[B1] Centauro tank destroyer (TD) - Armored Vehicles (original) (raw)

The Centauro Tank Destroyer is a heavily armed armoured vehicle which has 4 crewman operating this vehicle, commander, gunner, driver and loader. The Italian Army was looking for a vehicle which could match up to a main battle tank however with higher mobility. The vehicle entered production in 1991 and was delivered to the Italian Army and various other countries who ordered in 2006.

The hull of the vehicle was developed by Iveco Fiat along with propulsion system and Oto Melara developed the weapon systems and turret. The vehicle has a power to weight ratio of 19.35 hp/tonnes.

Armaments

The vehicle has a 105 mm low-recoil, gyro-stabilized gun. The gun can fire NATO ammunition such as APFSDS. The main weapon already holds 14 rounds in its turret with another 26 stowed in the hull of the vehicle.

Like most other modern tanks, the turret holds a coaxial machine gun which fires 7.62 mm rounds. On top of the turret is an additional 7.66 mm AA general purpose machine gun. In total the vehicle holds 4,000 rounds of 7.62 mm rounds.

The vehicle has a fire control system (FCS) which is an FCS system which is similarly fitted in the Ariete main battle tank. The gun comes with advanced technology such as thermal imaging, a digital ballistic computer, laser range finder and panoramic stabilized sight. Because of all this technology the vehicle can fire on the move with the FCS system, at a moving target while also on the move and also using its thermal imaging and panoramic stabilized sight to see in day or night conditions.

Variants

There are several variants of the Centuaro, one variant includes a 120 mm weapons system, this variant also has additional armour which can withstand 40 mm APFSDS rounds to the front of the hull.

The VBM Freccia is also another variant of the Centuaro family of vehicles. However within this range or variant of vehicle of the Centuaro, there are an additional six variants based upon the Freccia design. These are ATGW carrier, command vehicle, recovery vehicle, armoured ambulance and armoured personal carriers.