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 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/

On 6 March 2014, the Italian Navy carried out a number of firing trials on board the frigate Bersagliere to test the 127/54 C gun equipped with Vulcano-Kit (V-kit). The firing trials, conducted with 127 Vulcano Ballistic Extended Range (BER) ammunition, proved to be successful, with projectiles achieving a range of over 38 km. The field of fire was limited to 40 km for security reasons.

Vulcano 127 has already performed firing testing verifying the enhanced ballistic characteristics of the projectile. The one in the photo is the 127mm Guided Long Range projectile, showing the canard section and GPS/INS guidance and advanced multi-mode fuse section installed in the nose. Photo: Oto Melara
Vulcano 127 has already performed firing testing verifying the enhanced ballistic characteristics of the projectile. The one in the photo is the 127mm Guided Long Range projectile, showing the canard section and GPS/INS guidance and advanced multi-mode fuse section installed in the nose. Photo: Oto Melara
The Vulcano BER ammunition used in the firing trials are part of a pre-production lot; the production-line qualification is underway on a first pilot lot of ammunition. It is the first time a military ship, not equipped with the naval gun systems used in the Second World War, has reached such ballistic ranges. Vulcan BER ammunition provide very accurate and high precision firing actions at ranges beyond 60 km.

Commenting on the successful test OTO Melara said it is ready to supply Vulcano BER ammunition to the Navies employing the new 127/64 LW weapon system and those employing the previous version 127/54 C naval gun with the V-kit upgrade.

In addition to the BER variant, Vulcano guided ammunition family also include the Guided Long Range (127GLR) and Semi Active Laser (GLR-SAL) guided versions, which will be available on board ships for firing trials starting from next year. The entire family of trajectory-corrected and guided projectiles will be able to conduct naval fire support at ranges from 35 km up to over 100 km, utilizing the OTO Melara naval guns systems.

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