets, in addition to land solutions, smart fuses, guided and conventional ammunitions.
The 30 mm X-Gun for naval and land applications represents a cutting-edge, ITAR-free, electric-powered weapon system completely developed in-house by Leonardo, utilizing innovative and patented technologies, capable of firing the complete range of available 30×173 mm ammunitions, namely the Multi Fragmentation – Air Burst Munition (MF-ABM). The latter is being under final development and qualification by KNDS Ammo Italy together with the Leonardo gun and its new naval turret solution, the Lionfish 30, for the whole weapon system launch customer, the Italian Navy.
“Our cutting-edge gun weapon system has already been selected and contracted in the meantime by a second customer, the Royal Canadian Navy.
Luca Perazzo, Deputy Managing Director of Leonardo Defence Business, part of the Electronic Division
With plans to move from in-service secondary 25 mm to 30 mm remote-controlled weapon stations (RCWS), the Italian Navy has contracted Leonardo to provide the first Lionfish 30s with X-Gun for the new PPX Offshore Patrol Vessels (OPVs) programme. The Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) has selected and contracted the Lionfish 30/X guns under the new Canadian Surface Combatant programme to build and deliver fifteen new ships.
“We started with this process (entering in to the smaller calibre segment) a few years ago when the world was different. From a prospective point of view, we were in advance to what is happening today”, the Leonardo representative said referring to the whole weapon system solution, including the capability of countering unmanned air systems (UAS). “The technology that you will see today is totally of our property so that we own the full IPR (Intellectual Property Rights)”, said Perazzo, making the X-Gun an ITAR-Free solution, ensuring seamless and unrestricted deployment while foresting international partnerships without compromising on security.
The X-Gun development decision dates back to 2017, with a proof of concept (breadboard) funded in 2018 and “the realization of the first prototype of the drum (rotor) cam, which is at the heart of the gun”, elaborated Mattia Forcina, the head of Defence Mechanical Engineering, who is leading the team developing the X-Gun alongside the Gatling 20 and the Blaze 30 gun systems.
Seen from the side, as shown during the media presentation, the drum cam shows a cross that inspired the “X-Gun” name. The 1st burst with a 200-round-per-minute rate of fire was accomplished in 2019, followed by the breadboard configuration frozen and the development of the prototypes of the linkless and linked feeding alongside the gun control unit in the 2021-2022 period to arrive at the prototypes (SN 01, 02 and 03) production in 2023. The long, under-finalization development and qualification process has been fully conducted on the company’s funding and saw a step-by-step evolution due to the innovative design and technologies introduced with the new gun. The Italian Navy is expected to fund the soon-to-be-launched qualification phase of the gun, as well as the design, development and qualification phase of the Lionfish 30.
“The industrial qualification process has been completed while the environmental and STANAG 4516 qualification is underway and its completion is expected by the end of 2024,” Forcina highlighted. Leonardo considers the X-Gun at TRL 6 and will reach the following level very quickly, allowing the Italian group to be confident and ready to take orders. In parallel to the gun qualification, Leonardo is also working on the new Lionfish 30 gun mount, whose prototype is expected to be unveiled early next year.
“The X-Gun is set for an official launch in full production and availability in 2025, being already promoted on the international market from 2024 with delivery time T0+24 months while further deliveries could follow between T0+12 and T0+18 months.”
Daniele Barbieri, Head of Sales Management Export Small Calibre at Leonardo Defence Business
The gun barrel and other connected components production is accomplished in Leonardo’s La Spezia facility while its naval turret (Lionfish 30) assembly will be conducted in Brescia with components coming from different company’s facilities and the supply chain. The latter has been streamlined, enforced and structured under national boundaries, allowing to have double or triple suppliers of key elements to sustain an expected increase in orders.
The X-Gun meets and exceeds the most rigorous global defence standards, delivering 30×173 rounds in adherence to NATO STANAG 4624 standards at a rate of 200 rounds per minute. “At the heart of the new gun, is the electrically-powered drum cam which, with its rotation provided a brushless motor (installed inside the same drum cam), ensures all gun operations; in three turns, which is 1,080°, of which 270° for each operation: feeding the round, ramming, firing and extracting it,” Forcina explained. “A quite simple solution, but completely ‘unconventional’ and innovative compared to our competitors”, Forcina continued, “a solution which minimises movable parts, thereby enhancing reliability”.
The 90 calibres (2,700 mm) long barrel is fluted and incorporates grooves for optimal cooling during operation while the lateral dual-feeding mechanism ensures a continuous and efficient ammunition supply. “The gun maintains the same receiver, switching from the linkless to the linked feeder without any modification, allowing the gun to maintain over 80% spares in common between the two versions,” with evident logistic benefits.
With a recoil force comparable to competitors, the overall X-Gun mass weighs 173 kg, of which 78 kg of the receiver, 60 kg for the barrel and 35 kg for the feeder. The gun control unit (GCU) adds 16 kg allowing to save the latest data should power fail.
