B1 «Centaur" (Italian Centauro) - Italian heavy armored, often classified as a tank destroyer. Created concern Iveco FIAT Oto Melara commissioned Army of Italy on the role of intelligence machine capable also to fight with the enemy armor. Serial production of "Centaur" was carried out from 1991 to 2006, only 484 cars were produced of this type, some of which, in addition to Italy, was exported to Spain.
In addition to the armored car, on a common basis with him was created infantry fighting vehicle "Frecce" composed by the army of Italy, as well as an armored personnel carrier, not released for the prototype stage.
History of creation
In 1984, the command of the Italian Army formulated requirements for highly mobile wheeled tank destroyers armed with 105-mm rifled gun ballistics similar guns tanks "Leopard" -1 and M60A1. Sighting System tools had to be unified with the fire control systems perspective of main battle tank "Ariete" and tracked BMP VCC-80. Terms of reference were produced in the context of program re-ground forces. Heavy armored car was given the role of main battle tanks.
Work on "Wheel tank" began firms OTO Melara and Fiat in late 1984 and based on the experience of creation in 1982-1983. Fiat 6636 armored car 6x6. Installing the tower with a 105 mm gun increased the weight of the car by at least 6.7 m, so we had to add a fourth three axes to machine throughput has not deteriorated. Choice of dimensions was conditioned car intractable compromise between the need for greater internal volume of the housing to accommodate turret turrets and the constraints imposed by the size of the cargo hold military transport aircraft C-130 "Hercules.
In April 1985, began testing the demo machine without a reservation. The main objective of the tests was to develop the chassis, especially new hydropneumatic suspension wheels and checking the machine layout decisions in relation to serviceability 105-mm cannon.
In the first machine-1 with full armor and weapons were transferred to the test in January 1987, before the end of the year it was followed by five more. Trials involved only ten armored B-1 pilot batch. In 1990, Italian armed forces received the first ten armored B-1 "Centaur", and in 1991 began their full-scale production at the company IVECO Fiat in Bolzano with the pace of release ten cars a month.
It should be noted that the armored B-1 "Centaur" occupies a special place among the armored wheeled vehicles. Formally, it is classified as a BRM - combat reconnaissance vehicle, but that is not entirely correct. Extremely powerful weapons for wheeled vehicles (105-mm rifled gun with a high muzzle velocity), would regard this machine remove the quotation marks from the expression "wheeled tank", especially in the army of Italy "Centaurs" and replaced the tanks - the American M47 .
Design
Armored car body welded steel armor plates of different thicknesses. In the frontal part of the armor is resistant to penetration of 20 mm shells, from the stern and sides - to hit 12.7 mm caliber bullets. Powerpack compartment located in front of the hull on the right side. Engine - six-cylinder water-cooled diesel turbocharged Fiat IVECO MTSA V-6 producing 520 hp. s. Also armored "Centaur" various options diesel V-6 mounted on tracked BMP VCC-80, an Argentine TAM tank and Italian main battle tank "Ariete". By car used zapadnogermanskaya automatic six (five - forward one - back) Transmission ZF SHP-1500. Engine cooling system and transmission are structured as a single unit and separated from the rest of the housing firebreak. In the engine-transmission compartment has an automatic sprinkler system and alarm.
To the left of the engine compartment located office control the driver's cab (driver's seat is height adjustable). Outside of combat situation the driver drives the car, watching the terrain through the open hatch. In combat, surveillance is conducted using three observation periscopes. Instead of the central supervisory unit can be installed bespodsvetochnym night vision device.
Occupy the central part of the body and fuel tanks polik tower. Aft are two boeukladki 12 shells to the gun, batteries, filter installation and hydraulic winch with a pulling force of 10 tonnes in the aft hatch broneliste there used to load ammunition.
All eight wheels - wheel drive, the first two pairs - driven, but at speeds up to 20 km / h can be rotated and rear pair of wheels. Manage wheels by means of hydraulic actuators. Independent hydropneumatic suspension wheels. The machine is equipped with a system of centralized control of air pressure in the tires. All wheels are equipped with disc brakes.
