Oto Melara is a Italian defence company with factories in Brescia and La Spezia. It was founded in 1905 as Vickers Terni. During First World War Vickers Terni produced many weapons with calibre 40 mm and upwards. In 1929 the company was renamed ODERO TERNI ORLANDO with the abbreviation Oto. During the Second World War mostly heavy guns for battle ships were produced. In 1953 the Company took the name Oto Melara. Before Italy joined Nato Oto Melara produced civil products; like tractors and looms, but quickly returned to the production of weapons. Oto Melara's most famous weapons after the Second World War are the mountain Pack howitzer 105/14, which is in service throughout the world and the 76/62 ship gun, which has been adopted by 53 Navies and is installed on over 1000 military naval vessels. For the Italian administrative area, see Province of Brescia Brescia is a city in the region of Lombardy in northern Italy with a population of around 200,000. ... Map of Italy showing La Spezia in the northwest La Spezia is a city in the Liguria region of northern Italy, at the head of La Spezia Gulf. ... World War I was a basically European conflict with many facets: immense human sacrifice, stalemate trench warfare, and the use of new, devastating weapons - tanks, aircraft, machineguns, and poison gas. ... World War II was a truly global conflict with many facets: immense human sacrifice, fierce indoctrinations, and the use of new, extremely devastating weapons—the atom bomb being the ultimate. ... The flag of NATO NATO 2002 Summit The North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO), sometimes called North Atlantic Alliance, Atlantic Alliance or the Western Alliance, is an international organisation for defence collaboration established in 1949, in support of the North Atlantic Treaty signed in Washington, D.C., on April 4, 1949. ... Loading a WW1 British 15 in (381 mm) howitzer 155 mm M198 Howitzer A howitzer or hauwitzer is a type of field artillery. ...

Today Oto Melaras land defence operations are part of the “Iveco Fiat - Oto Melara” consortium and offer: Categories: Automobile stubs | Companies of Italy | Automobile manufacturers ... Fiat S.p. ...

• Ariete Main Battle Tank
• Dardo Infantry Fighting Vehicle
• Centauro Wheeled Tank Destroyer
• Puma 6x6 and Puma 4x4 Wheeled Armoured Personal Carrier
• Skyguard "Aspide" Anti-Air missile system
• 105/14mm Pack Howitzer
• SIDAM 25 Anti Aircraft weapon

Also the Consortium will licence produce 70 PzH 2000 for the Italian Army. Ariete Tanks of the Italian Ariete Tank Brigade on exercise Ariete is a tank developed for the Italian Army to meet the needs of the 21st Century, by providing a credible indigenous tank design capable of competing with other current tanks on the battlefield and in the export market. ... Three Bersaglieri ride their Dardo DARDO- INFANTRY FIGHTING VEHICLE The Dardo is the new Infantry Fighting Vehicle of the Italian Army. ... General characteristics Length 7. ... A RIM-7 Sea Sparrow being launched from the USS Essex (LHD-2) The AIM-7 Sparrow is a medium-range semi-active radar homing air-to-air missile operated by the USAF, US Navy, and USMC as well as various allied air forces. ... Panzerhaubitze 2000 The Panzerhaubitze 2000, or PzH 2000 for short, is a 155mm self-propelled howitzer developed by Krauss-Maffei Wegmann (KMW) together with Rheinmetall for the German Army. ... Ariete Tanks of the Italian Ariete Tank Brigade on exercise Three Bersaglieri ride in a Dardo The Italian Army has recently become a professional all-volunteer force of some 112,000 active duty personnel, around 70% male, 30% female. ...

The naval defence operations produce a wide range of automatic naval artillery, rocket and missile launchers and remote controlled small calibre defence cannons.

External links

• Oto Melara corporate homepage