The Hitrole is a

remote weapons station A remote controlled weapon station (RCWS), or remote weapon station (RWS), also known as a remote weapon system (RWS), is a remotely operated weaponized system often equipped with fire-control system for light and medium-caliber weapons which can ...

manufactured by

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

arms company

Oto Melara OTO Melara was a subsidiary of the Italian company Finmeccanica, today Leonardo, active in the defence sector, with factories in Brescia and La Spezia. The Mod 56 pack howitzer, in service throughout the world, and the 76mm naval gun, ad ...

(merged into

Leonardo S.p.A. Leonardo S.p.A., formerly Leonardo-Finmeccanica and originally Finmeccanica, is an Italian multinational company specialising in aerospace, defence and security. Headquartered in Rome, Italy, the company has 180 sites worldwide. It is the eighth ...

, previously Finmeccanica since 2016). The ''"role"'' portion of the name is short for "''R''emotely ''O''perated, ''L''ight ''E''lectrical". Rosomak and HITROLE P1010006 2

The turret can mount a variety of lighter automatic weapons, including , ,

machine gun A machine gun is a fully automatic, rifled autoloading firearm designed for sustained direct fire with rifle cartridges. Other automatic firearms such as automatic shotguns and automatic rifles (including assault rifles and battle rifles ...

s, and automatic grenade launchers. Leonardo recently presented the new line of Lionfish remote-controlled small-caliber systems, which consists of four models: the Ultralight, the Inner Reloading and the Top with a 12.7 mm caliber, and the 20 model with a 20 mm caliber. The weapon is gyroscopically stabilized. The turret weighs between -, depending on the weapon fitted. The gunner's remote optics add an

infrared camera Infrared (IR), sometimes called infrared light, is electromagnetic radiation (EMR) with wavelengths longer than those of visible light. It is therefore invisible to the human eye. IR is generally understood to encompass wavelengths from around ...

and laser range finder to a regular visible light camera. The gunner is assisted with a

fire control computer A fire-control system (FCS) is a number of components working together, usually a gun data computer, a Director (military), director, and radar, which is designed to assist a ranged weapon system to target, track, and hit a target. It performs ...

. The fire control computer can help the gunner track moving targets. In 2009 the Italian Army ordered 81 turrets to equip its Iveco Lince vehicles in

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is borde ...

. According to '' Jane's Navy International'' the Singapore Navy ordered Hitrole turrets in August 2013. A total of 16 turrets were ordered for Singapore's 8 Littoral Mission Vessels.

Versions

* Hitrole-N * Hitrole-L * Hitrole-NT (since 2008 ) * Hitrole-G (since 2012 ) * Hitrole-20 (since 2014 )

Operators

Platforms using the Oto-Melara Hitrole include:

Current operators

; * Falaj 2 class

United Arab Emirates Navy The United Arab Emirates Navy is the naval branch of the United Arab Emirates Armed Forces. It is small force of about 3,000 personnel. It maintains 12 well-equipped coastal patrol boats and eight missile boats. Although primarily concerned w ...

patrol boats (4 Hitrole-G) * Ghannatha class

patrol boats (24 Hitrole-G) ; * F-125 class

Germany Navy The German Navy (, ) is the navy of Germany and part of the unified ''Bundeswehr'' (Federal Defense), the German Armed Forces. The German Navy was originally known as the ''Bundesmarine'' (Federal Navy) from 1956 to 1995, when ''Deutsche Mar ...

fregate (21 Hitrole-NT) ; * Corrubia

Guardia di Finanza The ''Guardia di Finanza'' (G. di F. or GdF) () (English: literal: ''Guard of Finance'', paraphrased: ''Financial Police'' or ''Financial Guard'') is an Italian law enforcement agency under the authority of the Minister of Economy and Finance. ...

patrol boat A patrol boat (also referred to as a patrol craft, patrol ship, or patrol vessel) is a relatively small naval vessel generally designed for coastal defence, border security, or law enforcement. There are many designs for patrol boats, and the ...

(13 Hitrole-N) * Puma (AFV)

Italian Army "The safeguard of the republic shall be the supreme law" , colors = , colors_labels = , march = ''Parata d'Eroi'' ("Heroes's parade") by Francesco Pellegrino, ''4 Maggio'' (May 4) ...

Armoured fighting vehicle An armoured fighting vehicle (AFV) is an armed combat vehicle protected by armour, generally combining operational mobility with offensive and defensive capabilities. AFVs can be wheeled or tracked. Examples of AFVs are tanks, armoured cars, ...

(19 Hitrole) * Iveco VTLM ''Lince''

Italian Army "The safeguard of the republic shall be the supreme law" , colors = , colors_labels = , march = ''Parata d'Eroi'' ("Heroes's parade") by Francesco Pellegrino, ''4 Maggio'' (May 4) ...

(100 Hitrole-L) * Iveco VTMM ''Orso''

Italian Army "The safeguard of the republic shall be the supreme law" , colors = , colors_labels = , march = ''Parata d'Eroi'' ("Heroes's parade") by Francesco Pellegrino, ''4 Maggio'' (May 4) ...

(40 Hitrole-L) ; * MRTP 16 class

Malaysian Coast Guard The Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (Abbr.; MMEA; ms, Agensi Penguatkuasaan Maritim Malaysia – ''APMM''); formally known as Malaysia Coast Guard for international identification, is the coast guard organisation of Malaysia, and principa ...

(18 x Hitrole-N) ; * Oaxaca class

Mexican Navy The Mexican Navy is one of the two independent armed forces of Mexico. The actual naval forces are called the ''Armada de México''. The ''Secretaría de Marina'' (''SEMAR'') (English: Naval Secretariat) includes both the ''Armada'' itself and ...

OPV (8 Hitrole-N) * (12 Hitrole-N) ; * Holland class

Royal Netherlands Navy The Royal Netherlands Navy ( nl, Koninklijke Marine, links=no) is the naval force of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. During the 17th century, the navy of the Dutch Republic (1581–1795) was one of the most powerful naval forces in the world an ...

OPV (2x Hitrole-NT each) * HNLMS Karel Doorman Joint Support Ship

(4x Hitrole-NT) ; * (2 Hitrole-N) ; * Littoral Mission Vessels Singapore Navy

(16 Hitrole-G) * naval base land defence (10 Hitrole-G) ; * (Hitrole-N)

References

External links

Hitrole on leonardocompany.com
* https://electronics.leonardo.com/en/products/hitrole-light Vehicle weapons Remote weapon stations {{weapon-stub