Military Collimator MATRA (S.F.O.M.) model 83A3 for Fiat G91 Fighter-Bomber, circa 1958

Military Collimator model 83A3, produced by MATRA, under license from S.F.O.M. starting in 1958, to be installed on the Italian fighter-bomber Fiat G91. This aiming device, used for combat in flight, was essential for shooting through the armaments with which the G91 was equipped such as missiles/rockets and machine guns. Furthermore, thanks to a special illuminator cable present, it was obviously possible to use it for night shooting. It is complete with its original transport case containing all the accessories, many even double, which are kept inside the still intact casings.

This is one of the very few surviving examples.

Fiat G91:

The Fiat G.91, later Aeritalia G-91, was a single-engine jet fighter-bomber and reconnaissance aircraft with a swept wing designed by Eng. Giuseppe Gabrielli and produced by the Italian aeronautical company Fiat Aviazione (which later became Aeritalia) from the mid-fifties. It was the winner of the competition announced by NATO in 1953 for the production of a new light tactical support aircraft.

Used mainly by the German Luftwaffe and the Italian Air Force, in Italy it is also known for having long been the aircraft of the national aerobatic team Frecce Tricolori until its replacement with the Aermacchi MB-339PAN. The Portuguese Air Force used the G.91 from 1966 to 1973 in counter-insurgency operations in Portuguese Guinea and Mozambique. It remained in production for 19 years. 756 examples were built, including prototypes and pre-production models.

History of Matra:

The name MATRA is an acronym for Mécanique Aviation TRAction and referred to a large industrial group born in 1941 after the closure of CAPRA, a company specialized in military aeronautics. In fact, Matra was also born as a company specialized in the aeronautical sector. Over the decades, however, its fields of interest multiplied and went on to cover, in addition to aeronautics, also armaments, telecommunications, transport, the automotive industry and even the aerospace industry. The entire industrial complex of Matra, including the other fields of specialization, gradually entered the Lagardère Group (with the name of Matra Hachette) and in 1999 it merged with Aérospatiale becoming Aérospatiale-Matra (subsequently EADS).