The design combined the chassis of an OF-40, with a new turret mounting the Otobreda 76 mm gun along with associated search and targeting radars and their fire control systems: an S search radar SMA VPS-A05, with around 15 km range against aircraft and 8 km against helicopters in hovering; and a fire control unit SMA VPG-A06 (Ka band).

OTO Melara offered it as a long-range SPAAG that could outperform systems like the Gepard and similar versions with the British Marksman turret that mounted much smaller, but rapid-fire, 35 mm guns.

The Otomatic was never put into production because the already widespread presence of anti-aircraft missiles reduced the need for a long-range AA gun on the modern battlefield.

The need for 60-80 OTOMATIC never materialised, and the Italian army was even evaluating using a L70 Bofors with a Leopard 1 as a stopgap measure.

[4] OTO-Melara attempted to revive the concept with the AMRAD ("Artillery Multi-Role Area Defense"), which had a much lighter mounting, and which was intended for use on a variety of wheeled vehicles.