OTO Melara 76 mm

Naval artillery piece

OTO Melara 76 mm
The OTO Melara 76mm Super Rapid as mounted in a stealth cupola (to reduce Radar cross-section) onboard the Norwegian frigate Fridtjof Nansen.
Type	Naval gun
Place of origin	Italy
Service history
In service	1964–present
Used by	See users
Production history
Designer	Oto Melara
Designed	Compact: 1963 Super Rapid: 1985 Strales: 2004
Manufacturer	Otobreda: 1963–2001 BHEL Haridwar : 1995- present (under licence) Oto Melara (subsidiary of Finmeccanica): 2001–2015 Leonardo-Finmeccanica: since 2016 Leonardo: since 2017
Produced	Compact: 1964 Super Rapid: 1988 Strales: 2008
Variants	See variants
Specifications
Mass	Empty: 7.5 tonnes (17,000 lb)
Barrel length	62 caliber: 4,724.4 mm (186.00 in)
Crew	remote controlled
Shell	76×636mmR cartridge weight 12.5 kilograms (28 lb) shell weight 6.3 kilograms (14 lb) propellant weight 2.35 kilograms (5.2 lb)
Caliber	76.2 mm (3.00 in)
Elevation	−15°/+85° speed: 35°/s (acceleration: 72°/s²)
Traverse	360° speed: 60°/s (acceleration: 72°/s²)
Rate of fire	Compact: 85 rounds/min Super Rapid: 120 rounds/min
Muzzle velocity	915 m/s (3,000 ft/s)
Maximum firing range	HE-PFF 16,000 m SAPOMER 20,000 m 76 Vulcano 40,000 m (Future)
Feed system	Magazine capacity: 80 ready rounds on Compact gun mount

The OTO Melara 76 mm gun is a naval gun built and designed by the Italian defence company Oto Melara. It is based on the Oto Melara 76/62C and evolved toward 76/62 SR and 76/62 Strales.

The system is compact enough to be installed on relatively small warships. Its high rate of fire and availability of range of ammunition make it capable for short-range anti-missile point defence, anti-aircraft, anti-surface, and ground support. Ammunition includes armour-piercing, incendiary, directed fragmentation effects, and a guided round marketed as capable of destroying manoeuvring anti-ship missiles.^{[citation needed]} A stealth cupola is now offered.

The OTO Melara 76 mm has been widely exported and is in use by sixty navies. It has recently been favoured over the French 100mm naval gun for the joint French/Italian Horizon-class frigate project and FREMM frigate.

On 27 September 2006 Iran announced it has started mass production of a marine artillery gun, named the Fajr-27, which is a reverse-engineered Oto Melara 76 mm gun.^[1]

Contents

• 
  1 Other specifications
  


• 
  2 Variants
  
  
  
  • 
    2.1 Super Rapid
    
    
    
    • 
      2.1.1 Strales system
      
    
    
    
    
  
  
  
  


• 
  3 Ammunition
  
  
  
  • 
    3.1 Fire control system
    
  
  
  • 
    3.2 Fuzes
    
  
  
  • 
    3.3 DART
    
  
  
  • 
    3.4 VULCANO
    
  
  
  • 
    3.5 Other uses
    
  
  
  
  


• 
  4 Operators
  
  
  
  • 
    4.1 Asia
    
  
  
  • 
    4.2 Africa
    
  
  
  • 
    4.3 Europe
    
  
  
  • 
    4.4 Oceania
    
  
  
  • 
    4.5 North America
    
  
  
  • 
    4.6 South America
    
  
  
  
  


• 
  5 See also
  


• 
  6 References
  


• 
  7 External links
  

Other specifications

• 
  Cooling: sea water—fresh water for flushing


• 
  Electrical Power supply
  
  
  
  • 440 V, 3-phase, 60 Hz, main circuit;
  
  
  • 115 V, 1-phase, 400 Hz, servo and synchro network
  
  
  
  

Variants

Super Rapid

Developed in the early 1980s (and sometimes called the "Super Rapido"), this variant is the up-to-date development of rapid fire Italian 76 mm naval cannons, capable of firing an increased 120 rounds per minute. The Super Rapid's higher rate of fire was achieved by designing a faster feed system.^{[citation needed]}

Strales system

These new improvements led to the Italian Navy preferring the Super Rapido with Strales System and DART ammunition to the Fast Forty 40 mm CIWS, in the anti-missile defence role, being capable of countering several subsonic missiles up to 8,000 meters away.^{[citation needed]}

