Today, the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera published an interview with the captain of the destroyer ITS Caio Duilio (D554), Andrea Quondamatteo. From the interview, some additional details emerged compared to those initially released:
- The ship was located in the southern part of the Red Sea, in international waters, off the Yemeni coast.
- The event occurred after sunset.
- The drone was spotted when it was about 8 miles from the ship, and when it approached to about 6 miles away, it was verified that it was not an allied aircraft.
- When the drone was about 4 miles from the ship, approaching, fire was opened with the 76mm OTO cannon located forward on the right.
- The cannon fired two salvos of 3 shots, hitting and destroying the target.
It is worth noting that the second salvo of 3 shots was fired even before the first could reach the target, as a safety measure.
Captain Quondamatteo’s report does not mention (for obvious reasons) the type of ammunition used, whether they were guided DART projectiles or regular projectiles
An interesting video showing a test of the OTO 76mm cannon with guided ammunition. The same weapon used by the ITS Duilio yesterday to shoot down a drone in the Red Sea.https://t.co/UBo6YdgOb4
— Itamilradar (@ItaMilRadar) March 3, 2024