Otomat

Otomat
Type	Medium-range anti-ship missile
Place of origin	Italy
Service history
In service	1977
Production history
Manufacturer	MBDA
Specifications
Weight	770 kg (1,698 lb) with booster
Length	4.46 m (14.6 ft)
Diameter	400 mm (15.7 in)
Warhead	210 kg (463 lb)
Detonation mechanism	Impact and proximity
Engine	Turbojet engine
Operational range	>180 km (97 nmi)
Speed	310 m/s (690 mph)
Guidance system	Inertial guidance, GPS and active radar homing
Launch platform	Surface-launched

The Otomat is an Italian-built, anti-ship and coastal attack missile first built by the Italian company Oto Melara jointly with Matra and now made by MBDA.

The name comes, for the first versions, from the name of the two builders (OTO Melara MATra) and, for the later versions, Teseo, from the Italian word for Theseus. The MILAS variant is an anti-submarine missile.

Roketsan, a Turkish missile manufacturer, signed an agreement in 2010 with MBDA to design, develop, and produce the new generation of rocket engines for the Otomat.

The Otomat missile program started in 1967, the same year in which the Israeli destroyer Eilat was sunk by three Soviet-made P-15 Termit anti-ship missiles. This event raised awareness about the effectiveness of such weapons and prompted the development of similar systems in Western countries, such as the Harpoon in the United States. However, it is unknown whether the Otomat program started before or after the Eilat event.

The Otomat program was undertaken by the Italian Oto Melara corporation in cooperation with the French Matra Corporation. The aim was to develop an anti-ship missile powered by a turbofan which would allow more range and a heavier warhead than rocket-powered missiles then being developed in Europe such as the French Exocet and the German Kormoran. Trials started in 1971 and development of the Mk1 version of the Otomat officially ended in 1974.

However, at that time, the French Navy chose the wholly French Exocet over the Franco-Italian Otomat as its standard anti-ship missile. Thus, the Italian Navy remained as the only launch customer for the missile; it entered service on January 1976, before the commissioning of the warship intended to carry it, the Lupo-class frigate. These early Otomat missiles lacked a data link for over-the-horizon targeting, which limited its effective range to 60 kilometres (37 mi) a similar figure to the Exocet. To solve this problem, development of an Mk2 version started in May 1973, with a first test launch in January 1974, development completed in 1976, and the first over-the-horizon launch in 1978. By the end of 1976 OTO Melara had reported that 210 Otomats had been sold: Italy 48, Peru 40, Venezuela 12, and Libya 110. Also at this time there were negotiations under way for the sale of 296 more missiles to various nations (i.e. Italy 48, Egypt 30, Venezuela 48, Libya 120, Indonesia 50).