The longer range means a single gun can engage several approaching missiles. The 76 mm was also capable of being used versus surface targets, being a medium caliber gun with relatively long range.^[2]

Ammunition

To provide multiple roles for the gun, OTO provides the user with wide ranges of specialised ammunition:^[3]

• 
  HE standard (all models): weight 6.296 kg, range 16 km, effective 8 km (4 km vs. air targets at 85°)


• MOM: developed by OTO (Multirole OTO Munition)


• PFF: anti-missile projectile, with proximity fuze and tungsten balls embedded in the shell for defined fragmentation effect


• SAPOM: 6.35 kg (0.46 kg HE), range 16 km (SAPOMER: 20 km) semi-armoured piercing


• DART: guided projectile for anti-aircraft manoeuvring targets


• VULCANO: 5 kg, guided projectile with a maximum range around 40 km (it is a smaller version of the 127 mm Vulcano)^[4]
  

Fire control system

There were evolutions in the gun's fire control systems as well. The early versions (Compatto) utilised radars such the RTN-10X Orion (made by Selenia, now Selex);

From the early 1980s there was a more powerful and flexible system, the RTN-30X (used with the Dardo-E CIWS system and known within Italian Navy as SPG-73), that was capable to manage both guns (40, 76, and 127 mm calibres) and missiles (Sea Sparrow-Aspide). This system came in service with the Italian Navy, on the cruiser Garibaldi (C551: the RTN-30X entered in service first with Maestrale-class frigates, but the Dardo 40 mm turret were slaved to the smaller and older RTN-20X radars), but still with the twin 40 mm Dardo's turrets; while the first ship equipped with Dardo E and 76 mm Super Rapido was the upgraded Audace-class destroyers, later followed by the Durand de la Penne class. The 76/62 has also been used with countless other fire control systems, when not being used in the Italian fleet.

Fuzes

There have been many developments in the fuzes, essential to shoot down low-flying missiles. The best fuze developed for the 76/62 guns is arguably the 3A-Plus programmable multi-role fuze, manufactured by Oto Melara and Simmel Difesa, introduced in the early 2000s. This fuze requires the installation of a fuze programmer in the mount.^{[citation needed]}

The programmable multi-role fuze features several modes including a time mode for air burst and a number of proximity modes: gated proximity, anti-missile proximity, conventional air defence proximity and anti-surface proximity.^{[citation needed]}

The fuzing includes a DSP which rejects ground/sea clutter and so is capable of detecting a missile flying as low as two meters above sea level. It has the capability to recognise a target at a 10-meter stand-off. In all, the fuze greatly increases the effectiveness of the gun when engaging anti-ship missiles.

DART

Since the 1980s efforts were made for development of guided 76 mm ammunition, but this was not achieved until recently. The first such ammunition was the CCS (Course Corrected Shell), also known as 'CORRETTO'; a joint program of OTO and British Aerospace.^[5] Work started in 1985. The projectile had several small rockets in order to deviate the trajectory. Radio commands were sent from the ship FCS. The FCS did not know the exact position of the projectile, only that of the target. This system was too complex and unreliable, so OTO studied another development in order to obtain a real 'guided ammunition'.

The result of this development is a system which was called DAVIDE just for the Italian market and STRALES for export purposes while the fired guided ammunition is called DART(Driven Ammunition Reduced Time of flight).^[5]

The DART projectile is similar in many aspects to other hyper-velocity systems, for example the Starstreak SAM missile's multi-dart warhead, but is a guided gun projectile with radio controls and a proximity fuze for low level engagement (up to 2 meters over the sea). DART is fired at 1,200 m/s (3,900 ft/s), can reach 5 km range in only 5 seconds, and can perform up to 40 manoeuvres. The DART projectile is made of two parts: the forward is free to rotate and has two small canard wings for flight control. The aft part has the 2.5 kg warhead (with tungsten cubes and the 3A millimetric wave new fuze), six fixed wings and the radio receivers.^[5]

The guidance system is Command Line of Sight (CLOS). It uses a TX antenna installed on gun. The radio-command for them is provided on a broadcast data-link (Ka Band).^[5]

