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Country:	Italy
Alternate Name:	Teseo
Class:	SLCM
Target:	Ship
Length:	4.46 m
Diameter:	0.46 m
Launch Weight:	770.00 kg
Payload:	210 kg HE, SAP (Mk 1/2); 160 kg HE, SAP (Mk 3/NGASM)
Propulsion:	Turbojet
Range:	60.00 km
Guidance:	INS, datalink, active radar (Mk 1/2); INS, GPS, active radar, IIR (Mk 3/NGASM)
Status:	Operational
In Service:	1976-Present
Exported:	Bangladesh, Egypt, Iraq, Kenya, Libya, Malaysia, Morocco, Nigeria, Peru, Saudia Arabia, and Venezuela

Details

The Otomat is a short-range, ship- and ground-launched, turbojet powered, single warhead, surface-to-surface cruise missile developed and manufactured by Italy and France. Development of the Otomat began in 1969 by Otobreda (now MBDA Missile Systems) and Matra (now MBDA Missile Systems). The first production missile was accepted in 1972 by the Italian Navy. The Otomat is referred to as the Teseo in the Italian Navy.

 

The Otomat Mk 1, which entered service in 1976, has a cylindrical body, four delta-shaped wings located at mid-body, and four control fins at the rear. The missile is 4.46 m in length, has a body diameter of 0.46 m, and has a launch weight of 770 kg. Midcourse guidance is provided by an inertial navigation system (INS) with command updates, and an active radar in the terminal phase. The missile is powered by two solid propellant booster rockets and a turbojet engine giving the missile a range of 60 km. It carries a 210 kg high explosive semi-armor piercing warhead.

 

Development of an improved version, the Otomat Mk 2, with an extended range of 180 km began in the early 1980s. It has undergone several upgrades, adding new electronics, counter-countermeasures, greater fuel capacity, GPS guidance, a new signal processor for littoral warfare and land attack, and a digital weapon control system. The French are also believed to have developed a lightweight version known as the Otomat Compact, featuring a new launch container.

 

Development of the Otomat Mk 3 began in 1994, and includes an improved imaging infra-red (IIR) seeker and guidance system. The Italian version, the Teseo 3, has an increased range capability of 300 km and an increased terminal speed of Mach 0.95. It features improved stealth technology, the ability to receive command updates in the midcourse phase, and is planned for ship, ground, and air launch. The Teseo 3, however, has since been replaced by the Next Generation Anti-Surface Missile (NGASM) project, which was proposed to the Italian Ministry of Defense in 2001.

 

The NGASM is 5.6 m in length, has a body diameter of 0.46 m, and a launch weight of 800 kg. Midcourse guidance is provided by an inertial navigation system (INS) with command updates, and an active radar and imaging infra-red (IIR) in the terminal phase. The missile is powered by a turbojet engine, has an extended range of 200 to 250 km, and carries a 160 kg high explosive semi-armor piercing warhead. It is expected to enter service in 2014.

 

The Otomat is deployed on light aircraft carriers, “De La Penne” and “Audace” class destroyers, “Maestrale” and “Lupo” class frigates, and “Minerva” class corvettes. It has been exported to Bangladesh, Egypt, Iraq, Kenya, Libya, Malaysia, Morocco, Nigeria, Peru, Saudi Arabia, and Venezuela. Sources indicate that the Otomat is also the basis for the French-Italian Missile de Luttle Anti-Sous-marine” anti-submarine warfare (MILAS ASW) torpedo delivery system.(1)

 

 

 

 

Footnotes

 

1. Duncan Lennox, ed., Jane’s Strategic Weapons Systems 45 (Surrey: Jane’s Information Group, July 2006), pp. 61-62; GlobalSecurity.org, “Otomat 2,” available at http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/europe/otomat.htm, accessed on November 8, 2006; MBDA, “Otomat MK2 Block IV,” available at http://www.mbda.net/mbda/site/FO/scripts/siteFO_contenu.php?lang=EN&noeu_id=171, accessed on November 8, 2006; Nick Brown, “Italy’s Teseo Mk 2/A missile passes first test flight,” Jane’s Navy International, July 1, 2006; Luca Peruzzi, “MBDA wins Teseo contract,” Jane’s Defence Weekly, August 9, 2006