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Otomatic
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Otomatic was a prototype self-propelled anti-aircraft gun, or "SPAAG", combining the chassis of a Leopard I tank with a new turret mounting the Otobreda 76 mm gun along with associated search and targeting radars and their fire control systems. Oto Melara offered it as a long-range SPAAG that outperformed systems like the Gepard and similar versions with the British Marksman turret that mounted much smaller 35 mm guns. The gun was also useful against lighter armored vehicles or older generation tanks. However the need for a long-range AA gun on the modern battlefield well stocked with anti-aircraft missiles was suspect, and the Otomatic was never put into production.
Oto Melara attempted to revive the concept in a much lighter mounting as the AMRAD ("Artillery Multi-Role Area Defense"), which was intended to be used on a variety of wheeled vehicles. In order to lower the weight of the system, the turret's armor was thinned and the radars were removed and replaced with an optical-only aiming systems cued by a remote radar. The concept of using a long-range gun without radar correction seems even more suspect, and it appears the AMRAD also found no sales.
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