Fire-control quality undermined by inconsistent Italian shells

The Regia Marina invested in capable optical and fire-control systems, allowing occasional exceptionally accurate shooting at long range. Poor shell quality control made those solutions difficult to exploit consistently because projectiles from the same salvo did not behave alike. Wide dispersion could therefore make a well-trained crew and sound director system appear erratic from one salvo to the next. The distinction matters when assessing Italian combat performance: industrial consistency, rather than a simple lack of gunnery skill, often broke the chain between an accurate solution and repeated hits.