Beretta NARP and new 2025 camouflage for the Italian Army

Within a few days, between mid and late December 2025, a clear message was consolidated: the Italian Army is accelerating on individual armament, operational clothing, and “services” (logistics, processes, training, and internal modernization). The turning point in communication comes from the Christmas speech of the Chief of Staff of the Army, Gen. C.A. Carmine Masiello, held at the Aula Magna of the Logistics Command, where the start of the distribution to the entire Armed Force of the new Beretta NARP assault rifle and the new combat suit is explicitly announced.

The announcement: first Special Forces, then line

Masiello frames technology as a “means” (not an end) and emphasizes the centrality of personnel, but includes among the operational novelties the start of the distribution of the Beretta NARP to the Special Forces, defining it – in evaluative terms – as a reference of excellence, and reiterating that the system will equip the entire Army.

An “industrial-territorial” confirmation also comes from the local economic press: Giornale di Brescia writes that the NARP will progressively replace the ARX160 currently in service, and attributes the project to a close collaboration between Beretta and the Army Special Forces Command (design and testing phase).

What is the Beretta NARP

The NARP was born as a modular “platform”: the idea is a family of configurations, not just a single rigid model. Some recurring elements emerge in the publicly available materials:

• Starting caliber: 5.56×45 NATO.
• Operating system: gas architecture with short-stroke piston (indicated as a choice oriented towards reliability/maintenance compared to direct impingement solutions).
• Ergonomics/ambidexterity: fully ambidextrous controls and “familiar” setup to reduce the learning curve for those coming from AR-style platforms.
• Weight and dimensions: values around 3.3 kg (with empty magazine) and lengths under a meter depending on the barrel/configuration.
• Evolutions/variants: other barrel lengths and possible future calibers are mentioned (at the program level); a “showroom” technical sheet from 2023 also mentions an indicative rate of 700 rounds/minute for a configuration.

On accessories and signature (noise/flash), Beretta itself links the platform to dedicated solutions (e.g., integration with suppression/attenuation systems and trace reduction), already presented at the public launch of the program in 2023.

The new Combat Suit and the 2025 Multi-terrain Camouflage

Along with the rifle, a new combat suit with updated polychromy was also shown: the numerical target mentioned is to reach 70,000 distributed pieces by 2026. The new camouflage is mentioned as “2025 Multi-terrain Camouflage”, marking a change from the traditional “vegetata” and more vivid brown/burnt tones.

An important piece comes from the Logistics Command, which indicates the initial procurement of combat and service uniforms in 2025 multi-terrain camouflage for personnel preparing for/deploying to operational theaters, also citing the adoption of a multi-terrain camouflage (“Altimetrico F”).