The Italian army has begun full-fledged armament with new "wheeled tanks". Yesterday, October 19, the portal armyrecognition.com He reported that the Cavalry School of the Italian Army had prepared the first crews for Centauro II vehicles.
An upgraded version of the Centauro wheeled tank was first introduced in 2016 under the name Centauro II MGS (Main Gun System). In 2020, after testing pre-production samples and their completion, the Italian Ministry of Defense ordered the production of serial samples.
The final stage of Centauro II crew training
Image source: armyrecognition.com
Centauro family vehicles are classified as tank destroyers and specialize in fighting enemy armored vehicles. The eight-wheeled Centauro II weighs 30 tons, is armed with a 120 mm gun, is equipped with a digital communication system, a 720 hp engine and an electronic braking system. The engine is designed to operate over a wide temperature range and provides significantly higher specific power compared to the previous Centauro versions (24 vs 19 horsepower per ton).
According to the deputy chief of the Italian General Staff, Lieutenant General Danilo Errico, the Centauro II will replace its predecessor in the Italian army — the Centauro tank destroyer, the first copies of which the military received back in 1991. The military department notes that the Centauro II is ideally suited to the Italian army and can be effectively used together with Freccia multipurpose armored vehicles. In total, the armed forces intend to purchase about 150 Centauro II units.
