Naval artillery has historically been the primary weapon system of surface units over the last few centuries. Even with the installation of torpedo tubes on the ships, both their defense and offense relied on a multitude of guns of different calibres. This produced engineering marvels such as the monstrous 15, 16 and even 18 inch guns mounted on World War 2 battleships.
Many may remember the last action of the big guns, in the 1st Gulf War, when the American battleships USS Missouri and USS Wisconsin, fired over 1,000 16-inch shells during operations.
However, with the advent of missiles and their use against surface, air and land targets, naval guns began to constitute a secondary weapon system, intended mainly for defensive and support roles. This happened because the use of missile systems dramatically increased attack accuracy and range. However, guns had and still have some important advantages that cannot be overlooked.
- Low projectile cost
- Great donation
- Wide variety of warheads
- Projectile flight profile and speed that makes it practically unstoppable.
Therefore, a way had to be found to utilize them properly and with the use of technology to eliminate their weaknesses, such as the non-direction of the missiles. This is what the integrated Vulcano system of the Italian Leonardo comes to do.
Analytically about Vulcano
Leonardo, wanting to cover all needs, produces the Vulcano as:
- 76 mm projectile for naval guns
- 127 mm projectile for naval guns
- 155 mm projectile for land guns
- Complete system including the 127/64 LW gun, automated ammunition management system and naval fire control and support system.
Projectiles are produced as two general categories, extended range unguided (BER) and long range guided (GLR). According to the company, the former can be fired from any gun currently in service, all that is needed is new firing tables. Guided ones can also be seen from any gun by adopting an adaptation kit.
The fuze is multi-function, with the following options: altitude, approach, aerial fragmentation (Air Burst Munition), impact and impact with delay.
Of greatest interest are guided missiles as they practically turn any naval platform into a long-range and high-precision offensive fire-emitting system. Here too the options are many as in the basic configuration the projectile is directed towards the target via GPS/IMU (combination of GPS with inertial guidance), achieving a shooting accuracy of less than 5 meters.
The user can choose as an additional configuration, a projectile with an infrared IR sensor, autonomous terminal guidance, or a semi-active laser SAL sensor, for even more increased accuracy performance, with a requirement to have the target indicated, e.g. with a laser (from an aerial vehicle, a coastal unit if we are talking about a naval target, from a special forces unit, etc.). In this configuration the accuracy of the projectile is less than 3 meters and is indicated against moving targets.
Importantly, the 127 and 155 mm projectiles can be programmed to attack almost 90 degrees on the target (practically a vertical impact), thus achieving the maximization of attack accuracy as well as the effectiveness of the warhead, while leaving practically minimal room for reaction in the middle opponent.
The increased range of the projectiles allows fire to be emitted from a safe distance. Thus, a 76 mm gun achieves ranges of over 30 km using BER and over 40 using GLR, while a 127 mm gun reaches over 60 km for BER and over 80 km for GLR! In comparison, with conventional ammunition, the maximum ranges are 20 km for the Oto Melara Super Rapido 76 km and 24 km for the Mk45 mod2 127 km currently serving in the PN respectively.