Triple turret armed with a 105 mm gun length 52 LR caliber, developed by OTO Melara. It is set close to the rear of the hull. The commander of an armored car to the left of the gun, gunner - right, loader - the rear gunner. Hatches in the roof of the shell seats are located above the commander and loader.
LR gun internal ballistics similar to the 105-mm tank gun L7/M68. The gun is equipped with a blower bore after firing, highly absorbing up to 40% recoil, muzzle brake and thermal protector housing. Recoil when firing the gun is 14 m to extinguish it has a special hydro-pneumatic system rollback recoil 750 mm after the shot. Shooting can all standard 105-mm shells NATO, including cumulative. Ammunition for the gun, 40 rounds, 14 of them are stored directly in the tower. With instrument paired 7.62-mm machine gun M42/59 (located on the left side of the gun), another machine gun can be mounted on the turret roof. Ammunition 4,000 rounds of machine guns. The sides of the tower has four smoke grenade.
Rotation of the gun turret and guidance in the vertical plane by means of electrohydraulic actuators. Elevation angles guns from -6 ° to +15 °.
On an armored car mounted modular fire control system Galileo Company. Its main subsystems are the commander and gunner sights, ballistic computer, sensors, atmospheric conditions, indicators and control panel gunner, commander and loader. The commander of an armored car has stabilized panoramic sight with fluorescent 2,5 - and 10-fold increase. In sight integrated electro-optical image intensifier, allowing observations and aiming in low light conditions. The sight has a circular rotation in the horizontal plane in the vertical - from -10 ° to +60 °. Do gunner mounted combi stabilized day / night sight with integrated laser rangefinder. Daytime channel has a 5-fold amplification, image from the infrared channel is duplicated on the display, set next to the commander's seat. The shooter has also paired with basic sight telescope with an 8-fold increase. Command oversees the sector left four periscope observation instrument, gunner - behind the right in five fixed periscope observation devices. Ballistic calculator is based on 16-bit Intel processor 8086. Despite the fact that gun is stabilized in two planes and has a modern fire control system, according to the Western press, to fire on the move "Centaur" can not.
But the test results of the first six cars in the design of some changes: reduced width of a few cases (for more comfortable seating in the "womb" C-130), the bottom attached to a small V-shaped for better mine protection, the size of the hatch in the aft armor-reduced sheet .
Serial production of armored vehicles in-1 "Centaur" was completed in 1996. Adopted three armored cavalry regiments of the Italian army was transferred to 400 machines. Interest in the armored car of this type exhibits command of the armed forces of Spain, which intends to purchase 30 wheeled tanks.
Modifications
B1 «Centaur" - basic production version
B1 «Centaur" 120mm - upgraded version with a 120 mm smoothbore gun and improved chassis
Draco - modification, equipped with 76-mm automatic cannon and radar. In 2010, a demonstration was Centauro with a new tower Draco and active protection system Scudo. Development work planned to be completed in 2012. The first production model can be delivered in 2014.
Combat use
Check in combat armored vehicles. "Centaur" passed during an operation "Restore Hope" in Somalia, held under the auspices of the UN. In late 1992, eight wheeled tanks from the 19th Cavalry Regiment was sent to the African continent as part of a mixed armored company (except "Centaurs" it consisted of five M60A1 tanks). Heavy machinery intensified two airborne regiment, formed the backbone of the Italian contingent of the UN force. "Centaurs" is widely used for reconnaissance raids, blockades main Railways separatists and escorting convoys of humanitarian supplies. During the first four months of 1993, seven armored vehicles reeled 8400 km on the highway and off the Somali. For all the time there was no serious case of equipment failure. Eighth machine has not been used, as on arrival in Somalia, she has failed engine. Until the end of the UN mission in Somalia eighth Centaur put into operation, and was transferred from Italy two more cars.
In terms of permanent damage to the tire particularly well established system of centralized control of the tire pressure, get rid of the punctures she certainly could not, but allowed to complete the task.
