Unwanted and Unloved | The Italian OF40 Main Battle Tank

🇮🇹Throughout the 1950s and up to the 1970s, the Italian Army had been using a variety of American surplus tanks, such as M47’s, and had even manufactured a large number of M60’s domestically under licence. Despite the various upgrades carried out on the M47 by OTO Melara, the tank was still outdated and the German Leopard was much better suited to Italian needs and wants. Several hundred Leopards ended up being used by Italy, with some supplied directly by Krauss-mawfai and others built domestically under licence. Work on an export vehicle was being carried out jointly by both Germany and Italy, the ‘Lion’ project, which ended at the prototype stage in the late 1970s when the German side withdrew. By 1980, with the end of Leopard production in Italy, OTO-Melara still wanted to be able to offer a tank for export, mainly to Middle-Eastern nations- something expressly prohibited within the terms of the Leopard licence.
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Sources:
OF 40 Mk.1 Manual - Oto Melara April 1981
War Machine Magazine Vol.1 Issue. 1 1983
Forecast international
Modern Armor, Pietrangelo Caiti
Janes Armour and Artillery 1985
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An article by Andrew Hills
Script written by Churchill7
Narrated by WOOD
Edited by Khan

[@der_fuxs]

Objectively spoken it was a waste of resources. But it definitely gave Italian engineers and industrial designers the chance to grow their know how, and that’s an unpayable value, I guess.

[@a.t6066]

And they ended up creating the greatest battle tank the world has ever seen: the ariete c1 😂

[@Nellis202]

@@a.t6066Well , it’s certainly capable, but I don’t know about the best .

[@raycearcher5794]

"So this is a main battle tank, right?" "It's an MBT, yes" "MBT stands for 'main battle tank,' right?" "M battle tank, you got it!"

[@lasskinn474]

the ammo is quite optimistic. maybe great for the emu wars or leveling a small town.

[@comentedonakeyboard]

I like those lesser known Tanks.

[@henke7864]

I love the OF-40's in War Thunder. Some more prototypes/testbed to mentioned would be the OF-40 with Otomatic turret. OF-40 SPAA(Cheetah PRTL). Armed with 2x 35mm guns. And OF-40 Thetis/ Mirabilandia OF-40

[@geneva214]

I wish they would add the 120 version of the of40 as a step stone between the of40 and the ariete

[@henke7864]

@@geneva214 It will come one day. Since Italy don't have that much to offer when it comes to MBTs. I just hope they wont make it a Prem/GE vehicle of it. Same goes for OF-40 Thetis(It has some add on armor + thermals).

[@alessiodecarolis]

Italy didn't had any political influence for selling heavy AFVs, the market was overcrowded by Russia's and US' products, with France and UK taking the reamains, perhaps in S. Americas could've had some hope, but the economical crysis of early'80s , plus the political turmoil litterally obliterated any chance to enter in that area.

[@blasekiller9733]

Another issue is that during the late 70s and 80s, the countries that could have bought a new tank had their own projects running. With Brazil doing both the Tamoyo and Osorio program and Argentina basicaly license producing the TAM. So the OF-40 would have had little chance there as well with or without economic turmoil. It is also a bit heavy for the usual requirements there at that time, which mostly called for vehicles under 40 tons (Osorio was quite specifically meant for export first in that regard).

[@RPC_SCP_USS_CRM]

OF40 is my favourite lego tank model I made my self I play with it about 4 years then I displayed it on my room

[@warhawk4494]

Thanks for showing footage from armored warfare. That game needs more love.

[@harlech2]

I think it's an attractive tank. Nice proportions. Too bad it didn't find more buyers. I do have to wonder why ceramic armor wasn't used at least on the turret front. The Soviets had been using it since the T-64. (or T-62... I can't remember)

[@RandomPotatoGamingYT]

T-64, the T-62 had an M upgrade around the 80s that added ad-om composite armour on the turret face and hull along with laser rangefinder, barrel fired atgms etc which made it on par with the T-72A produced at that time

[@Diadema033]

attractive? This boxy tank is a lot worse than the original Leopard 1, BTW.

