Marksman is a British short range air defense system developed by Marconi, consisting of a turret, a Marconi Series 400 radar and two Swiss Oerlikon 35 mm

anti-aircraft Anti-aircraft warfare (AAW) is the counter to aerial warfare and includes "all measures designed to nullify or reduce the effectiveness of hostile air action".AAP-6 It encompasses surface-based, subsurface ( submarine-launched), and air-ba ...

autocannons. It is similar to the German Gepard system in terms of engine performance, ammunition carried and effective range of the ammunition. The turret can be adapted to many basic tank chassis to create a self-propelled anti-aircraft gun. The only known major operator of the system to date is the

Finnish Army The Finnish Army ( , ) is the army, land forces branch of the Finnish Defence Forces. The Finnish Army is divided into six branches: infantry (which includes armoured units), field artillery, anti-aircraft artillery, Combat engineering, engineer ...

, which ordered seven units in 1990. The turrets were fitted on Polish T-55AM tank chassis. The system is known as the ItPsv 90 in Finnish service (''Ilmatorjuntapanssarivaunu'' 90, Anti-Aircraft tank 90, the number being the year the tank entered service). It is considered a very accurate anti-aircraft artillery system, having a documented hit percentage of 52.44%. In 2010, the Marksman systems in service in Finland were moved to war-time storage. In 2015 work began to install the system on the Leopard 2A4 chassis in order to make up for the loss of mobile anti-aircraft coverage when the Marksman was originally retired.Armeija ottaa vanhojen Marksman-vaunujen tykkitornit uuteen käyttöön
Helsingin Sanomat, 25 March 2015. The new Leopard 2 Marksman were produced in 2014 and 15 and started its service in 2016, under the designation ItPsv Leopard 2 (''Ilmatorjuntapanssarivaunu Leopard 2'', or ''anti-aircraft tank Leopard 2'').

Service

Finland has seven ItPsv 90 Marksman anti-aircraft systems, providing low-level air-defense for tank battalions. The SPAAGs are organically tied to the headquarters company and form teams of two. The vehicles have an all-day capacity, and there is also a back-up crew to ensure combat survivability. The ItPsv 90 Marksman is primarily meant to fight helicopters, low-flying aircraft and

unmanned aerial vehicle An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) or unmanned aircraft system (UAS), commonly known as a drone, is an aircraft with no human pilot, crew, or passengers onboard, but rather is controlled remotely or is autonomous.De Gruyter Handbook of Dron ...

s (UAVs). It is also possible to engage surface and armored targets. The chassis of the ITPSV 90 Marksman is a Polish T-55AM tank, which has been modified to fit the turret. The AM version was chosen due to the increased weight of the system (a T-55AM weighs 36 tons, while a T-55AM Marksman weighs 41 tons) and the AM has more power (620 hp) than a regular T-55. The weapon system is guided by a British Marconi 400 series frequency agile surveillance and tracking X/J-band radar, which is able to detect targets out to in search mode and in tracking mode. The laser distance measure device functions up to . The commander and the gun operator both have gyro-stabilized optical aiming devices. The armament consists of two Swiss 35 mm Oerlikon anti-aircraft guns, with a rate of fire of 18 rounds per second. The fragmentation round has a muzzle velocity of . The effective range is . The vehicle is also equipped with eight Wegmann 76 mm smoke dischargers, a 7.62 mm

assault rifle An assault rifle is a select fire rifle that uses an intermediate cartridge, intermediate-rifle cartridge and a Magazine (firearms), detachable magazine.C. Taylor, ''The Fighting Rifle: A Complete Study of the Rifle in Combat'', F.A. Moyer '' ...

, and a

flare gun A flare gun, also known as a Very pistol or signal pistol, is a large-bore handgun that discharges flares, blanks and smoke. The flare gun is typically used to produce a distress signal. Types The most common type of flare gun is a Very (s ...

. The turret can traverse a full 360 degrees and has an elevation range of −10 to +85 degrees. The magazines hold 460 fragmentation rounds and 40 anti-tank rounds. The new Leopard 2 chassis greatly improves mobility compared to the older T-55AM chassis, both on- and off-road. The Leopard 2 chassis is also larger, thus providing a more stable firing platform for the Marksman turret to operate from. There are three communication radios in the vehicle for fire guidance and communications. The vehicle is operated by three crew members: commander, gunner, and driver.

Versions

* ItPsv 90: a Marksman turret on a

T-55 The T-54 and T-55 tanks are a series of Soviet medium tanks introduced in the years following the Second World War. The first T-54 prototype was completed at Nizhny Tagil by the end of 1945.Steven Zaloga, T-54 and T-55 Main Battle Tanks 1944–2 ...

AM chassis. Operated by Finland, retired in 2010. *ItPsv Leopard 2: a Marksman turret on a

Leopard 2 The Leopard 2 is a third generation German main battle tank (MBT). Developed by Krauss-Maffei in the 1970s, the tank entered service in 1979 and replaced the earlier Leopard 1 as the main battle tank of the West German army. Various iterat ...

A4 chassis. Finnish conversion from the earlier ItPsv 90 chassis. In 1994, Marconi and South African

Denel Denel SOC Ltd is a South African state-owned aerospace and military technology conglomerate established in 1992. It was created when the manufacturing subsidiaries of Armscor were split off in order for Armscor to become the procurement agency ...

group announced plans to install a Marksman turret on a G6 howitzer chassis; Marconi also offered conversions for existing users of

T-54/55 The T-54 and T-55 tanks are a series of Soviet medium tanks introduced in the years following the Second World War. The first T-54 prototype was completed at Nizhny Tagil by the end of 1945.Steven Zaloga, T-54 and T-55 Main Battle Tanks 1944–2 ...

, Type 59,

Centurion In the Roman army during classical antiquity, a centurion (; , . ; , or ), was a commander, nominally of a century (), a military unit originally consisting of 100 legionaries. The size of the century changed over time; from the 1st century BC ...

M48 Patton The M48 Patton is an American first-generation main battle tank (MBT) introduced in February 1952, being designated as the 90mm Gun M48, armored, full-tracked, combat vehicle of the medium-gun tank class. It was designed as a replacement for ...

Vickers Vickers was a British engineering company that existed from 1828 until 1999. It was formed in Sheffield as a steel foundry by Edward Vickers and his father-in-law, and soon became famous for casting church bells. The company went public in 18 ...

,Jane's Armour and Artillery 2003–2004

Chieftain A tribal chief, chieftain, or headman is a leader of a tribe, tribal society or chiefdom. Tribal societies There is no definition for "tribe". The concept of tribe is a broadly applied concept, based on tribal concepts of societies of weste ...

, Challenger 1 and

Leopard 1 The Kampfpanzer Leopard, subsequently Leopard 1 following the introduction of the successive Leopard 2, is a main battle tank designed by Porsche and manufactured by Krauss-Maffei Wegmann, Krauss-Maffei in West Germany, first entering service ...

tanks. None of these variants were picked up for deployment.

Comparable systems

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References

{{T-54/T-55_navigation, style=wide Self-propelled anti-aircraft weapons Vickers 35 mm artillery Anti-aircraft guns of the United Kingdom