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Defence & Security Industry News - CIO
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| First prototype of CIO's Centauro 2 armoured vehicle about to start testing phase | |||
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The first prototype of the new Centauro 2 8x8 armoured wheeled vehicle is ready to start testing phase and has been shown for the first time to Gen. Claudio Graziano, Italy’s Defence Chief of Staff and the Army’s former Chief of Staff. The project is lead by Iveco Fiat - OTO Melara Consortium (CIO), which is the principal armoured vehicles supplier of the Italian Army.
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 CIO's B1 Centauro 8x8 armoured wheeled anti-tank vehicle |
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The new Centauro 2 armoured vehicle has a maximum gross weight of around 30-35 tons and is powered with a 720 HP turbodiesel engine for a high power-to-weight ratio. This, together with the new transmission and power-train, will give it robust off-road performances.
Additionally, the Centauro 2 has shown during recent tests an extraordinary level of protection against mines and IED thanks to the newly designed chassis. The firepower will be similar to that of an MBT thanks to the evolution of the Oto Melara HITFACT turret armed with a 120/45 mm smoothbore gun (compatible with the 120 mm ammunition NATO standard). The turret is fitted for receiving a secondary armament composed of a 7,62mm machine gun coaxially mounted, a 7,62mm or a 12,7mm machine gun pintle mounted, and a set of Smoke Grenade Launcher (SGL). The HITFACT digital FCS includes gunner's self-stabilized Day and night IR thermal cameras with integral eye-safe laser rangefinder, a meteo and a vertical reference sensor suite, a Laser Warning (LW) (option) and a Day optical sight, as a back-up. The new turret fitted on the Centauro 2 is extremely modular and can accommodate different kinds of FCS (Fire Control Systems), armour, weapons (i.e. not only 120 mm but also 105/51 mm rifled gun). The Italien Army’s first requirement is for 74 vehicles followed by a similar quantity. Currently only the development phase is financed, which includes the building of a prototype, said Brazilian website DefesaNet. According to the Brazilian media, the prototype will start the validation testing phase next June, while the official presentation of the vehicle is scheduled next Autumn. |
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