Leonardo to offer Lionfish 12.7 Inner Reloading RWS

Using internal research and development funding, Leonardo's Electronics Division has developed and begun producing its Lionfish 12.7 Inner Reloading remote weapon station (RWS), with the first contract booked for an undisclosed naval application with an overseas customer.

The Lionfish 12.7 Inner Reloading is armed with a stabilised 12.7 mm machine gun (MG) provided with 100 rounds of 12.7 × 99 mm ready use ammunition fed from a protected box on the left. Leonardo said this RWSs can be reloaded from under armour.

The operator can select single shot, 300 rds/min, or 485/635 rds/min rate of fire, with Leonardo stating an effective range of 1.5 km. It can fire 12.7 mm M33 ball, as well as armour piercing (AP), armour piercing incendiary (API), armour piercing-tracer (AP-T). and armour piercing incendiary tracer (API-T) rounds.

Mounted on the right side is the Leonardo sensor pod, or electro-optical director as it is also referred to, which includes a day camera to detect targets out to 9.5 km, recognise targets out to 4.8 km, and identify targets out to 2.7 km. The uncooled infrared (IR) camera can detect targets out to 6.3 km, recognise targets out to 3 km, and identify targets out to 1.5 km. A cooled IR sensor is also offered, but ranges depend on ambient weather conditions.

The eye-safe laser rangefinder has a maximum range of 5.5 km. It ensures the target is within range and feeds information to the fire control system (FCS).

Leonardo said the aiming system is fully stabilised in elevation and azimuth via servo systems in closed loop, with two independent servos and two tachometers for redundancy. It also has an automatic target tracker (ATT) for increased accuracy when engaging moving targets, according to Leonardo.