The first lot of DART 76mm guided ammunition, produced by OTO Melara, was successfully tested at the end of March, 2014. The firing trials were conducted on board one of the Italian Navy’s ships equipped with Strales 76mm SR and Selex NA25 fire control system.^[6] The first firing trials of the DART ammunition bought by Colombia in 2012 were successfully conducted in the Caribbean Sea on August 29 from the 76/62 Strales inner-layer defence system fitted to its modernised FS 1500 Padilla-class frigates.^[7]

VULCANO

The more recent development is the VULCANO 76 ammunition system. Basically, it is a scaled down version of the 127–155 mm Vulcano family of extended-range projectiles developed by Oto Melara; guided by Inertial Navigation System and Global Positioning Systems, it is capable of hitting targets twice the distance of normal 76 mm gun ammunition.^[8] GPS-IMU guidance and IR or SALT Terminal sensor ^[9]

Other uses

Main article: Rooikat

Most of the basic ammunition types offered for the Oto Melara 76mm can also be fired from the South African Rooikat armoured car with slight modification to change from electric to percussion primers. This is the only land-based vehicle system capable of deploying the same ammunition as its naval counterpart.^[10]

Operators

Map with OtoMelara 76mm operators in blue

Platforms using the Oto-Melara 76 mm include:

Asia

 Bangladesh

• 
  BNS Bangabandhu (ex-ROKN Ulson class frigate)


• 
  BNS Somudra Joy (ex-USCG Hamilton-class cutter)

 Indonesia

• 
  Ahmad Yani-class frigate (ex-RNLN Van Speijk class)


• 
  Diponegoro-class corvette
  


• 
  Bung Tomo-class corvette
  


• 
  Martadinata-class frigate
  

 India

• 
  Kolkata-class destroyer
  


• 
  Godavari-class frigate
  


• 
  Brahmaputra-class frigate
  


• 
  Shivalik-class frigate
  


• 
  Kora-class corvette
  


• 
  Kamorta-class corvette
  


• 
  Veer-class corvette
  


• 
  INS Vikrant (aircraft carrier)

 Israel

• 
  Sa'ar 3-class missile boat
  


• 
  Sa'ar 4-class missile boat
  


• 
  Sa'ar 4.5-class missile boat
  

JMSDF's Asagiri-class destroyer – JS Setogiri (DD-156) showing off her main gun at maximum elevation of +85°.

Cartridge and case of the OTO Melara 76mm gun in Japanese service.

 Japan

• 
  Hatsuyuki-class destroyer
  


• 
  Asagiri-class destroyer
  


• 
  Murasame-class destroyer
  


• 
  Minegumo-class destroyer (JDS Murakumo only)


• JDS Ishikari
  


• 
  Yubari-class destroyer escort
  


• 
  Abukuma-class destroyer escort
  


• 
  Hayabusa-class patrol boat
  

 South Korea

• 
  Ulsan-class frigate
  


• 
  Pohang-class corvette
  


• 
  Donghae-class corvette
  


• 
  Gumdoksuri-class patrol vessel
  

 Malaysia

• 
  Laksamana-class corvette
  


• 
  Kedah-class offshore patrol vessel
  

 Oman

• 
  Khareef-class corvette
  

 Pakistan

• 
  Alamgir frigate (ex-USN Oliver Hazard Perry class frigate)

 Philippines

• 
  Gregorio del Pilar-class offshore patrol vessel
  


• 
  Jose Rizal-class frigate (planned)


• 
  Jacinto-class corvette
  


• 
  Tarlac-class landing platform dock (planned)


• 
  BRP Conrado Yap (ex-ROKN Pohang-class corvette)

 Saudi Arabia

• 
  Al Riyadh-class frigate
  


• 
  Badr-class corvette
  


• 
  Al Sadiq-class patrol boat
  

The OTO Melara 76mm Super Rapid gun mounted on the Victory-class corvette – RSS Valour (89)

 Singapore

• 
  Endurance-class landing platform dock
  


• 
  Formidable-class frigate
  


• 
  Victory-class corvette
  


• 
  Fearless-class patrol vessel
  


• Independence-class littoral mission vessel

 Sri Lanka

• 
  Nandimithra-class missile boat
  

 Taiwan (Republic of China)

