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76 mm Super Rapid by en:User:Ketil – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Nansen-oto76mm-2006-07-03.jpg, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=6255607 In the mid-1990’s I was working as a consultant to the Italian defense firm Oto Melara. Oto Melara’s name was made by its 3” (76mm) naval gun that took the world by storm. Over 100 navies globally, including the United States, adopted the 76mm gun for their corvettes, frigates and patrol boats. The original Oto Melara gun system fired at around 80 rounds per minute, which was more than adequate against the kinds of threats that were around in the 1970’s and early 1980’s. The gun could be...

The Russian Navy has decided to equip all of its small missile ships and boats with a unique high-precision digital 76 mm automatic gun, the Russian newspaper Izvestia quoted a Russian navy source as saying. Designed to contain NATO warships equipped with Italian-made Oto Melara guns, the АК-176МА is equipped with an all-weather electro-optical system which shares its characteristics with a sniper rifle, according to the source. It said that the new gun's combination of high ballistic performance with an electronic management control system add to the AK-176MA's complete superiority over its main competitor, the 76-mm gun made by the...

Finmeccanica is proposing that the OTO Melara 76mm gun be configured onto the Navy’s Littoral Combat Ship as part of an effort to improve the lethality and survivability of the shallow-water , multi-mission vessel. The naval artillery piece would replace the existing 57mm weapon now on board the LCS, per the existing proposal, said Eric Lindenbaum, vice president of Navy and Maritime programs for DRS Technologies. OTO Melara and DRS Technologies are both subsidiaries for the Italian defense company, Finmeccanica SpA. Amidst an ongoing effort to develop alternative proposals for a new small surface combatant, Navy officials are busy exploring...

Oto Melara Introduces a 76mm Version of Vulcano Multi-Mission, Long Range Naval Projectile Technology Oto Melara has conducted firing tests of the Ballistic Extended Range Vulcano 127 projectile designed for the 127/46 gun mounted on the Italian FREMM and German F125 frigates. Photo: Oto Melara/ Oto Melara unveiled yesterday a family of extended range and guided 76mm projectiles it is developing for the popular 76/62 naval gun system. The new Vulcano 76 round transforms this classic naval weapon into a multi-mission weapon system, capable of handling surface targets at sea and on land. The weapon addresses new operational requirements evolving...