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Impavido class

In the early 1960's rhe program railored in 1958 srarred to be carried our. The major combattants were: rhe missile cruiser Garibaldi, two helo fitted Doria-class missiles cruisers, and two Impavido-class missile desrroyers thar merged good AAW and ASW capabilities. These were the first missile unit designed and built in Italy. Fully automated and equipped with outriggers. The helicopter was not expected. The early requirements of rhese plarforms were ro control rhe maritime basins of small size on choke poinrs, the strairs and channel of the Central Medirerranean Sea.

Similar in performance to the American Charles F. Adams class, these ships were essentially improved Impetuoso class vessels, with the aft gun-turret being replaced by a Tartar Surface-to-Air-Missile launcher and associated radar. Apart from the same main armament as that of the 'Adams', the emphasis of the weaponry was anti-aircraft equipment, so the secondary armament was a battery of 76mm automatic guns fitted midships, not the ASROC missile. The 127mm guns remained. Torpedoes were the same as the wartime Mk 38, while the Adams had the newer Mk 42 which covered the horizon thanks to their disposition, fore and aft.

These ships were important because they represented the first missile destroyers in the MMI and remained in service for many years, even if they had not had any important update (making them progressively obsolescent). A characteristic of these ships were the superstructures, having a much less clean layout than other classes, with a double line of windows in the main turrion, similar to the Alpino frigates. Audace-class ships were projected to improve lhe Impavido-dass units, by increasing dimensions and enhancing the helicopters and the armament.