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 autocannons. It is similar to the German Gepard system in terms of engine performance, ammunition carried and effective range of the ammunition. The only known major operator of the system to date is the Finnish Army, which ordered 7 units in 1990. The turrets were fitted on Polish T-55AM tank chassis and known as the ItPsv 90 in Finnish 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. The Leopard 2 chassis also provides a much increased mobility over the older T-55AM chassis, both on roads and in the field. The Leopard 2 Marksman is intended to provide low-level air defence for armoured battalions. Its role is primarily against helicopters, low-flying aircraft and unmanned aerial vehicles. However, it can also be used successfully as a fire-support vehicle.
Fire-control is provided by a single Marconi Series 400 I/J-band radar with a surveillance range of 12 km and tracking range of 10 km. Additionally, a gyro-stabilised optical sight is fitted for manual use against aerial and ground targets. The Leopard 2 Marksman is armed with twin 35mm Oerlikon KDA autocannons. Each gun fires at 550 rpm and is supplied with 220 HE rounds plus 20 AP rounds for use against ground targets. The effective anti-aircraft range is 4 km. In a normal engagement, 20 to 40 rounds are fired at a single target. The vehicle has a crew of three, commander, gunner and driver.
Finnish Leopard 2 Marksman Self-propelled Anti-aircraft Gun (SPAAG)