• 
  Cheng Kung-class frigate
  


• 
  Kang Ding-class frigate
  


• 
  Tuo Chiang-class corvette
  


• 
  Ching Chiang-class patrol boat
  

 Thailand

• 
  Pattani-class offshore patrol vessel


• 
  Ratanakosin-class corvette
  


• 
  Ratcharit-class missile boat


• 
  Chuburi-class patrol boat


• 
  Tapi-class corvette
  


• 
  Khamronsin-class corvette
  


• 
  Laemsing-class patrol boat
  


• 
  DW3000f-class frigate
  


• 
  Krabi-class offshore patrol vessel
  

 Turkey

• 
  Doğan-class fast attack craft
  


• 
  Kılıç-class fast attack craft
  


• 
  Kılıç-II-class fast attack craft
  


• 
  Yıldız-class fast attack craft
  


• 
  G-class frigate
  


• 
  Milgem-class corvette
  

 United Arab Emirates

• 
  Baynunah-class corvette
  

 Lebanon

• 
  Combattante FS56-class fast attack craft

Africa

 Algeria

• Kalaat Béni Abbès Class

 Egypt

• 
  Ambassador MK III-class missile boat
  


• 
  Descubierta-class corvette
  


• 
  Oliver Hazard Perry-class frigate
  


• 
  Ramadan-class missile boat
  


• 
  Tiger-class fast attack craft
  


• 
  Gowind 2500 corvette^[11]
  


• FREMM multipurpose frigate

 Morocco

• Mohammed VI FREMM frigate


• Sigma-class corvette


• 
  Descubierta-class corvette
  


• 
  Floréal-class frigate
  


• 
  Lazaga-class patrol vessel
  


• 
  Bir Anzaran-class patrol vessel
  

 South Africa

• 
  Warrior-class patrol vessel (converted from fast attack craft with missiles launchers and rear 76mm gun removed)^[12]
  


• 
  Valour-class frigate
  

 Tunisia

• 
  Albatros-class fast attack craft
  

Europe

 Belgium

• 
  Karel Doorman-class frigate
  

 Denmark

• 
  Willemoes-class missile boat (retired)


• 
  Niels Juel-class corvette (retired)


• 
  Flyvefisken-class patrol vessel
  


• 
  Thetis-class ocean patrol vessel


• 
  Iver Huitfeldt-class frigate
  


• 
  Knud Rasmussen-class patrol vessel
  

 France

• FREMM multipurpose frigate


• 
  Horizon-class frigate
  

 Germany

• 
  Brandenburg-class frigate
  


• 
  Bremen-class frigate
  


• 
  Sachsen-class frigate
  


• 
  Braunschweig-class corvette
  


• 
  Gepard-class fast attack craft
  

 Georgia

• 
  Tiger-class fast attack craft
  

 Greece

• 
  Elli-class frigate (Kortenaer-class frigate)


• 
  La Combattante IIa-class fast attack craft
  


• 
  La Combattante III-class fast attack craft
  


• 
  La Combattante IIIb-class fast attack craft
  


• 
  Osprey 55-class gunboat
  


• 
  HSY-55-class gunboat
  


• 
  Osprey HSY-56A-class gunboat
  


• 
  Roussen-class fast attack craft
  


• 
  Jason-class tank landing ship
  

76mm OTO Melara cannon on the Irish Naval Service patrol vessel LÉ Niamh

 Ireland

• 
  Peacock-class patrol vessel
  


• 
  Róisín-class offshore patrol vessel
  


• 
  Samuel Beckett-class offshore patrol vessel
  

 Italy

• 
  Audace-class destroyer (retired)


• Italian aircraft carrier Cavour
  


• 
  Comandanti-class patrol vessel
  


• 
  Durand de la Penne-class destroyer
  


• FREMM multipurpose frigate


• 
  Fulmine gunboat (retired)


• 
  Minerva-class corvette (retired)


• 
  Orizzonte-class frigate
  


• 
  San Giorgio-class amphibious transport dock
  


• 
  Sparviero-class patrol boat (hydrofoil, retired)

 Netherlands

• 
  Karel Doorman-class frigate
  


• 
  Holland-class offshore patrol vessel
  

 Norway

• 
  Fridtjof Nansen-class frigate
  


• 
  Skjold-class corvette
  

 Poland

• 
  Oliver Hazard Perry-class frigate
  


• 
  ORP Ślązak offshore patrol vessel
  

 Portugal

• 
  Bartolomeu Dias-class frigate (ex-RNLN Karel Doorman-class frigate)

 Romania

• Regele Ferdinand


• Regina Maria

 Spain

• 
  Santa María-class frigate
  


• 
  Descubierta-class corvette
  


• 
  Meteoro-class offshore patrol vessel
  

Oceania

 Australia

• 
  Adelaide-class frigate
  

North America

 Canada

• 
  Iroquois-class destroyer (after TRUMP modifications, retired 2017)

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The Mk75 in use aboard USCGC Gallatin, 2005.