For the entire company worthy goals for 105-mm guns was not, of them fired only on training on a makeshift firing range near Dzhialalksi. But very handy commander's panoramic sight with electron-optical image intensifier. "Centaurs" is often used as a mobile observation points along the Imperial Highway. Machine took up positions in the 500 meters from the road and crews using sights as night vision devices, night life tracked, if necessary bridging suspicious of its manifestations Italian patrols.
Were not powerful enough VHF radio mounted on armored vehicles, it was deemed necessary to have a HF radio medium range at least for command vehicle. Ironically in a very hot climate crews did not use the air-conditioning system, preferring to plow open all the hatches.
In Somalia, conducted counterinsurgency operations typical. The enemy was poorly armed and poorly trained, however, very quickly became clear that body armor "Centaur" (as well as all other armored vehicles) is not enough, she "holds" armor piercing bullets DShK, not to mention the grenades the RPG- 7. Urgently British firm Royal Ordnens were booked twenty sets of units dynamic tower defense and hull sides ROMOR-A. Ten sets were installed on the "Somali" "Centaurs".
In the summer of 1997 "Centaurs" Together with armored cars Fiat 6614 Guards Cavalry Regiment took taught in "Operation Alba" to prevent civil war in Albania.
Technical characteristics
Axels ................................................ 8x8 ..
Combat weight, kg .............................................. .24.800
Body length m .............................................. 7.40 ..
Length with gun forward 8.56 m ........................................
Width, m ............................................... 2.94 ........
Housing height, m .............................................. . 1.75
Height of the roof of the tower, ........................................ 2.44 m
Wheelbase m ...................................... 1.60 / 1.45 / 1.45
Track width, m .............................................. 2.51 ...
Ground clearance, m ............................................. 0 42
Maximum road speed, km / h ............................. 108
Cruising on the highway, 800 km ..........................................
Fuel tank capacity, l ....................................... 540
Overcoming obstacles:
rise ................................................. 60% ...........
wall height, m .............................................. 0.55 ..
trench width, m ............................................. 1.55 ..
depth ford m ............................................. 1.2 ....
Crew. .................................................. 4 .....
In addition to the armored car, on a common basis with him was created infantry fighting vehicle "Frecce" composed by the army of Italy, as well as an armored personnel carrier, not released for the prototype stage.
History of creation
In 1984, the command of the Italian Army formulated requirements for highly mobile wheeled tank destroyers armed with 105-mm rifled gun ballistics similar guns tanks "Leopard" -1 and M60A1. Sighting System tools had to be unified with the fire control systems perspective of main battle tank "Ariete" and tracked BMP VCC-80. Terms of reference were produced in the context of program re-ground forces. Heavy armored car was given the role of main battle tanks.
Work on "Wheel tank" began firms OTO Melara and Fiat in late 1984 and based on the experience of creation in 1982-1983. Fiat 6636 armored car 6x6. Installing the tower with a 105 mm gun increased the weight of the car by at least 6.7 m, so we had to add a fourth three axes to machine throughput has not deteriorated. Choice of dimensions was conditioned car intractable compromise between the need for greater internal volume of the housing to accommodate turret turrets and the constraints imposed by the size of the cargo hold military transport aircraft C-130 "Hercules.
In April 1985, began testing the demo machine without a reservation. The main objective of the tests was to develop the chassis, especially new hydropneumatic suspension wheels and checking the machine layout decisions in relation to serviceability 105-mm cannon.
In the first machine-1 with full armor and weapons were transferred to the test in January 1987, before the end of the year it was followed by five more. Trials involved only ten armored B-1 pilot batch. In 1990, Italian armed forces received the first ten armored B-1 "Centaur", and in 1991 began their full-scale production at the company IVECO Fiat in Bolzano with the pace of release ten cars a month.
