The Italian Beast: CENTAURO 2

[@ilmaio]

Italy notoriously doesn't rely on heavy tanks. Reason being, any invader will have either to cross the alps, either attack by sea, as the allied did in WW2. Alpine scenario is completely unsuitable for heavy tanks: narrow winding roads, steep, harsh, impossible terrain for big machines. This said, the Centauro is not a MBT. It matches the firepower of a MBT, but it is not one. However, with the money of one MBT, you can buy two Centauros, and in a two to one confrontation, I seriously doubt any tank can survive. No tank can take a 120 mm Nato standard piercing shell. It would damage a battleship, to be understood. The Centauro has a turbodiesel engine from a lorry, can run 110 kmh, has more range than a tank, it is much more agile and nimble. Of course, it is much less protected than a real tank: in a Centauro, you know that your protection is not being hit. However, if you hit a midsize mine, one tire with blow and you will be driving a 7 wheel drive vehicle, but you'll not be stranded there. If you break a caterpillar, the MBT is dead in the water, so to speak. If you hit a high power anti tank mine, both the Centauro and the MBT will be disabled. The difference is all about how much you care for the crew, as the MBT crew will likely survive, the Centauro's may not. However, in modern warfare, with battlefield littered with portable panzerfaust, drones, laser guided ammo, mines, even a MBT is not invulnerable. Both Leopards and Abrams were disabled during battles in Ukraine (truth be told, crew survived, proof about how good they are), while the average soviet tank just blows apart when hit. In conclusion, Centauro is a complement to MBTs, but not a replacement for them. In fact Italian Army has currently the Ariete C2 as MBT, that is going to be decommissioned to be replaced with the new Nato MBT (based on Leopard platform). Last note: Some centauro C1s were sent to Ukraine, together with a stock of self propelled Howitzers 155 and (old) mortars. They are in the Kherson oblast for the record. The thing is there is a strong public resistence in pissing the russians off, italian politics is conditioned by a considerable share of communist voters. Therefore, even when help is given, government does not brag (you don't see bragging titles such as "Germany will send 200 tanks in 2026" on the italian papers) - the help is given under the radar, often in form of bank transfers. Despite incospicuous in the "public" list of donors, in fact, Italy is one major contributor in Ukraine, see the attitude of Zelensky in his frequent visits to Rome: very large smiles and handshakes... You might wonder why: that's why. Here below a list of perfectly functionable, high quality equipment Italy could send to Ukraine tomorrow, without hindering Nato committments. All the mentioned equipment is in perfect state and ready to be decommissioned: Approx: 20 Mangusta light attack helicopters. 50 Tornado EV tactical bombers 90 Ariete tanks 50 Centauro C1 tank hunter and ... The short carrier Garibaldi, now replaced by the new carrier Trieste. Yes, Italy has carrier ships (just called "ships", because we're still technically forbidden to have carriers, like the japanese). Add a couple of submarines and FREMM frigates, a landing ship and there you are, you have an entire naval group and Crimea is gone (well, if Erdogan opens the strait). Just saying. I would send everything tomorrow, WITH the pilots. This is how wars end, you win. The other scenario is: you lose. Not a difficult pick imo.

[@BlackHeart_YouTube_Channel]

Italy has in fact 3 carriers if they are gonna keep the Garibaldi. Second only to the USA.

[@erasmoo2644]

Jesus christ my guy wrote an ESSAY

[@BlackHeart_YouTube_Channel]

@@erasmoo2644 he deserves more likes

[@erasmoo2644]

@@BlackHeart_KZbin_Channel i didn't say i didn't appreciate the essay, an amazing job to be honest, now, I'm Italian and i knew this, but there are a lot of interesting points in this that i myself didn't know

[@ilmaio]

@@erasmoo2644It's just not advertised. I personally know few italian volunteers fighting there. As italians, unfortunately, it is very difficult to be proud about our armed forces. If you do, you're immediately targeted as "fascist". In reality, we're all fighting a militarist regime that has every negative treats the fascist regime had. The red flags make no difference imo

[@tonyhaj6861]

Send it to Armenia armenia needs more than Ukraine.

[@JokoWidyatmoko]

Iveco?

[@carmelocavallaro3419]

CIO Connsorzio IVECO .OTO MELARA!

[@claudiomannoni5557]

they are not perfect in snow condition so partially suitable for Ukraine

[@quercus5398]

No wars in winter then!

[@foxtrotcharlie1619]

The fact that it is vulnerable to mines and its protection is quite light makes me think it would not last long in Ukraine. It would probably be perfect for an armored breakthrough against enemies with low anti-tank capabilities, but Ukraine has shown that one cheap drone can easily blow up a lightly armored vehicle. Maybe some new generation protection could make up for this

[@solinvictus1234]

It's false that it have poor protection vs mine, on contrary it's V shaped under section is appositly designed to dissipate the mines kinetic energy and ofcourse it have under his belly mine and EOD protection hull.

[@MassimoErcolani]

it is truly very protected from mines with its "V" hull and can advance even with three wheels damaged or out of use, but its strong point is the turret where there are 360° cameras and sensors for laser tracking, if it is tracked with the lasers automatically eject smoke bombs with the new chaffs with aluminum or fiberglass

[@Leptospirosi]

The French AMX10 is not faring very well in Ukraine: the B1 is better armoured but it's not well suited for a static attrition war. At that point, a refitted Leopard 1 would be a better choice IMO as these TD would have performed well during the break through of the Ukrainians in the Luhansk region, but not in 2024. A completely new supply chain would also have to be created for the vehicle. The old Centauro hulls also come come handy if the Draco and the Porcupine project will go forward: these vehicles would not need a protected hull as the B2 and the new turret could probably fit without problems.

[@albo322]

we will never give it to ukraine and we never should

[@krazyinthekootenay712]

There is videos of the older versions blown up in the Ukraine

[@user-kk6yg7ds9z]

they never sent one to Ukraine ...

[@met71metaldetector55]

They never went to Ukraine

[@krazyinthekootenay712]

@@met71metaldetector55 proof theirs one blown up in Ukraine

[@danielefabbro822]

And we will never do. We didn't designed anything for such environments. Sending such military assets would be pointless and the Ukrainians will have no use for them.