Loading of the 76 mm shells

Underdeck of a Mark 75 gun

Various aspect of the OTO Melara 76 mm Mark 75 gun in US service

 United States

• 
  Famous-class cutter (USCG)


• 
  Hamilton-class cutter (USCG)


• 
  Oliver Hazard Perry-class frigate (USN, retired)


• 
  Pegasus-class hydrofoil (USN, retired)

 Mexico

• 
  Oaxaca-class patrol vessel
  

South America

 Argentina

• 
  Espora-class corvette
  


• 
  Intrépida-class fast attack craft
  

 Chile

• 
  Karel Doorman-class frigate
  


• CNS Almirante Williams
  


• 
  Sa'ar 4-class missile boat
  


• 
  Tiger-class fast attack craft (retired)

 Colombia

• 
  Almirante Padilla-class frigate – modernised with Strales 76 mm and DART guided ammunition^[7]
  


• 
  OPV-80-class patrol vessel
  

 Ecuador

• Esmeraldas corvettes


• 
  Quito-class missile boat

 Peru

• 
  PR-72P-class corvette
  

 Venezuela

• Guaiquerí OPV


• Guaicamacuto OPV


• Constitución Class OPV

See also

• 
  76mm/L62 Allargato – the direct precursor of the Melara


• 
  AK-176 – a similar Soviet/Russian weapon

References

1. 
   ^ "Iran to mass produce new artillery gun". Middle East Online. 27 September 2006. Archived from the original on 30 September 2007. Retrieved 5 August 2012..mw-parser-output cite.citation{font-style:inherit}.mw-parser-output .citation q{quotes:"""""""'""'"}.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-free a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/65/Lock-green.svg/9px-Lock-green.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-limited a,.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-registration a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d6/Lock-gray-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-gray-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-subscription a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/aa/Lock-red-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-red-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration{color:#555}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription span,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration span{border-bottom:1px dotted;cursor:help}.mw-parser-output .cs1-ws-icon a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4c/Wikisource-logo.svg/12px-Wikisource-logo.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output code.cs1-code{color:inherit;background:inherit;border:inherit;padding:inherit}.mw-parser-output .cs1-hidden-error{display:none;font-size:100%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-visible-error{font-size:100%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-maint{display:none;color:#33aa33;margin-left:0.3em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration,.mw-parser-output .cs1-format{font-size:95%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-left,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-left{padding-left:0.2em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-right,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-right{padding-right:0.2em}
   


2. 
   ^ Annati, Massimo: La difesa antimissile della MM, RiD magazine, Chiavari, September 2006
   


3. 
   ^ Po, Enrico, April 1997
   


4. 
   ^ Stanglini, Ruggero: Dart/DAVIDE, antimissile, ma non solo, PD Magazine, Ed.ai, Firenze, June 2003
   


5. 
   ^ ^abcd Annati, Massimo, 2006
   


6. 
   ^ "The Strales 76mm system with DART guided ammunition". 18 April 2014.
   


7. 
   ^ ^ab "Colombia conducts first DART firings". 17 September 2014. Archived from the original on 17 September 2014.
   


8. 
   ^ Po, Eugenio: Oto Melara guarda al futuro, RiD Magazine, July 2009
   


9. 
   ^ "Vulcano 76 mm". Oto Melara. 17 September 2014. Archived from the original on 18 September 2014.
   


10. 
    ^ Jane's Armour and Artillery, 2001–2002, Volume 23 p. 244-345.
    


11. 
    ^ "DCNS contracts Oto Melara to supply 76/62 SRMF guns for Egypt's Gowinds – IHS Jane's 360".
    


12. 
    ^ "NS Durban to be OPVs home port". DefenceWeb. Archived from the original on 5 May 2013. Retrieved 23 October 2013.
    

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Otobreda 76 mm.

• Official website of Leonardo - Strales


• Official website of Leonardo – Vulcano 76


• Official website of Leonardo – Draco


• 
  Officially released video of Oto Melara 76mm during test firing on YouTube
  


• 
  Italian 76 mm/62 (3") Compact, SR and United States 76 mm/62 (3") Mark 75 at NavWeaps

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