Italian soldiers of the 6th Cavalry Regiment, Aosta Mechanized Brigade observe their sector of fire with a Centauro B1 Tank Destroyer while conducting a simulated assault during Saber Junction 17 at the Hohenfels Training Area, Germany, May 11, 2017. (U.S. Army photo by Pfc. Zachery Perkins)
Italy has supplied Ukraine with an unknown number of of B1 Centauro wheeled tank destroyers in secret, according to unverified reports.
The reports were based on video footage showing a number of B1 Centauro vehicles moving on a railway in the southern Italian city of Caserta that was used on several occasions before to ship heavy weapons to Ukraine. The footage surfaced online on May 20.
The B1 Centauro was developed in Italy by Iveco Fiat and Oto Melara in the 1980s. Between 1991 and 2006, more than 490 copies of the vehicle were produced. At least 259 were in service with the Italian Armed Forces in 2023.
The tank destroyer is armed with an IVECO V6 turbo-Diesel engine with 520 hp. The 8×8 vehicle is highly maneuverable, with a top speed of 108 kilometers and an operational range of 800 kilometers.
The main armament of the B1 Centauro is the Oto Melara 105 mm/52 caliber gyro-stabilized high-pressure, low-recoil gun equipped with a thermal sleeve and an integrated fume extractor, with 40 rounds: 14 ready rounds in the turret and another 26 rounds in the hull. The gun can fire standard NATO ammunition, including APFSDS [Armour Piercing Fin-Stabilized Discarding Sabot] rounds.
Secondary weapons are a 7.62 mm coaxial machine gun, and another 7.62 mm anti-aircraft machine gun with 4,000 rounds of ammunition.
The B1 Centauro is equipped with the Galileo Avionica TURMS fire control system. the same as fitted to the Italian C1 Ariete main battle tank and is equipped with a muzzle referencing system and a fully digital ballistic computer.
The vehicle features an all-welded steel armored hull, which in the baseline configuration is designed to withstand 14.5 mm bullets and shell fragments with protection against 25 mm munition on the frontal section. The addition of bolt-on appliqué armor increases protection against 30 mm rounds.
The B1 Centauro can be compared to the French AMX-10 RC wheeled tank destroyer, which was supplied earlier this year to Kiev forces.
The Russian military is very familiar with the Centauro. Two variants of the vehicle, one armed with the original 105 mm gun and another with a more powerful 120 mm gun, were tested in Russia in 2012.
Italy has supplied Kiev forces with billions worth of weapons, ammunition and military equipment since the start of Russian special military operation in Ukraine last year. If confirmed, the supply of the B1 Centauro would make up for some of Ukraine’s material losses. However, it wouldn’t change much on the battlefield.
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these “paper armor” tanks loaded with high caliber ammunition and crew are just a very costly disaster waiting to happen .. and russia now wants to produce their own “paper armor” tank sprut .. what a joke
that’s no joke. it’s a type of light cavalry. the sprut is a vehicle for e.g. airborne troops or stormtroopers who cannot have tanks. e.g. when crossing rivers to create bridgeheads. the centauro is a vehicle that can be used to launch quick flank attacks. together with mobile infantry (infantry in e.g. armored personnel carriers on wheels). it is a light tank
..these vehicles are crap , costly as tanks and worse in everything else .. and creating crappy vehicle bcs it can cross the river(0.001 percent time of it´s combat use) is a flawed logic .. and all those russian river crossings with all those bmp´s ended up in disaster anyway .. a lightly armored off road car with atgm and heavy mg does the scout/hunter-killer cavalry job 100x better and cheaper
for a e.g. kornet atgm (penetration capacity 1,200 mm steel after penetration of the era) the armor of a main battle tank is ´´paper thick´´ and the main battle tank also has 120 mm projectiles loaded that go up like a bomb. military equipment gets destroyed and crews die, it’s normal on the battlefield. things like battles of attrition are based on destroying much and killing many.
lol every heavy mg can destroy this “paper armor” crap wanna be tank, and the cheapest oldest rpg round too , and every drone with 40mm heat rifle grenade
for certain types of attacks or tactics, such vehicles are essential and were built to do just that. it’s a misconception that everything has to be heavily armored to be useful in war. armor is at the expense of mobility, consumption or deployability (e.g. by aircraft) etc…. there are heavy divisions with tanks etc. and there are light divisions (or brigades etc.) without tanks but with the firepower of tanks. etc.
time to take out italy aswell as the nazi haven it is!
and again these warlords are arguing…… as always in the stupid history of mankind.
tak takto sa debili z taliánska poďakovali rf za to, že im pomáhala v ťažkých dňoch počas pandémie civid 19!!! verím, že ruský národ nezabudne!!! aj toto je ďalší dôkaz toho, že nikomu z prehnitého západu sa nedá veriť!!!
hard to use those against artillery, also, the armor isn’t thick enough to stop kamikaze drone warheads.
crimea, the israel of europe.
wtf are you talking about? kiev is supposed to be the israel of europe and it looks like russia is vetoing that.
what i meant was, like israel, crimea will keep the europe busy. sry.
la ce blindaj au… paine prajita curând
its fast yes, but if with its older 105mm canon, than no match against any of russian tanks, maybe event not against some t62m. and its weak armor will make it to a metal coffin anyway.
soon we will se many destroyed 4 sure. because like my grandpa says reminding ww2, how do you know its a italian tank? it drives 100m forward and 150m back :-))