Nettuno

Description

The Nettuno (also known as "Sea Killer Mk.1") is an Italian anti-ship missile.

Vehicles equipped with this weapon

• Saetta P-494

General info

The Nettuno missiles have a range of 10 km (6.2 miles) with a max velocity of 280 m/s and carry a warhead with just over 25 kg of TNT equivalent. The missiles also feature a proximity fuse making them ideal for engaging enemy air units as well as surface targets.

The missiles are carried in a five-round launcher just behind the Saetta's bridge and smoke funnel structure which does mean that the launcher cannot be aimed towards the bow but rather has a 260 degree turning arc of which it navigates at a speed of 11 degrees per second.

Effective damage

The Nettuno missile carries a proximity-fused warhead with 25.28 kg of TNT equivalent.

Comparison with analogues

This is the first surface-launched anti-ship missile used in naval forces so it has no other competition or counterparts.

Usage in battles

The Nettuno missile is ideal for both anti-surface and anti-air roles.

The large HE warhead can hullbreak most coastal vessels, and causes moderate to severe module damage on larger ships, while the proximity fuse combined with the ship's search and tracking radar makes it one of the most effective naval air defense weapons.

Pros and cons

Pros:

• Large explosive warhead
• 10 km range
• Proximity fuse

Cons:

• The launcher has a slow traverse speed
• Low flight speed combined with the long range means the ship is often left exposed while guiding the missile
• Due to the launcher's elevated position, the missiles have to travel downwards upon launch, to meet the observer's height. If the player isn't careful, this could result in the missile hitting the sea.

History

The Nettuno (“Neptune”) was the product of Italian anti-ship weapons development in the 1960s. As nations around the world began to switch to guided missiles to replace cannons as the primary weapons of naval warships, the Swiss company Oerlikon Contraves began its own development of these weapons. The development was pursued by their Italian subsidiary Contraves Italiana. The Nettuno was conceived as a short-range anti-ship missile in 1963. It was a beam-riding missile design that used an internal radio altimeter that allowed the missile to fly as low as possible to avoid detection by radar. To avoid the potential of enemy jamming, the Nettuno was designed to use command guidance as an alternative if beam-riding wasn’t possible. The Nettuno was used with a five-round launcher. Testing began in 1966 on the Frecca-class patrol boat Saetta. The testing of the design would continue until 1969 when the company Sistel (Sistemi Elettronici lit “Electronic Systems”) was founded as a joint venture including Contraves Italiana. Under the new management, the Nettuno re-designated the Sea Killer Mark 1. The Sea Killer Mark 2 that began development by Contraves Italiana as the Vulcano (“Vulcano”) would be a significant success used by the Marine Militare (Italian Navy) and other nations, but the Nettuno was used only for evaluation on the Saetta.

Media

Videos

Best guided missiles discusses the Nettuno at 5:01 - War Thunder Official Channel

See also

Links to the articles on the War Thunder Wiki that you think will be useful for the reader, for example:

• reference to the article about the variant of the weapon;
• references to approximate analogues by other nations and research trees.

External links

Paste links to sources and external resources, such as:

• topic on the official game forum;
• other literature.

Naval special armaments
USA
Mortars	7.2-inch T37 · Mk 2
Rockets	5-inch GPSR Mk.7 · Mark 108 Weapon alfa
Missiles	RIM-24A
Germany
Rockets	M/50 Bofors
Missiles	Strela-2M
USSR
Mortars	BM-37 · RBM · RBU-1200 · RBU-2500 · RBU-6000 · RKU-36U
Rockets	BM-14-17 · BM-21 · M13 · M-8
Missiles	Volna-M
Britain
Mortars	Ordnance ML 4.2-inch mortar
Japan
Rockets	4.5-inch BBR Mk.7 (USA) · Mark 108 Weapon alfa (USA)
Italy
Missiles	Nettuno
France
Missiles	SS.11