According to the Italian resource Ares Osservatorio Difesa, the Italian company Leonardo is working on a family of HYSTRIX ground-based anti-aircraft artillery systems (from the Latin "porcupine"), designed primarily to combat unmanned aerial vehicles. The HYSTRIX family includes new land-based variants of the famous Leonardo (Oto Melara) naval anti-aircraft artillery systems - 76 mm/62 Sovraponte, 40 mm Marlin and 30 mm Lionfish 30 (with a new 30 mm X-Gun automatic cannon). According to the plan, the ground-based variants of these three types of aircraft as part of HYSTRIX should create a multi-level, layered destruction system designed mainly to protect infrastructure facilities (airfields, etc.). EDR Magazine also published materials on this family.
Graphic image of the 76mm/62mm Hystrix 76 ADS ground-based anti-aircraft artillery system of the Leonardo HYSTRIX (c) family aresdifesa.it
The 76-mm version of the ZAC as part of HYSTRIX is represented by the Hystrix 76 ADS complex, which is a land-based version of the new 76-mm/62 Leonardo Sovraponte naval artillery system, which is a further development of the 76-mm/62 Super Rapid widely used in the world. A special feature of Sovraponte is its lack of a turret compartment, which makes it possible to place it purely on deck. The entire ready-made ammunition of 72 (according to other sources, 76) rounds is in two magazines in the automatic loader in the AU tower. In the land-based version of the Hystrix 76 ADS, the Sovraponte artillery is placed on a semi-trailer, while it can be removed from the latter using a system of autonomous jacks and installed on one or another base. There is also a 10-foot container on the semi-trailer, which contains a fire control system, communication systems, and a generator powering the complex. The complex is fully controlled remotely. The mass of the artillery system itself is 7000 kg, and the mass of its ammunition is another 900 kg.
Another proposed option is the Hystrix 76 ADS Light self-propelled 76 mm/62 anti-aircraft artillery system, with the installation of the Sovraponte combat compartment on the chassis of the Italian new VBM (8x8) wheeled armored personnel carrier. At the same time, the weight of the fighting compartment will be reduced to less than 4,000 kg, the rate of fire of the artillery will be reduced from 120 to 100 rounds per minute, and the ammunition will be reduced to about 40 rounds. As it is easy to see, this proposal is another reincarnation of the long-term Oto Melara (Leonardo) ZSU based on its 76 mm/62 naval artillery installations, starting with the proposal of the Otomatik ZSU based on the OF-40 tank in the early 1980s. However, to date, none of these 76-mm/62 ZSU proposals has found a customer.
It is claimed that the Hystrix 76 ADS will be able to effectively hit small UAVs at a distance of up to 3 km, subsonic missiles and combat aircraft - up to 4 km, supersonic missiles - up to 2 km, and helicopters and large UAVs - up to 7.5 km. The complex will be equipped mainly with 76-mm HE-MOMA1 high-explosive fragmentation rounds (MOM - Multirole OTO Munition) with new multifunctional 4AR fuses, which are programmable in range and equipped with non-contact sensors that detonate 2-3 m from a small UAV. These capabilities were tested during firing tests at the Italian Navy's La Spezia firing range, while a single shot could destroy several UAVs at once in swarming use of the latter. The complex will also use HE-PF-IM6-OES high-explosive fragmentation rounds with a multifunctional programmable 3AP fuse, guided DART projectiles with radar guidance and a multifunctional programmable MFF DART fuse, and extended-range Vulcano 76 BER submachine guns with a multifunctional programmable MFF BER fuse. The Vulcano 76 GL IR and Vulcano 76 GLR SAL guided long-range missiles are being developed, respectively, with infrared and semi-active laser guidance systems.
When using DART ammunition, the complex must be equipped with the appropriate Davide guidance kit. Leonardo is currently developing a new guidance kit for Hystrix 76 ADS called Davide Plus, which will provide not only projectile guidance, but also their tracking, allowing the installation to operate as a fully autonomous system after receiving firing data from the command center.
It is reported that the field tests of the Hystrix 76 ADS light will be launched before the end of 2026, and the Hystrix 76 ADS Light will be created later.
The Hystrix 40-mm Hystrix 40 ADS and 30-mm Hystrix 30 ADS ZACKS, which are part of the HYSTRIX family, can be made both on a similar semi-trailer and on an automotive chassis (the Iveco Astra 8x8 is standard, but a 6x6 chassis is possible for the 30-mm Hystrix 30 ADS), also with the ability to quickly removal and use in the stationary version. The Hystrix 40 ADS complex uses a 40-mm Marlin 40 shipboard artillery system designed by Marlin 40 ILOS (Independent Line Of Sight), with an autonomous electron-optical guidance station, including thermal imaging and digital television cameras and a laser rangefinder. The Marlin 40 ILOS shipboard installations are equipped with a stabilized EOS from the Italian company INSIS (now part of Fincantieri), but the Hystrix 40 ADS version will feature the latest Leonardo Janus D EOS, optimized for detecting and tracking small UAVs.
