14:27 GMT, December 5, 2008 The Templar knights were strange characters indeed: half monks, half soldiers, ascetics and bankers, individually poor yet extremely rich as an order, they originally set out to win back Jerusalem and the Holy Sepulchre for Christianity. Both admired as well as feared, the order was violently dissolved in the early 1300s by King Philip IV of France with accusations of heresy and sodomy. They were extremely powerful in Portugal in particular and contributed to the recapturing of the territory dominated by the Arabs. Their principal headquarters could be found in the city of Tomar, on the banks of the river Tago, inside a convent-castle which may well have provided Umberto Eco with inspiration for The Name of the Rose (indeed some scenes from the film were actually shot there).

Just a few kilometres from Tomar is Poligono di Santa Margarida, a large basin surrounded by low hills, where the blue of spring skies is obscured by low-hanging rain clouds which continuously creep in from the Atlantic and discharge themselves upon the first high grounds of the Spanish-Portuguese border. The vegetation is reminiscent of Sardinia, with high eucalyptus trees which impregnate the air with their fragrance and shrubs of broom and pennyroyal. The red, clayey soil retains the heavy rains in large puddles. This was the setting for the mobility and firing tests of the 105mm HITFACT turret mounted on the 8X8 Pandur II armoured vehicle, manufactured by the Austrian company Steyr and already used by the Portuguese army in a troop transportation version.

Excellent results were achieved in all conditions, from stationary vehicle to stationary target to the more difficult situation of a moving vehicle shooting at a moving target. Spectacular scenes were also provided by the mobility demonstration, which included clearing a mud-filled trench and the steep slope of a dried-up gravelly riverbed, finished off with its return amidst sprays of muddy water.

The turret represents a brand new concept in some principal subsystems (electrical control systems, new, special barrel steel, the latest generation of fire control systems and recoil brakes) and is the fruit of close on 50 years experience in the area of 105mm guns and follows the production of approximately 500 Centauro turrets.

There to witness the tests was the National Armaments Director, a number of representatives from the Portuguese army and Defence Ministry, the Italian Military Attaché and representatives from the Italian Defence Ministry, not to mention an official American observer. The final day was dedicated to the press and local television channels, which were eager to find out all the technical details and the system’s special features.

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Background information:

HITFACT is a three-man, power operated turret armed with a 120mm, 45 calibre or 105mm, 52 calibre low-recoil-force gun, intended for installation on light and medium weight tanks and wheeled or tracked tank destroyers. Due to its light weight and low recoil force, the turret can provide the fire power of a main battle tank with great accuracy, without impairing the tactical and strategic characteristics of mobility of the vehicles. The auto-frettaged gun is fitted with a thermal jacket and bore evacuator.

A hydraulic, recoil-counterrecoil system and a multibaffle muzzle brake of high efficiency minimize the recoil force and prevent any excessive stress on the vehicle structure.

The turret fire power is such as to impair or destroy hostile tanks at significant ranges.

The gun is controlled by a FCS including a gunner's self-stabilized day and night IR thermal camera periscope with integral eye-safe laser rangefinder. The commander can control the turret and gun movements and can search the battlefield with the remotely controlled Turret-on-Turret SAPPHIRE with IR TV camera and 7.62mm machine gun. The SAPPHIRE can also be controlled by the gunner (option).

The HITFACT FCS includes the digital data processing computer HITFIST with associated control panels; all the turret servos are electric (two-axis stabilization) with brushless motors. Target search, detection and identification are performed by the commander, independently from the turret traversing movements.

The auxiliary armament consists of a coaxial, 7.62mm machine gun, a further 7.62mm machine gun mounted on the SAPPHIRE and an anti-air, pintle-mounted 12.7mm (option).

Four electrically operated multiband smoke screening ammunition dischargers, on either side of the turret, complete the auxiliary armament.

Turret armour protection can be enhanced with optional add-on panels with multi-hit capability