[@gogogomes7025]

Who would thought that i would have so much in common with a Tank

[@mr_babadook_0181]

Looked nice

[@aldenconsolver3428]

Came along after the Leopard 1 which left it in an unfortunate place. Otherwise it seems to a fine example of a medium tank (not a MBT). The second model could have done fine work in lots of MidEast and South American countries.

[@gastonlinares5593]

Yeah, its much better in the electronics than our TAMs too (Im from Argentina), wich are a made-by-requirement Leopard 1s in short, and our only "MBT" in service along with the lovely Kurass

[@lisandrochavez7169]

@@gastonlinares5593 la actualización de 1996 lo puso al TAM en igualdad de condiciones con el OF40, pero a lo que es el campo de batalla moderno, fíjate que el italiano tiene el rack de municiones en dónde el TAM tiene el motor... O sea, a la primera penetración no queda ni una tuerca sana del tanque.

[@gastonlinares5593]

@The_Jaguar_ Knight You can not be penned if they cannot hit you * unhappy crew noises * 😂

[@MonolophosaurusEnj0yer]

Well at least it’s loved and wanted in War Thunder.

[@w0lfgm]

I love that You are using the AW

[@abrams1408]

I want and will love that tank

[@danday8596]

Nice bro

[@Leptospirosi]

The OF40 was actually a sneaky way devised by Krauss Maffei and Rheinmetall to export the Leopard without the limitations of the German export laws for weapon systems. By licensing to Italy the construction of something that is not a Leopard but in reality is, they would compete directly with the American industry in Africa and the middle east without being crippled by their own government.

[@ikill-98]

Damn that ammo is like saying :please shot me

[@v4skunk739]

Its the same as the over rated Leo2. In a war they would probably beat Russian tanks at turret launching contests.

[@elultimobuho]

Buenos carros, tras años de experiencia👍

[@billevans7936]

Cool

[@panzerkampfwagenviiimaus1790]

what about the OTOMATIC spaa tank with the compact 76mm naval gun

[@patroziussantoz8941]

It's a nice looking tank, it has decent ability, it is basically just medium tank with low protection. In term of armour protection the Soviet T-55 is better.

[@Scarp7141]

Well I love it...

[@maevethefox5912]

Wish I could find a model kit for it

[@tomobrien6983]

I believe Tamya has it in their catalog

[@HamanKarn567]

Do you have a video on Stingray tank from Thailand?

[@tetraxis3011]

Can you talk about the HWK proyect. I think that would make for an interesting video.

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Hello, While such articles are within our sights and within our scope, they are not currently in the works. You can add them to our Public Suggestion List and you can help by adding more sources (or other suggested articles) docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1p0Ll9TITGDiF9_fdS-tv1797JBs0_-pB70ReE_kIRkE/edit#gid=1911430820 You can join our Patreon support team and vote on which new topics we will cover in the future. Also, in order to help us with illustrating and publishing, please do consider donating through Patreon or Paypal. www.patreon.com/tankartfund www.paypal.com/paypalme/tankencyclopedia

[@Trackman71]

Is that HL2 Music in the Background?

[@Sofus.]

[@syahareensharani6869]

Ah so that's explain the Lion in WoT

[@RedXlV]

The OF40: "totally not a Leopard, honest!"

[@monarchbulldog2519]

Now i know i can make an OF 40 in cursed tank simulator and not just the OTOMATIC

[@hungryhedgehog4201]

"Medium Battle Tank" kinda tells you to dampen your expectations

[@gowdsake7103]

by German and Italy ?

[@orneryokinawan4529]

I wonder how many Meatballs per Mama Mia's it shoot.

[@generalmarkmilleyisbenedic8895]

69 mussolinis for every 4.3 kilos of spaghetti robbed by 2 Sicilians

[@paoloviti6156]

Gosh what sense of humour you both got! I would settle for a good plate of Spaghetti alla Carbonara 🍝 without any strange ingredients or 69 silly Mussolinis...

[@orneryokinawan4529]

@@paoloviti6156 okay Luigi

[@spiderwolf7525]

what is the tank on the right at 2:24?

