KNDS and Leonardo to jointly develop mobile artillery system for Italian Army

KNDS Deutschland (KNDS) and Italy’s Leonardo are to jointly develop a mobile artillery system for an upcoming Italian Army programme, the two companies announced on 16 December 2025.

A corresponding letter of intent (LOI) was signed in Amsterdam, the headquarters of KNDS, by Florian Hohenwarter, incoming CEO of KNDS Deutschland, and Roberto Cingolani, CEO and general manager of Leonardo.

The newly developed artillery system will be based on the KNDS Artillery Gun Module and “an enhanced version of Leonardo’s protected wheeled vehicle platform”, according to the companies’ joint press release.

Leonardo will soon have a significant military vehicle portfolio when its acquisition of the Iveco Group’s Defence division, announced on 30 July 2025, closes around the first quarter of 2026. Iveco Group’s Defence business includes both Iveco Defence Vehicles (IDV), which produces special-purpose protected vehicles, and Astra, which produces heavy-duty trucks for extreme off-road conditions.

KNDS and Leonardo intend to intensify their industrial co-operation to improve supply chain resilience and time to market, the companies said, adding that the “combination of Leonardo’s state-of-the-art electronics, C5I, UAV defence technologies and new wheeled vehicle platform, together with KNDS’s most advanced artillery system, will significantly contribute to increasing the system’s combat power and effectiveness”.

“This Letter of Intent is an important step toward improving the interoperability of European land forces and the co-operation of European industry,” Hohenwarter was quoted as saying in a joint press release.

“This collaborative effort once again confirms our commitment to developing integrated capabilities able to meet evolving market requirements in the new operational scenarios”, added Cingolani.