Hitrole

The Hitrole is a remote weapons station manufactured by Italian arms company Oto Melara (merged into Leonardo S.p.A., previously Finmeccanica since 2016).^[1] The "role" portion of the name is short for "Remotely Operated, Light Electrical".

Hitrole 12.7 mm on a Rosomak 8×8

The turret can mount a variety of lighter automatic weapons, including 5.56 mm (0.219 in), 7.62 mm (0.300 in), and 12.7 mm (0.50 in) machine guns, and 40 mm (1.6 in) automatic grenade launchers.^[1][2]

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.^[3]

The weapon is gyroscopically stabilized.^[4] The turret weighs 210–260 kilograms (460–570 lb), depending on the weapon fitted. The gunner's remote optics add an infrared camera and laser range finder to a regular visible light camera.

The gunner is assisted with a fire control computer.^[4][5] 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.^[5]

According to Jane's Navy International the Singapore Navy ordered Hitrole turrets in August 2013.^[6] A total of 16 turrets were ordered for Singapore's eight Littoral Mission Vessels.

Versions

• Hitrole-N
• Hitrole-L
• Hitrole-NT (since 2008^[7])
• Hitrole-G (since 2012^[8])
• Hitrole-20 (since 2014^[9])

Operators

Map with Hitrole operators in blue

Platforms using the Oto-Melara Hitrole include:

Current operators

 United Arab Emirates

• Falaj 2 class United Arab Emirates Navy patrol boats (4 Hitrole-G)
• Ghannatha class United Arab Emirates Navy patrol boats (24 Hitrole-G) ^[10]

 Germany

• F-125 class Germany Navy fregate (21 Hitrole-NT)

 Italy

• Corrubia [it] Guardia di Finanza patrol boat (13 Hitrole-N)
• Puma (AFV) Italian Army Armoured fighting vehicle (19 Hitrole)
• Iveco VTLM Lince Italian Army (100 Hitrole-L)
• Iveco VTMM Orso Italian Army (40 Hitrole-L)

 Malaysia

• MRTP 16 class Malaysian Coast Guard patrol boat (18 x Hitrole-N)^[11][12]

 Mexico

• Oaxaca-class Mexican Navy OPV (8 Hitrole-N)
• (12 Hitrole-N)^[13]

 Netherlands

• Holland class Royal Netherlands Navy OPV (2x Hitrole-NT each)
• HNLMS Karel Doorman joint support ship Royal Netherlands Navy (4x Hitrole-NT)

 Pakistan

• (2 Hitrole-N)

 Singapore

• Littoral Mission Vessels Singapore Navy patrol boat (16 Hitrole-G) ^[14]
• naval base land defence (10 Hitrole-G)

 Turkmenistan

• (Hitrole-N)