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Centauro 2


Dawes

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This is one vehicle that seems to be below the radar as far as publicity. Has it entered service in any numbers with Italy yet?

 

I can't find any orders past the first 10, though supposedly they wanted 136. It seems like they may be focusing the production line on the Freccia APC variant (30 more ordered in December 2019).

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The Centauro II is still in the development, only pre-series vehicles have been delivered. Based on the performance in the trials a number of required changes have been identified and will be implemented on the second generation of prototypes. As far as I know no such prototype has yet been built.

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Ref mission, it's worth remembering that US WWII tank destroyers, which were even more optimized for the role than the Centauro, did a lot of direct infantry support, a large amount of indirect fire, and, for the M18 in particular, were used to add firepower to recon/cavalry troops. When the TD units ran out of tanks to shoot at, they found other roles, since they represented too much combat power to leave sitting around; nevertheless they were properly called Tank Destroyers.

 

IIRC, the original conception of the Centauro was to provide a highly mobile anti-tank force, trading off armor and even some cross country mobility to do so, so the "Tank Destroyer" label seems appropriate but, as in WWII, that doesn't mean they won't be used for infantry support or "Heavy reconnaissance combined with flank protection" as the situation demands.

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Everything until you bring the tanks, And even then...basically Italians are currently not interested in track vehicles.

They are very interested in tracked vehicle. They are leading an EU-funded project to develop next-generation APCs and IFVs for a number of member states, while they also have been toying with the idea of making their own next-generation MBT due to the exclusiveness of the MGCS program.

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  • 7 months later...
47 minutes ago, rohala said:

Does a Toyota Hilux have a 120mm gun on it?

Does it make sense to buy a 120mm gun and then not armor it appropiately? what does Centaruo 2 bring to the game that a MBT doesn't or why invest in Centauro 2 when the Toyota will be stealthier, cheaper and more affordable in numbers?

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"Expeditionary warfare" buzzword. Policing the colonies, where whole wheeled IFV fad came from.

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Back in the days when Italy expected a WP push across the Adriatic, having a mobile gun platform with high operational mobility wasn't such a bad idea. The concept was, AIUI, mostly driven by the limited capacity of a lot of bridges in the expected area of operations. Whether this follow-on vehicle was strictly necessary, well, ...

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25 minutes ago, bojan said:

"Expeditionary warfare" buzzword. Policing the colonies, where whole wheeled IFV fad came from.

And it's a good idea, for which Centauro is good enough

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Centauro 2 is fast reaction when those waves of Albanian landing craft starting hitting the Italian beaches...

You could probably drive this vehicle around Fort Hood or Fort Bragg and everyone would think it was just a dramatically upgunned Stryker :D

Edited by Dawes
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17 minutes ago, RETAC21 said:

And it's a good idea, for which Centauro is good enough

For such work you don't need gun with AT capabilities at all. Modern AML-60 or something similar would work.

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25 minutes ago, seahawk said:

...Afaik it was popular when deployed as well. Good firepower, fast, easy to keep running, silent.

Fact that a vehicle is popular does not guarantee that a role for it is valid one.

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