OTO- Melara Palmaria

OTO - The Story of Melara Palmaria

The 155mm Palmaria self-propelled gun was developed by Italian concern OTO Melara as an internal project for interested foreign parties. With a long history of defense-oriented development, OTO Melara seeks to meet the self-propelled artillery needs of evolving or modernizing national armies and promotes its Palmaria as an alternative to more expensive Western and Soviet products.

Work on the vehicle began in 1977 with a chassis consisting of the existing OF-40 main battle tank, allowing the two vehicles to share commonalities of auto parts in the design. The OF-40, another export-oriented OTO Melara product, was developed in-house in 1977 and entered production in 1980, in service in the United Arab Emirates (though fewer than 50 were produced in total).

It was hoped that the Palmaria would be more successful than the OF-40, and a pilot vehicle was prepared for 1981.

While the OF-40's chassis remained largely intact, a large boxy sloping turret superstructure was added to accommodate the 155mm main gun. The howitzer is equipped with a powerful recoil mechanism and is equipped with a large double-baffle muzzle brake (a smoke exhaust is also found along the central part of the barrel). The turret was placed centrally on top of the fuselage for balance, while defense was provided by a 7.62mm machine gun mounted on top of the turret against enemy infantry or low-flying threats. The power unit is mounted at the rear of the fuselage and contains a 740 hp 8-cylinder diesel engine.

The vehicle is suspended from a torsion bar assembly, and the track system uses seven wheels, a rear drive sprocket and a front track idler. Point defense of the landing gear is provided by optional side skirt armor. Top road speed is 37 mph and range is 250 miles. The vehicle was manned by five people, with the driver in the right front hull and the rest of the crew - the commander, gunner and two loaders (further assisted by an automatic loader) - in the turret.

The boat is loaded with 30 x 155mm projectiles and 1,000 x 7.62mm ammunition.

After passing the tests, the car was ordered from Libya (up to 210 units were delivered), where serial production took place in 1982. Nigeria also ordered Palmaria (25), while Argentina only ordered Towers (25). and installed them on their existing TAM medium tank chassis (as TAM VCA Palmaria) until 1987.

In terms of numbers alone, Palmaria has proven to be more financially successful than the OF-40 MBT.

In practice, Palmaria is comparable to Western products. The 155mm gun can fire a wide range of approved ammunition options, including HE (High Explosive) shrapnel, smoke grenades and flares (up to 24.7km range and rocket-assisted up to 30km). The tower provides full 360 degree traversal and elevation angles from -5 to +70 degrees.

Auxiliary power units allow critical systems to operate without letting the engine run. The autoloader ensures that 155mm projectiles are fired every 15 seconds for a sustained rate of fire.

The Libyan army Palmarias were deployed out of anger during the 2011 revolution, several of which were destroyed by UN-sponsored airstrikes.

Palmaria takes its name from the island of Palmaria, located in the Ligurian Sea near the Gulf of La Spezia. OTO Melara has offices in La Spezia, Italy.

Specification

Basic

Roles

Dimensions

Performance

Performance

Armor

30 x 155 mm projectile.

1,000 x 7.62mm ammo.

Changes