DARDO


DARDO is a close-in weapon system built by the Italian companies Breda and Oto Melara. It is composed of two Breda-built Bofors 40 mm firing high explosive shells, a fire-control radar and a fire-control system. It is the last of a long series of Italian anti-aircraft weapons derived from the Swedish Bofors 40 mm autocannons.

Purpose

The system's primary purpose is to defend against anti-ship missiles, unmanned aerial vehicles and other precision guided weapons. It can also be employed against conventional and rotary-wing aircraft, surface ships, small water-crafts, coastal targets and floating mines.

Installation

DARDO is installed in an enclosed turret with two different mounts: the Type A with 440-round internal and 292-round under-deck magazines; and Type B with only the 440-round internal magazine.

Other versions

The Fast Forty is an improved version of the system with a higher rate of fire, dual magazine and dual feed mechanism to allow switching from HE to armour-piercing fin-stabilized discarding sabot rounds when a missile gets within 1,000 meters from the vessel.

Comparison with current CIWS

Operators

Current operators