It should be noted that the armored B-1 "Centaur" occupies a special place among the armored wheeled vehicles. Formally, it is classified as a BRM - combat reconnaissance vehicle, but that is not entirely correct. Extremely powerful weapons for wheeled vehicles (105-mm rifled gun with a high muzzle velocity), would regard this machine remove the quotation marks from the expression "wheeled tank", especially in the army of Italy "Centaurs" and replaced the tanks - the American M47 .
Design
Armored car body welded steel armor plates of different thicknesses. In the frontal part of the armor is resistant to penetration of 20 mm shells, from the stern and sides - to hit 12.7 mm caliber bullets. Powerpack compartment located in front of the hull on the right side. Engine - six-cylinder water-cooled diesel turbocharged Fiat IVECO MTSA V-6 producing 520 hp. s. Also armored "Centaur" various options diesel V-6 mounted on tracked BMP VCC-80, an Argentine TAM tank and Italian main battle tank "Ariete". By car used zapadnogermanskaya automatic six (five - forward one - back) Transmission ZF SHP-1500. Engine cooling system and transmission are structured as a single unit and separated from the rest of the housing firebreak. In the engine-transmission compartment has an automatic sprinkler system and alarm.
To the left of the engine compartment located office control the driver's cab (driver's seat is height adjustable). Outside of combat situation the driver drives the car, watching the terrain through the open hatch. In combat, surveillance is conducted using three observation periscopes. Instead of the central supervisory unit can be installed bespodsvetochnym night vision device.
Occupy the central part of the body and fuel tanks polik tower. Aft are two boeukladki 12 shells to the gun, batteries, filter installation and hydraulic winch with a pulling force of 10 tonnes in the aft hatch broneliste there used to load ammunition.
All eight wheels - wheel drive, the first two pairs - driven, but at speeds up to 20 km / h can be rotated and rear pair of wheels. Manage wheels by means of hydraulic actuators. Independent hydropneumatic suspension wheels. The machine is equipped with a system of centralized control of air pressure in the tires. All wheels are equipped with disc brakes.
Triple turret armed with a 105 mm gun length 52 LR caliber, developed by OTO Melara. It is set close to the rear of the hull. The commander of an armored car to the left of the gun, gunner - right, loader - the rear gunner. Hatches in the roof of the shell seats are located above the commander and loader.
LR gun internal ballistics similar to the 105-mm tank gun L7/M68. The gun is equipped with a blower bore after firing, highly absorbing up to 40% recoil, muzzle brake and thermal protector housing. Recoil when firing the gun is 14 m to extinguish it has a special hydro-pneumatic system rollback recoil 750 mm after the shot. Shooting can all standard 105-mm shells NATO, including cumulative. Ammunition for the gun, 40 rounds, 14 of them are stored directly in the tower. With instrument paired 7.62-mm machine gun M42/59 (located on the left side of the gun), another machine gun can be mounted on the turret roof. Ammunition 4,000 rounds of machine guns. The sides of the tower has four smoke grenade.
Rotation of the gun turret and guidance in the vertical plane by means of electrohydraulic actuators. Elevation angles guns from -6 ° to +15 °.
On an armored car mounted modular fire control system Galileo Company. Its main subsystems are the commander and gunner sights, ballistic computer, sensors, atmospheric conditions, indicators and control panel gunner, commander and loader. The commander of an armored car has stabilized panoramic sight with fluorescent 2,5 - and 10-fold increase. In sight integrated electro-optical image intensifier, allowing observations and aiming in low light conditions. The sight has a circular rotation in the horizontal plane in the vertical - from -10 ° to +60 °. Do gunner mounted combi stabilized day / night sight with integrated laser rangefinder. Daytime channel has a 5-fold amplification, image from the infrared channel is duplicated on the display, set next to the commander's seat. The shooter has also paired with basic sight telescope with an 8-fold increase. Command oversees the sector left four periscope observation instrument, gunner - behind the right in five fixed periscope observation devices. Ballistic calculator is based on 16-bit Intel processor 8086. Despite the fact that gun is stabilized in two planes and has a modern fire control system, according to the Western press, to fire on the move "Centaur" can not.
