Russian Military Interest for Italian IFV Centauro

Centauro IFV

05/03/2012 by Di Pietro Batacchi - Armed Forces International's Italian Correspondent

Italian defense consortium CIO (Consorzio Iveco-Oto Melara) sent a Centauro 8x8 IFV in Russia for an evaluation and testing campaign. The Russian Military is interested in the Italian vehicle and could buy several vehicles in a cooperation agreement is that already in place for the Multirole Light Vehicle Lince.

Tests will cover hull, propulsion system and weapons systems and they are expected to last three or four weeks. Russia could directly buy some vehicles and build others locally under know-how delivery.

The Centauro IFV was developed and produced by CIO consortium formed by Iveco DV and Finmeccanica company Oto Melara in La Spezia and Bolzano sites, Italy. Iveco is responsible for hull and propulsion system and Oto Melara is responsible for turret and weapons system integration. Centauro is in service with the Italian Army since Nineties and it was deployed in different missions abroad: Balkans, Lebanon and Iraq. It has been also exported in Spain and Oman. Oman purchased a Centauro variant with 120 mm cannon.

Centauro is a wheeled 8x8 IFV, particularly suited for reconnaissance and scout roles in peacekeeping/enforcing operations. Currently Italian troops in Lebanon operate it for patrolling the border with Israel and preventing any infiltration crossing the border. Centauro is fitted with an Oto Melara turret armed with a 105 mm cannon and a 7,62 mm machine gun.

From Centauro another version was also developed and called VBM Freccia. Freccia is a revised variant fitted with the Hiftis Plus Turret (an evolution of that used on the Italian Army tracked IFV Dardo) and armed with Oerlikon KBA 25 mm cannon. Freccia is fitted with a very complex command, control and navigation system, called SICCONA, which is able to make a vehicle fully network-centric and to add it a greater situational awareness.

Compared to the Centauro, Freccia has also a greater protection resulting from the adoption of an armour developed in accordance with new asymmetric requirements and to withdraw RPG and IED threats. Currently Freccia is in use with Italian Army in western Afghanistan Herat region, Shindand province. Italian Army already ordered more than 100 vehicles in several variants - IFV, antitank, ambulance and mortar.