Independent Working Group Report: Missile Defense, the Space Relationship, and the Twenty-First Century. »»
February 11, 2012
IWG Report 2009
Independent Working Group Report: Missile Defense, the Space Relationship, and the Twenty-First Century. »»
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Otomat
| 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: | 60-180 km |
| Guidance: | INS, datalink, active radar |
| Status: | Operational |
| In Service: | 1976-Present |
| Associated Country: | France |
| Exported: | Bangladesh, Egypt, Iraq, Kenya, Libya, Malaysia, 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. The initial versions of the Otomat Mk 2 (Block 1 and 2) represented improvements in range and flight-pattern of the Otomat missile. In order to extend the range of the missile beyond 80 km, it was necessary to update the guidance system (since a missile cannot lock-on to a target that is over the horizon). To overcome this problem, the Mk 2 missile uses guidance updates from helicopters, ships, or airplanes that allow the missile to "see" over the horizon. The Mk 2 Block 3 differed from the earlier versions with the introduction of an insensitive booster motor and warhead, an improvement that makes the missile more stable. The Mk 2 Block 4 introduces a variety of improvements, including GPS guidance, a shorter minimum range, an improved flight path, datalink guidance, and improved target selection. The Block 4 updates have been introduced to make the missile more useful against littoral targets.
The Otomat missiles are built by both the French and Italian branches of MBDA. There may be some differences between the French-supplied and the Italian-supplied missiles. The Italian missiles, at least in Italy, are frequently referred to as Teseo 1 and 2. An Otomat Mk 3 variant, called Teseo 3, was proposed in 1994 and a project was pursued for the purpose of furnishing the Italian Navy. Various partnerships were considered and both Sweden and the United States showed some interest in the Teseo 3 system. Foreign interest waned, however, and Italy changed the project away from the Otomat Mk 3 design before scrapping the project in 2004. As originally planned, the Mk 3 version would have included an improved imaging infra-red (IIR) seeker and guidance system. The Italian version, the Teseo 3, would have had an increased range capability of 300 km and an increased terminal speed of Mach 0.95. After Italy dropped the Mk 3 design, they considered a program called NGASM (Next Generation Anti-Surface Missile), but the project has been halted.
The advances intended in the Otomat Mk 3 and Teseo programs have been absorbed into the Exocet block 3 project.
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 can also be used in coastal-defense batteries. It has been exported to Bangladesh, Egypt, Iraq, Kenya, Libya, Malaysia, Nigeria, Peru, Saudi Arabia, and Venezuela. Approximately 1,080 Otomat missiles (of all varieties) have been built. 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
