The project of a"long-range light cruiser" was developed as part of a program that involved the construction of several dozen ships of various types for Italian Navy operations in the Indian Ocean. One of the first sketches of an 8,000-ton cruiser was an unusual-looking ship with 6-inch (152 mm) guns housed in quadruple-gun turrets. Among her other features were a long operational range (above 27,000 km) and 3.5-inch (90 mm) dual-purpose guns designed in 1939.