- Yes
- No
General Info
The Freccia IFV origins began during the late stages of the cold war, the Italian army had always saw a need for decently armed wheeled vehicles thus OTO Melara assisted by Iveco began working on many different designs to create something which could peform both roles at the same time. The attempt was for either the Italian army or another nation to sumbit orders on for the new platform. One of the designs which would first come out would be known as the VBC Centauro, which would be armed with either a 60mm HVMS cannon or a 20/25mm auto cannon with ATGM’s. They’d both be based directly from the pre existing B1 Centauro series of vehicles, which up until that point had only been armed with the standard 105mm cannon. Although there was brief interest shown in the VBC program, the market during those times was over-saturated with an overwhelming influx of surplus platforms from many nations such as America. Due to this the VBC program was shelved but ended up paving a way for future designs. Many years later the Italian army had set out a new requirement for a new modern platfotm that would be able to successfully replace the obsolete fleet of VCC-1/VCC-2 APC’s that had been serving inside of the Italian armed forces for many years. This new platform had to incorporate the latest availible tech, have increased protection, improved crew comfort and superior firepower. This new platform would be later known as the VBM Freccia. The design of Freccia would be completly new, although it shared a lot of design features with the tried and tested B1 Centauro. It originally was tested with the OTO TC-25 hitfist, which was the same exact turret of the VCC-80 Dardo. The production variants however would use the Leonardo Hitfist 25mm which had access to the Oerlikon KBA 25mm automatic cannon and Spike fire and forget missiles. After many tests and a long evaluation period by the Italian army, they awarded Iveco and Oto Melara a contract to produce these vehicles for the Italian army. Years later a new turret was tested on the Freccia platform, this turret would be known as the Hitfist 30 OWS. What made this weapon system special was the fact that its design allowed for the gunner to control the turret from within the platform itself, meaning the actual turret was unmanned. This new turret was also more than capable of using anti-tank missiles, its primary missile was the Israeli spike, which was already widely used. To increase potenial export orders Leonardo marketed the turret to be able to be configured to also fire the Russian Kornet family of ATGM’s and the South African INGWE ATGM. 2 missiles would be ready to fire, while another 6 missiles are stowed inside the hull. In terms of mobility, this variant of the VBM Freccia IFV retained the same IVECO Diesel 5HP-1500 V6 engine already installed on the production variant of the Freccia. The engine produces 550hp and allows the platform to be able to reach speeds of 110km an hour, with an overall range of up to 800km. The Italian army at one point did show partial interest in this version, but ultimately did not decide to make any orders. Seemingly it still is offered in this configuration but likey due to how many wheeled platforms have been created, the Freccia has not seen export besides the ARV variant currently used by Spain.
Armament+Equipment
x1 HITFIST-OWS 30mm
x2 Dual Spike MR/LR ATGM’s
x2 Dual Kornet ATGM’s
x2 Dual INGWE ATGM’s
x1 Coaxial 7.62mm machinegun
Thermal/Night vision devices (Commander and Gunner)
x6 Smoke grenades
Specifications
Why it should be in game
Would be useful to have as a natural evolution to the freccia family in game, it would have very similar armament to other IFV’s and would play similarly to how the freccia in game does. The main upside is the unmanned turret which gives the vehicle better odds of survivng enemy fire. It also would benefit from having access to an ATGM that does not require a lock to fire, which means players wont be forced to snipe with the vehicle to get any kills with the atgms. It would not require a lot of work to add and overall would not be overpowered.
Sources
Spoiler
ATM 2008-08
Leonardo OWS 30 Brochure
CIO product range Brochure
Centauro II: presenting the world premiere of the new generation armored vehicle
VBM 8x8 "Freccia" - Esercito Italiano
CENTAURO AIFV FRECCIA
HITFIST® OWS
https://bemil.chosun.com/nbrd/gallery/view.html?b_bbs_id=10044&num=204347
Freccia (combattimento fanteria) - Wikipedia
Oerlikon KBA - Wikipedia
Hitfist - Wikipedia
Freccia IFV - Wikipedia
Колесная БМП «Centauro» AIFV / OWS 30 (8х8) - фотообзор » Военные материалы
https://www.armyrecognition.com/italian_army_italy_wheeled_and_armoured_vehicle_uk/centauro_aifv_vbm_freccia_armoured_infantry_fighting_vehicle_spike_missile_technical_data_sheet.html
https://www.army-technology.com/projects/freccia-vehicle/
Freccia IFV (2006)
CIO (Iveco y Oto Melara) defienden el 8x8 Freccia para el Ejército Español - Noticias Defensa HOMSEC 2015 Channel
https://youtu.be/QCka3W6swVE?si=QYFaWPEq-kyB2v_f
Photos
