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 152 mm guns housed in quadruple-gun turrets. Among her other features were a long operational range (above 27,000 km) and 90 mm dual-purpose guns that were designed in 1939.