Saetta
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| Saetta | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Type | Self-propelled anti-aircraft vehicle |
| Place of origin |  Luminerra |
| Service history | |
| Used by | Luminerra |
| Production history | |
| Designed | 1977 - 1982 1992 - 1999 |
| Manufacturer | Calvetti Industria Pesante S.p.A |
| Produced | 2000-Present |
| Specifications | |
| Weight | 30 tons |
| Length | 8 metres (26 ft 3 in) gun forward 7.4 metres (24 ft 3 in) hull length |
| Width | 3.1 metres (10 ft 2 in) |
| Height | 3 metres (9 ft 10 in) |
| Crew | 3 (commander, gunner, driver) |
| Armor | Monocoque steel hull with add-on armor kits available |
Main armament | 1 x Munizioni Reali CA-7685 76 mm automatic cannon |
Secondary armament | 1 x 8x50 mm Wilton-Nash MU-77 machine gun |
| Engine | Achievo MVP2187 V12 diesel engine 520 hp |
| Suspension | Hydropneumatic |
Operational range | 800 km (500 mi) |
| Speed | 100 km/h (62 mph) |
The Saetta is a Lumenic self-propelled anti-aircraft vehicle designed and produced by Calvetti Industria Pesante S.p.A for the Lumenic Army. Armed with a rapid firing 76 mm automatic cannon, it is among the largest self-propelled antiaircraft artillery in service and has proven effective against a variety of airborne targets, including helicopters, unmanned aerial vehicles, fixed wing aircraft, and cruise missiles.
History and development
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The genesis of the Saetta began in 1977 during the final development and eventual abandonment of the Alaris main battle tank. The Lumenic Legion had expressed interest in a large caliber antiaircraft weapon designed to defeat heavily armed and armored helicopter gunships employed by the Soviet Armed Forces, such as the Vol-52 Hound and newer Vol-81 Vandal at ranges which could be comparable to helicopter's own air launched anti-tank guided missiles and would be less susceptible to electronic countermeasures than surface to air missile systems. Although the Legion desired a lightweight and fast vehicle that could advance with armored forces, protecting them form air launched anti-tank missiles, the incredible weight of the turret assembly, including the gun along with associated search and targeting radars and their fire control systems, an optical fire-control system with periscopes for search and aiming, and a laser range-finder necessitated the use of a tank hull to support it. The turret assembly for the final prototype weighed in excess of 15 tons.
A single prototype was built in 1981, designated as the Furbo Alaris. With the events of the Omandan Continental War moving further north, and with the Licanan Air Force's ability to establish at least local tactical air superiority over a given battlefield, the need for a weapon system to defeat Soviet helicopter's diminished and the development work was halted. The single protopine was placed in storage at Forte Cropani.
The design was revisited towards the end of the Omandan Continental War, as the Legion began the process of both drawing down forces while, at the same time, reequipping itself with weapons system's necessary to fight a parity foe without the assistance of Allied forces. Despite cooperation during the war, Luminerra's northern neighbor Notreceau was considered to be the most likely foe in any future conflicts. Advances in electronics technologies and other hardware allowed for the weight of the turret and radar assembly to be significantly reduced, allowing for the newly developed Tigre tank destroyer to be equipped with the system.
Design
The Saetta is equipped with a 76 millimeter cannon designed and produced by Munizioni Reali and is a adaptation of the company's famous 76 mm rapid fire naval cannon, the CAN-7663. Thw weapon is mounted in the vehicles remotely operated and unmanned turret, with the crew being located within the hull of the vehicle. Demonstrated rates of fire have been observed between 80 and 100 rounds per minute. The weapon is feed through a revolving style magazine, with 12 rounds in the magazine, and a further 12 round magazine held within the hull of the vehicle. Available ammunition types include high explosive and armour-piercing fin-stabilized discarding sabot for use against lightly armroed ground targets, as well as guided munitions, such as the Dardo projectile, a guided gun projectile with radio controls and a proximity fuze for low level engagement (up to 2 meters over the sea). Dardo is fired at 1,200 m/s (3,900 ft/s), can reach 5 km range in only 5 seconds, and can perform up to 40 maneuvers. The projectile is made of two parts: the forward is free to rotate and has two small canard wings for flight control. The aft part has the 2.5 kg warhead (with tungsten cubes and the 3A millimetric wave new fuze), six fixed wings and the radio receivers
As of 2016, the Legion reported that an improved version of the Dardo, simply known as the Dardo II, was in service with units and was capible of strikign targets at "double the distane" of the original Dardo projectile.
Secondary armament consists of a single coaxial 8x50 mm Wilton-Nash MU-77 general purpose machine gun.
Without armor upgrades, the vehicles armor is sufficient to defeat small arms fire with up 14.5 mm and shrapnel. Additional armor packages can be fitted to increase the frontal protection against rounds up to 40 mm.
The Saetta's radar can functional in all weather types and environments, and features a range of 21 km against aircraft and 14 km against helicopters. The radar can acquire, track and engage low RCS targets such as stealth aircraft, drones and cruise missiles. It can track 10 to 26 air targets simultaneously and is battlefield network compliment to allow it to receive targeting information from other sources.