OTO-Melara Otomatic ADT (Air Defence Tank)

History

At some point in the 1980s, OTO-Melara's Italian group attempted to sell the Army (and any interested foreign buyer) in exchange for the merits of a 76mm anti-aircraft (ADT) tank dubbed "Otomatic". The system matches a fast-firing automatic cannon to the Palmaria Self-Propelled Gun (SPG) carriage (described in detail elsewhere on this page), while retaining the latter's overall maneuverability.

However, interest from the Army (and foreign parties) eventually waned, and only one Otomatic prototype was completed before the project was abandoned.

The 76mm gun in question is derived from an existing OTO Breda design and is controlled by an Airborne Fire Control System (FCS) with radar and laser ranging. The weapon is approved to fire high-explosive (HE) and armor-piercing fin stabilized (APFSDS) rounds.

In addition to its effectiveness as a short- to medium-range air defense system, the Otomatic can also be easily trained against ground targets such as armored vehicles. The original intention was to offer the Otomatic turret as a standalone component to allow foreign customers to mount it on any existing main battle tank (MBT) hull.

Despite the initiative, this OTO-Melara adventure fell short of expectations and the Italian army, along with other great powers, looked elsewhere - leaving the Otomatic with no future home.

When fully constructed, the Otomatic is a 46-ton vehicle measuring 23.9 feet long (hull only), 12.1 feet wide and 10 feet high. There are four of his operators. The 76mm main gun went into battle with 70 rounds. The vehicle is powered by an MTU diesel engine of the MB837 Ka-500 series with 750 hp. The vehicle is suspended on a torsion bar assembly for off-road touring.

At road speeds approaching 40 mph, the range is 310 miles. Since the Otomatic was built on the existing Palmaria chassis, which in turn evolved from the export-oriented OF-40 main battle tank (described in detail elsewhere on this page), the Otomatic has seven track and wheel arrangements Double tired wheels to the side of a track.

The drive sprocket remains at the rear, the chain idler is at the front, and four chain idlers are used.

Specification

Basic

Roles

Dimensions

Performance

Performance

for everyone else in our database)

Armor

70 x 76mm bullet

6 x Smoke Grenade

Changes