This html article is produced from an uncorrected text file through optical character recognition. Prior to 1940 articles all text has been corrected, but from 1940 to the present most still remain uncorrected. Artifacts of the scans are misspellings, out-of-context footnotes and sidebars, and other inconsistencies. Adjacent to each text file is a PDF of the article, which accurately and fully conveys the content as it appeared in the issue. The uncorrected text files have been included to enhance the searchability of our content, on our site and in search engines, for our membership, the research community and media organizations. We are working now to provide clean text files for the entire collection.
The Italian Navy fought World War II without a single carrier, and paid a very high price for it. Since then, the navy has shown a marked interest in shipboard aircraft with vertical/ takeoff and landing (V/STOL) characteristics. Until now, that meant helicopters. In the 1950s and 1960s, the Italian Navy was the most helicopter- minded navy in the world. Practically all first-line ships of more than 1,000 tons displacement were designed or modified to operate at least one helicopter (with a hangar being a very important feature). Small cruisers were built (like the two Andrea Dorias and the Vittorio Veneto) quite differently from the ships of other Western navies; their main armament was helicopters.
Although their construction was strongly criticized (most of all for their lack of antiship weapon systems), these ships have proved to be considerably ahead of the times. They are, in fact, a near-perfect prototype of air- capable ships which many navies are now discussing. On 16 November 1977, the Italcantieri Shipyard was contracted to build the Giuseppe Garibaldi through-deck cruiser (incrocia- tore tuttoponte). This marked another important step—not only for the Italian Navy, but for Western navies in general—toward the development of air-capable navies for those countries which cannot afford to build conventional large-deck aircraft carriers.
Today, many designs for small helicopter-V/STOL carriers are available or being developed. But the Giuseppe Garibaldi—laid down in Trieste a year ag0—is the first to pass from the drawing board to the shipyard. Of course, the British Invincible was commissioned in 1980. but this ship—having nearly double the displacement— cannot be considered in the same category. Also, the Invincible's designation has been changed from the original through-deck cruiser (TDC) to an antisubmarine cruiser (ASC), and this, as we shall see, is not purely a nomenclature difference.
To anticipate a point which we shall discuss in detail later, the Invincibles are “mini-aircraft carriers’’—i.e., a compromise solution, given the imperative need for the Royal Navy to maintain some shipboard air capability despite the country’s economic difficulties. The Garibaldi, on the other hand, is a more innovative concept; not simply a platform for the shipborne helicopters and/or V/STOL aircraft, but a combat ship whose primary armament is aircraft. The difference is considerable.
The Giuseppe Garibaldi will have a light displacement of 9.153 tons and a full load displacement of 13,139 tons with the following dimensions overall: length—587.26 feet; flight deck length—570.86 feet; beam—76.76 feet; beam at flight deck—99.73 feet. The flight deck will be axial, and restricted on the right side by the relatively large island. Apart from this, it will be unobstructed—unlike the earlier Andrea Dorias and Vittorio Veneto, whose flight decks were confined to the aft section of the hull. The flight deck will be connected to the hangar—extending for nearly the whole length and beam of the ship—by two axial elevators. Together with the close-type hangar, this is probably the only weak point of the ship’s design; perhaps it was impossible to provide an open hangar and side elevators in the small dimensions of the hull.
The power plant chosen for the Garibaldi is the same as that of the Spruance-c\ass destroyers. The ship will be powered by a combined gas turbine arrangement of four General Electric/Fiat LM2500 gas turbines,
The displacement of the Giuseppe Garibaldi through-deck cruiser is only about half that of the British Invincible- class VISTOL antisubmarine cruiser.
each rated at 20,000 h.p. for a total of 80,000 h.p.; each group of two turbines will be connected to one shaft. Whether variable-pitch (VP) propellers or reduction/inversion gear will be used for speed graduation has yet to be decided. The VP approach is simple, light, and cheap. But the Italian Navy (like the Royal Navy) is not convinced that a VP propeller can absorb some 40,000 h.p. at full power. In any case, the Garibaldi will be the first all-gas turbine ship in the Italian Navy; in the past, the more conventional combined diesel or gas turbine system has been selected for first-line ships.
The maximum speed of at least 29 knots will allow the Garibaldi to operate with the new Italian fast frigates (Lupo and Maestrale classes), forming highly efficient task groups, particularly in antiship and ASW roles.