But the test results of the first six cars in the design of some changes: reduced width of a few cases (for more comfortable seating in the "womb" C-130), the bottom attached to a small V-shaped for better mine protection, the size of the hatch in the aft armor-reduced sheet .
Serial production of armored vehicles in-1 "Centaur" was completed in 1996. Adopted three armored cavalry regiments of the Italian army was transferred to 400 machines. Interest in the armored car of this type exhibits command of the armed forces of Spain, which intends to purchase 30 wheeled tanks.
Modifications
B1 «Centaur" - basic production version
B1 «Centaur" 120mm - upgraded version with a 120 mm smoothbore gun and improved chassis
Draco - modification, equipped with 76-mm automatic cannon and radar. In 2010, a demonstration was Centauro with a new tower Draco and active protection system Scudo. Development work planned to be completed in 2012. The first production model can be delivered in 2014.
Combat use
Check in combat armored vehicles. "Centaur" passed during an operation "Restore Hope" in Somalia, held under the auspices of the UN. In late 1992, eight wheeled tanks from the 19th Cavalry Regiment was sent to the African continent as part of a mixed armored company (except "Centaurs" it consisted of five M60A1 tanks). Heavy machinery intensified two airborne regiment, formed the backbone of the Italian contingent of the UN force. "Centaurs" is widely used for reconnaissance raids, blockades main Railways separatists and escorting convoys of humanitarian supplies. During the first four months of 1993, seven armored vehicles reeled 8400 km on the highway and off the Somali. For all the time there was no serious case of equipment failure. Eighth machine has not been used, as on arrival in Somalia, she has failed engine. Until the end of the UN mission in Somalia eighth Centaur put into operation, and was transferred from Italy two more cars.
In terms of permanent damage to the tire particularly well established system of centralized control of the tire pressure, get rid of the punctures she certainly could not, but allowed to complete the task.
For the entire company worthy goals for 105-mm guns was not, of them fired only on training on a makeshift firing range near Dzhialalksi. But very handy commander's panoramic sight with electron-optical image intensifier. "Centaurs" is often used as a mobile observation points along the Imperial Highway. Machine took up positions in the 500 meters from the road and crews using sights as night vision devices, night life tracked, if necessary bridging suspicious of its manifestations Italian patrols.
Were not powerful enough VHF radio mounted on armored vehicles, it was deemed necessary to have a HF radio medium range at least for command vehicle. Ironically in a very hot climate crews did not use the air-conditioning system, preferring to plow open all the hatches.
In Somalia, conducted counterinsurgency operations typical. The enemy was poorly armed and poorly trained, however, very quickly became clear that body armor "Centaur" (as well as all other armored vehicles) is not enough, she "holds" armor piercing bullets DShK, not to mention the grenades the RPG- 7. Urgently British firm Royal Ordnens were booked twenty sets of units dynamic tower defense and hull sides ROMOR-A. Ten sets were installed on the "Somali" "Centaurs".
In the summer of 1997 "Centaurs" Together with armored cars Fiat 6614 Guards Cavalry Regiment took taught in "Operation Alba" to prevent civil war in Albania.
Technical characteristics
Axels ................................................ 8x8 ..
Combat weight, kg .............................................. .24.800
Body length m .............................................. 7.40 ..
Length with gun forward 8.56 m ........................................
Width, m ............................................... 2.94 ........
Housing height, m .............................................. . 1.75
Height of the roof of the tower, ........................................ 2.44 m
Wheelbase m ...................................... 1.60 / 1.45 / 1.45
Track width, m .............................................. 2.51 ...
Ground clearance, m ............................................. 0 42
Maximum road speed, km / h ............................. 108
Cruising on the highway, 800 km ..........................................
Fuel tank capacity, l ....................................... 540
Overcoming obstacles:
rise ................................................. 60% ...........
wall height, m .............................................. 0.55 ..
trench width, m ............................................. 1.55 ..
depth ford m ............................................. 1.2 ....
Crew. .................................................. 4 .....
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