In 1979, in order to outperform the German Flakpanzer Gepard and the British Marksman, the latter produced by Marconi, another Italian private company, the OTO technicians decided to mount the HEFAS 76 turret on the hull of the OTO-Fiat Palmaria Self Propelled Gun. In the same year, the second prototype was produced, which was tested until 1989. Between 19, the first prototype was produced and tested and was presented at the Paris Air Show in 1987. In 1981, the program was presented for the first time at the Paris Air Show. This SPG, produced by OTO-Melara in collaboration with FIAT-IVECO, did not have great international success and therefore, it was hoped that creating an entire family of armored vehicles with a common hull would increase the interest of foreign armies. The decision to mount the turret on the Palmaria Self-Propelled Gun (SPG) chassis, a modified version of the OF-40, was not a coincidence. OTO-Melara, being a private company, designed the vehicle for the international market, but also offered it to the Esercito Italiano (EI, Eng: Italian Army).
The main partners of the project were IVECO Defense Vehicles (part of IVECO-FIAT), Officine Galileo, OTO-Breda and Marittimo Aero SPA. OTO-Melara was responsible for the design and construction of the prototypes. The OTOMATIC project was developed by many factories.
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