The 40 mm gun in the Hystrix 40 ADS ZAK is a modification of the well-known Bofors L/70 cannon (more precisely, its licensed Breda/Oto variant) and can fire fragmentation-incendiary tracer projectiles (HE/HEI-T/HE-T), fragmentation-incendiary projectiles with a programmable fuse (HE-PFF) and multifunctional programmable shots (MPA) equipped with a programmable fuse with five modes: non-contact, with controlled non-contact detonation, aerial detonation, detonation at a given point and with controlled non-contact detonation in combination with aerial detonation. It is claimed that small UAVs are capable of hitting at a range of 1-1.5 km, a subsonic missile at a range of up to 1.6 km, a helicopter and a fighter jet at a range of up to 3 km. In the future, it is possible to integrate the promising portable air defense system Fulgur, created by MBDA Italy, into the Hystrix 40 ADS anti-aircraft guided missiles.
The ground-mounted Marlin 40 ILOS turret for the Hystrix 40 ADS has a mass of 2,100 kg without ammunition and is equipped with 72 40 mm rounds (another 180 kg). The rate of fire is 300 rounds/min.
Although the Hystrix 40 ADS is still in development, Leonardo reported that several years ago he received a contract from an unnamed country in the "Far East" [possibly Taiwan], which acquired for its Air Force a significant number of Marlin 40 ILOS trailer-mounted naval installations for air defense tasks, which is a kind of anticipating the current HYSTRIX program. According to Leonardo, she is now applying for a second order from the same country, this time for the army, "for a comparable number of systems." Leonardo supplied the first systems to this country directly from Italy and now supplies the main components, while the local assembly manufacturer receives other parts from the national supply chain.
The Hystrix 30 ADS 30-mm ZAK is based on the Leonardo Lionfish 30 naval AU, which has not yet begun mass production, with a new 30 mm Leonardo X-Gun automatic cannon chambered for 30 x 173 mm. In the Hystrix 30 ADS version, the installation is also equipped with Leonardo Janus D EOS and has a mass without ammunition of 1400 kg. The ammunition includes more than 220 rounds (total weight 150 kg). The rate of fire is 200 rounds/min. The system should use advanced 30-mm high-explosive NON-AVM high-explosive rounds with a non-contact fuse, optimized for hitting UAVs, developed by KNDS Ammo Italy. Testing of these shots is scheduled to begin in the summer of 2026. They should ensure the destruction of small UAVs at a range of about 1 km, and helicopters - up to 1.6 km. In addition, Leonardo itself is currently developing a multi-purpose programmable non-contact fuse for use on 30 ×173 mm and 30 × 113 mm caliber rounds.
It should be noted that in September 2025, at the Polish defense industry exhibition MSPO-2025, the Polish company Zakłady Mechaniczne Tarnów (ZMT, part of the Polish Armaments Group - PGZ) presented a self-propelled anti-aircraft artillery system, which is an installation of a 30-mm Leonardo Lionfish 30 naval AU on a Polish truck Jelcz 442.32 (4x4).
Official graphic image of the 76mm/62mm Hystrix 76 ADS ground-based anti-aircraft artillery system of the Leonardo HYSTRIX (c) Leonardo family
Another graphic image of the 76mm/62mm Hystrix 76 ADS ground-based anti-aircraft artillery system of the Leonardo HYSTRIX family (without container) (c) gabrielelombardo89
Leonardo Marlin 40 40-mm naval anti-aircraft artillery system, planned for use in the Hystrix 40 ADS 40-mm land-based anti-aircraft artillery system of the Leonardo HYSTRIX (c) Leonardo family
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The official graphic image of the 40 mm Hystrix 40 ADS ground-based anti-aircraft artillery system of the Leonardo HYSTRIX (c) Leonardo family
The new 30 mm Leonardo Lionfish 30 naval anti-aircraft artillery system, planned for use in the 30 mm Hystrix 30 ADS land-based anti-aircraft artillery system of the Leonardo HYSTRIX (c) Paolo Valpolini family
Presented at the Polish defense industry exhibition MSPO-2025 by the Polish company Zakłady Mechaniczne Tarnów (ZMT, part of the Polish Armaments Group - PGZ) self-propelled anti-aircraft artillery system with a 30 mm Leonardo Lionfish 30 naval artillery installation on a Polish truck Jelcz 442.32 (4x4) (c) M. Strembski