[@TanksEncyclopediaYT]

Leopard 1A4

[@spiderwolf7525]

@@TanksEncyclopediaYT i didnt know there were leopard 1a4 with different hulls from the other leopard 1s

[@kakakiri2601]

where's of40 mk3?

[@aopt471]

"The forward ammunition also serves as additional armour." - Italian car salesman from Fiat.

[@Ugly_German_Truths]

it's (OTO) ME LA RA not "Me La Ta" ... they are more popular for building naval guns and machine cannons though.

[@mistermyrslok512]

half life music? sick

[@jim99west46]

They built these hoping Libya would order many of them.

[@giusepperossi699]

And they did, Palmaria also.

[@jim99west46]

@@giusepperossi699 what about the one with the 76mm anti aircraft automatic cannon?

[@Edario]

The spaghetti tank with cheese

[@DeeEight]

You repeatedly pronounced the manufacturer's name wrong. It's Melara not Melata.

[@1joshjosh1]

Wood said wood. 😆😆😆😆

[@okeman7614]

How does this thing weigh 40 tons with no armor yikes

[@strikezero01]

ah.. armored warfare OF40 - the Italian , Mama Mia version of Leo 1 tank

[@rpscorp9457]

7.62 at the time this thing was designed...is completely stupid. It was .50 cal or bust as most MBTs moved to 20mm.

[@_1389_]

Use less video game footage, more geniuine footage of the vehicles would be appriciated.

[@Diadema033]

A really copycat of the Leopard, except for the turret, but still a derivative of Leopard, same engine, suspensions, wheels, tracks, trasmission, internal layout, while the FCS was original and the gun was a sort of derivative of the M68.

[@tomobrien6983]

I cringe every time I hear 8times of optics.......8 power would be correct term......and for you arm chair armor engineers, I spent ten years in the Marine Corps Armor community......we never used the format used in this video......look at the field maintenance manual for optics in armored vehicles and for battle rifles

[@josephsolomon5873]

Gonna credit those other shite games but no love for War Thunder huh?!

[@Iskelderon]

Fiat cars are unreliable enough, I don't even want to think about what a pain in the ass a Fiat-based tank would be!

[@paoloviti6156]

Who told you that nonsense? Many 6 wheels AFV has the Fiat engine are reliable as any engine installed on various AFV.

[@neilturner6749]

@@paoloviti6156 Haha it’s hardly nonsense to say that (in general) Fiat cars are unreliable! I guess you’re Italian so don’t have an objective view on the rest of the worlds view of Italian engineering...

[@paoloviti6156]

@@neilturner6749 yes, I am Italian but actually I'm half Swedish too, the land of the Volvo before it was taken over by the Chinese. The real problem with the Fiat wasn't the engine but the cheap "body" around that suffered rust and full of bad quality plastic. The Italians got throughly fed-up with the Fiat and started buy mostly German cars putting the Fiat in great crisis so they had to completely change philosophy but was almost too late because the bad reputation stayed. But in all this turmoil the heavy industry made excellent engines for trucks, tractors and AFV....

[@adrianzanoli]

@@neilturner6749 which ones? Where? Fiat cars are manufactured everywhere in the world, they have factories in Italy, Poland, Serbia, Turkey, Brazil, Mexico, India and China only for the Fiat badged models, quality standards are extremly different from one place to another. In India the Padmini Fiat are still running as taxis since the 60's, same for the many Fiat 1400 Taxi in Capri that NON italian tourists loves so much.

[@tangfors]

@@neilturner6749 The engines in Fiat are still probably the most reliable part in their cars. What Fiat most often has problems with is the electronics, but often this in itself can cause the car, not to start. But there probably wasn't much electronics in them in the 80s. In the past, Fiats were also known for rusting away. But they weren't the ones who made the hull, and rust is rarely a problem in the desert.

[@phillipmaxfield7516]

They should sell them to ukraine they need every tank they can get and it gives the simular look to American Abrams which should scare the hell out of Russian on the battle field

[@ProfessorNiiji]

MBT... Mussolini battle tank

[@Staryanuke]

Ewww... armored warfare