The Impavido class were the second group of destroyer

Destroyer

In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast and maneuverable yet long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy or battle group and defend them against smaller, powerful, short-range attackers. Destroyers, originally called torpedo-boat destroyers in 1892, evolved from...

s built for the Italian Navy

Marina Militare

The Italian Navy is the navy of the Italian Republic. It is one of the four branches of military forces of Italy; formed in 1946, from what remained of the Regia Marina . As of 2008, the Italian Navy had 35,200 active personnel with 180 commissioned ships, 19 Floating Docks, and 123 aircraft...

 (MMI) after World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

 and the first Italian Guided Missile destroyers.

Similar in performance to the American Charles F. Adams class

Charles F. Adams class destroyer

The Charles F. Adams class is a ship class of 29 guided missile destroyers built between 1958 and 1967. Twenty three ships were built for the United States Navy, 3 for the Royal Australian Navy, and 3 for the West German Bundesmarine. The ships were based on the existing Forrest Sherman class, but...

, these ships were essentially improved Impetuoso class vessels, with the after gun-turret being replaced by a Tartar

RIM-24 Tartar

The General Dynamics RIM-24 Tartar was a medium-range naval surface-to-air missile , and was among the earliest surface-to-air missiles to equip United States Navy ships...

 Surface-to-Air-Missile launcher and associated radar. Apart from the same main armament as that of the 'Adams', the emphasis of the weaponry was focused on anti-aircraft equipment, so the secondary armament was a battery of 76mm automatic guns fitted midships, not the ASROC missile.