With an ‘always safe’ feature, the X-Gun has an adjustable rate of fire up to 200 rpm (single, programmed and continuous burst), and presents two key features: the sniper mode and the next round selection. To enhance precision, with the first mode the round is pre-chambered with the breach nearly closed, minimising vibrations and firing delay for improved accuracy. Additionally, the weapon incorporates a “first-round selection” capability, allowing immediate firing with the selected ammunition without shooting rounds of the previous type during magazine changes. During the visit, the media got the opportunity to assist with one of the three prototypes’ live firing of single, five and ten TP (target practice) round bursts at the facility’s under-tunnel test range.
Leonardo has cooperated with KNDS Ammo Italy (ex-SIMMEL Difesa) to provide the X-Gun with a C-UAS capability against mini e micro drones offered by the MF-ABM and its dedicated programmer under development by the latter company. Precision is ensured by a novel and unique time-delay fuse. The new ammunition is equipped with a smart fuse which is programmed through a fuse antenna setter which is installed inside the gun, with data provided by the programmer. The latter receives the time of flight before detonation information from the fire control system (FCS).
According to Leonardo, the X-Gun Lionfish 30 FCS will be able to fully exploit a large database of information on UAS thanks to algorithms based on artificial intelligence (AI) which will be resident on a Decision Support System (DSS) under development and to be available as a growth capability. The latter will further enhance the efficiency of the weapon system over time, thanks to self-learning modes. Unlike conventional systems, the innovative fuse developed by KNDS Ammo Italy collects real-time projectile speed data through two contactless passive inductive coils inserted into the muzzle brake, making the system immune to both non-intentional (such as the electronic interaction with sensors and system on board the vessel) and intentional jamming, the latter more frequent in land applications. Managed by the “smart fuze”, this data corrects the flight time before detonation, refining the detonation point and enhancing accuracy, ultimately improving the probability of kill (Pk).
In terms of lethality, developed to maximise its effectiveness against airborne targets like UAS, the new ammunition frontal performed mass fragmentation consists of high-quality steel spheres, complemented by natural lateral fragmentation of the cylindrical steel casing. Upon initiation of the High-Explosive (HE) charge, the spheres form a cone with a reduced angle, while the body generates fragments that also travel forward in a cone shape. This creates a wider-angle pattern, increasing Pk over a broader area. The new ammunition can also be used in point detonation (PD) mode, being activated on impact on target. The new ammunition together with the time-delay fuse setting system are expected to be tested before year-end, completing the development programme, while qualification will be conducted in 2025.
Announced during the last Seafuture 2023 exhibition together with the X-Gun, the Lionfish 30 naval turret joins Leonardo’s range of small-calibre LIONFISH® products, which includes the 12.7mm Ultralight, Inner Reloading, and Top models, as well as a 20mm version. “The new Lionfish 30 shares the same general architecture, electronics, and servos with the other family’s turrets, offering relevant advantages in terms of commonality, maintenance, training and logistics,” said Luca Perazzo, unveiling the main characteristics of the new turret. With a mass of around 1,600 kg without ammunition, the non-penetrating and reduced footprint turret hosts the electronics, servos and external electro-optical director on the right side while the ammunition magazine with up to 200 rounds is accommodated on the left. According to Leonardo, the aiming system is fully stabilized in elevation and azimuth by means of powerful servo-systems in a closed loop with both independent gyro and two tachometers for redundancy. All the components are fully protected by a stealth shield to minimize the radar cross-section and allow the operation in the most severe environments.
With an X-Gun effective range of 3,000 metres, the turret has a training range of -155° + 155° while elevation is -20°, +70°, with training speed and acceleration of respectively 140°/sec and 220°/sec and elevation speed and acceleration of respectively 90°/sec and 220°/sec. Provided by Leonardo, but other solutions are available based on customer requirements, the independent EOD being capable of 360° surveillance, multi-target and tracking tasks, is equipped with a day camera with a detection, recognition and identification range of 9.5, 4.8 and 3 km vs NATO standard target, alongside an IR camera with the same capabilities range of respectively 12, 6 and 3.5 km with cooled sensor (uncooled is also available) and a laser range finder with a 10 km range.
The capability to deal with all types of asymmetric threats is driven by sophisticated Artificial Intelligence (AI) algorithms that perform contextual analysis and optimize engagement against multiple simultaneous threats. As anticipated, the system shares a number of features with other Lionfish family models, including its ability to be controlled remotely via a high-resolution local console, which is capable to autonomously determine the stabilized firing coordinates by performing ballistic and target trajectory calculations, or fully controlled by a platform remote Multi-Function Console or an external Fire Control System.
The X-Gun was however developed as a weapon to be used for both naval and land applications, Leonardo offering it on its family of HITFIST turrets for armoured tracked and wheeled vehicles. The defence business is working on the latest developments of the latter family for the new gun both in manned and unmanned models. The Italian Navy has procured the Iveco Defence Vehicles (IDV) 8×8 VBA amphibious armoured vehicle, of which a number of platforms are expected to receive the Leonardo uncrewed turret equipped with the X-Gun 30 mm gun, offering significant operational, maintenance and logistics benefits.
