Image source: topwar.ru
The Italian Ministry of Defense has signed the first contract with Beretta worth 11.5 million euros for the development of a new automatic rifle Beretta Narp (abbreviation for "new assault rifle").
The Chief of Staff of the Italian army, Carmine Masiello, called the Beretta Narp "the best assault rifle in the world." According to Masiello, in the future, it is planned to equip the entire Italian army with new rifles as a standard individual long-barreled weapon. Currently, the Beretta Narp is already in service with the 4th Alpine Parachute Ranger Regiment, whose personnel conducted field tests and provided relevant recommendations to the manufacturing company.
Image source: topwar.ru
First of all, it is planned to equip all special forces units of the Italian army with new assault rifles. The Beretta Narp is expected to replace both the latest AR 70/90 and Arx 160 models. According to estimates by the Italian Ministry of Defense, about 50,000 such rifles will be needed to rearm the army.
Equipping the Italian army with new assault rifles is one of the stages of the Safe Soldier program, which plans to fully modernize the country's armed forces. Beretta is one of the key participants in this program, which has already been allocated half a billion euros.
Earlier it was reported that the Italian arms manufacturer Benelli, which is a subsidiary of Beretta, has upgraded its M4 hunting rifle, adding a system called Advanced Impact (AI), designed to combat FPV drones.