The Garibaldi's armament is much heavier than a mini-carrier’s. This is in line with the already-mentioned philosophy that the ship was not designed as a mobile landing strip, but as a cruiser with air-capable armament. The ship will embark:
► Six container launchers for the Te- seo antiship missile, with its new homing system, a sea-skimming flight profile in the whole trajectory, and an over-the-horizon range of about 100 nautical miles.
► Three Dardo medium-range and close-in point defense systems. Each is composed of an eight-cell launcher for the Albatros missile system and a twin 40-/70-mm. Breda/Bofors turret. The positions of the weapons have been carefully selected to avoid blind arcs of fire. The Albatros is a system similar to the NATO Sea Sparrow in principle, but with a different eight-cell launcher, fire control system, and relative radar. It employs the new Selenia Aspide missile, an extensively improved version of the Sparrow with better range, homing capabilities, and maneuverability.
► Six ASW torpedo tubes (two Mk-32 triple mounts) for ASW homing torpedoes (Mk-46 or the new Whitehead A. 244).
► Two multipurpose rocket launchers for firing flare chaff, etc.
The most important point regarding the Garibaldi’s armament is its air component. The ship is scheduled to embark 16 SH-3D Sea King helicopters, which will be used not only in the traditional ASW role, but also for mid-course guidance of the Teseos and antishipping missions (especially against fast attack craft) with the new Sistel Marte air-to-surface missile.
The ship clearly has been designed
The Dardo Close-in Point
Defense System
I
Generally speaking, gun-based close-in point defense systems come in two categories. In the first one, the system is designed to destroy an incoming missile by direct shell impact (firing either high explosive or “solid shot" ammunition); in the second, ammunition that features a larger fragmentation warhead with a proximity fuze is used.
The philosophy behind the use of proximity-fuzed ammunition is that destruction of the attacking missile is not strictly required. At longer ranges (say, more than 700 meters), it is sufficient to divert the missile from its course by damaging the missile’s guidance system or control surfaces; such damage can be inflicted by shell fragments. Since an actual “hit" against the target is not necessary, aim can be less accurate, and it is possible to engage the missile at greater ranges.
Until now, the development of most close-in weapon systems (CIWS) has been based on direct shell impact philosophy, (e.g., the well-known U. S. Vulcan/Phalanx, Spanish CETME Meroka, U. S./Dutch SEG-30 Goalkeeper, Contraves/Oerlikon Sea- Guard, etc.).
The Italian Navy has preferred the second approach—fragmentation in proximity of the target. Its Dardo system is the only “influence” gun-based CIWS, and the first one in general to reach fully operational status among several navies. The Dardo is fitted on the Lupo-class frigates (in service or on order with the Italian, Venezuelan, Peruvian, Iraqi, and Egyptian navies), and is planned for the new Maestrale- class frigates (Italian Navy), the Giuseppe Garibaldi V/STOL carrier (Italian Navy), and the Blohm + Voss frigates ordered by Argentina and Nigeria.
Main components of the Dardo system are;
► Selenia RTN20X Orion fire control radar
► Breda/Bofors 40-/70-mm. twin gun turret
► Computing unit
► Supervision console
The computing unit is interfaced with the main air and/or surface search radars) and with gyrocompass, log, and pitch-and-roll sensors.
When the ship’s main search radar identifies a target whose characteristics correspond to those previously stored in the computer’s memory as typical of an antiship missile, the system automatically acquires the target and starts tracking and evaluating the threat. In addition, targets can be acquired under designation of the ship’s combat information center through optronic systems or by self-designation using the Orion radar in a search mode.
Once a target has been acquired, the Dardo's computing unit performs the following functions:
► Correlates echoes for automatic plotting of the target’s course
► Selects the most dangerous target in a multiple-threat situation
► Tracks the selected target, while maintaining continuous control on the others.
As range reduces, the system calculates the best moment for opening fire, commences fire, and controls fire action. The system automatically corrects firing parameters, continuously checks the projectile’s actual trajectory against the theoretical one and makes the required corrections. When the target is destroyed, the system automatically engages the second most dangerous threat or returns to the “on alarm" position.
The weapon used for the Dardo system is a Breda/Bofors 40-/70-mm. twin turret. The choice of a rather large caliber means that the firing rate is substantially lower than usual in CIWS; however, this large caliber allows for a fragmentation warhead and proximity fuze of the required efficiency, as well as for engagement ranges consistent with the system's basic philosophy.
The turret has a weight of five tons (six-and-three-quarter tons with full ammunition reserve) and is fully au-