Israeli Navy takes delivery of Leonardo’s naval gun for Sa’ar 6-class corvettes

The Israeli Navy has held an acceptance ceremony for Leonardo’s 6/62 Super Rapido Multi-Feeding naval gun for its  Sa’ar 6-class corvettes.

The ceremony took place on 13 September. The 76/62 SR MF will deploy corvette’s air, anti-surface and anti-missile defense capabilities.

Already chosen by more than 60 navies worldwide, the system stands out for its rate of fire of 120 rounds per minute, which allows it to face any type of scenario, from air and anti-surface defense to anti-missile defense, and with its multi – feeding loading system.

This allows the selection in real-time with conventional or guided ammunition depending on the specific scenario.

The naval gun also maintains a capability to integrate ammunition equipped with multifunctional programmable 3AP fuzes and 4AP fuzes developed and manufactured by Leonardo.

It enables the firing of Leonardo’s Sapomer, the only conventional ammunition to achieve a range of 20 km, and also the new Leonardo’s Vulcano-guided ammunition, which allows the engagement of a target up to 35 km with metric accuracy at any distance by maintaining high distances from threats.

Vulcano ammunition can be also equipped with the latest generation of seekers (IR-Infra Red and SAL-Semi Active Laser), which further increases accuracy by eliminating the margin of error and reduces risks in challenging environments. The 76/62 Super Rapido is the only system able to fire these two ammunition types, according to the company.

On the other hand, the company’s Strales kit provides the engagement of the most challenging targets, such as subsonic and supersonic threats. Strales kit includes a special shield for the carriage and an Radio Frequency (RF) antenna to guide the latest generation of Leonardo’s DART (Driven Ammunition Reduced Time of Flight) ammunition.

The antenna, by emitting RF beams, guides the DART ammunition towards the target and guarantees maximum engagement accuracy with 3 or 5 ammunition bursts.

The Israeli Navy is one of the first worldwide users of the 76/62 Compact gun and six guns are still in operational condition and in use since 1973 on board Nirit Saar 4.5 class missile boats.

The navy procured four new guns now installed on board new Sa’ar 6 corvettes and it is expected that advanced ammunition and more new guns will be procured in the coming years.

Construction of a new class of Israeli Navy corvettes started in Germany in 2018. German shipbuilding company Thyssenkrupp Marine Systems held a steel-cutting ceremony at its shipyard in Kiel.

The corvettes are loosely based on Germany’s Braunschweig-class (K130) corvettes with improved stealth features.