Theaim of the programme is to modernise the Italian Army’s artillery units, equipping them with systems that allow the acquisition of the necessary information for a rapid, selective, precise and punctual use of indirect fire sources. Currently, in fact, the Italian Army has 4 “Arthur” anti-fire radars and their operational use is mainly oriented to the identification of hostile sources of fire.
The Arthur anti-fire radar entered service at the end of 2013 and allows to identify the opposing sources of fire, determining the point of origin and impact of the trajectories. It also allows friendly artillery to deliver response fire in real time; deployable in less than two minutes, in the Italian version it is mounted in a shelter transportable on a medium truck.
The program under consideration is aimed at enhancing and renewing the engagement capacity, both precision and in depth, of the land artillery, progressively increasing the number of radars supplied to the Italian Army. The new radars, in addition to carrying out functions of research and identification of hostile sources of indirect fire of various types, identifying their point of origin and impact of the trajectories, must also be able to allow the instrumental observation of the fire delivered by friendly artillery, as well as contribute to the development of information activity in the field of intervention.
The introduction of the modernised radars into service will be accompanied by the establishment of specific training courses and the simultaneous revision of the training programmes already in place to adapt them to the new capabilities. The new systems will be interoperable with sensors already in service, as well as with the earth’s artillery chain of fire systems.
The programme is expected to start in 2022 and will be completed in 2026. The total estimated cost amounts to 156 million euros, of which 42 million related to the first phase of the program, financed by appropriations from the chapters of the investment sector of the Ministry of Defense, which will allow the acquisition of three radars, including the related logistical support, as well as any courses for personnel and infrastructure adjustments and upgrades.
With the first phase, therefore, the operation of three artillery regiments of the Army will be guaranteed. The completion of the program, for the remaining total forecast value of 114 million euros, will be achieved through subsequent measures aimed at completing the organic endowments of the remaining Army regiments.
As for the industrial profiles and the economic and employment repercussions, he points out that the illustrative sheet indicates that the sectors of the national industry interested in the program are mainly that of mechanics and radar electronics, with prospects of an involvement of the national industry in the development of components and software for interoperability with other systems in service. Therefore, it is expected that the programme in question will make a decisive contribution to the technological development necessary for the domestic industry to have a portfolio in line with the needs of an extremely competitive market.