- Yes
- No
General Info
The story of the Fiat Campagnola began in the 1950’s due to a request by the Italian Ministry of Defence, they were looking for a suitible replacement for the willy’s jeeps that were donated to Italy by Amercia during the last stages of the second world war. Italy had been given these surplus Jeeps by America because they already had enough and wanted to give Italy some equipment to be able to take care of themselves after the allies had left. The main reason the Italian MOD launched a call would be to appoint a supplier of vehicles inspired by those off-roaders, with the aim of creating the “Autoveicolo da Ricognizione” (This is where the AR in the name of the variants come from). In 1951 the two major Italian manufacturers which presented designs would be Fiat and Alfa Romeo, Fiat submitted The Fiat ‘‘AR51’’ whilst Alfa Romeo would sumbit the Alpha Romeo ‘‘1900 M’’.Out of the 2, the design made by Fiat would be chosen by the heads of the army over the Alpha Romeo one due to it being cheaper to purchase and ultimately would be easier to manufacture, which was one of more important aspects as Italy wanted to still have their industry being active as much as possibile. Fiat started studying the replacement for the willys jeep already for many years in secret to see what they could’ve made based on that design. Due to the simple design and also because they already were studying the vehicle Fiat did not take long to begin producing the vehicle, which meant that it also didn’t take long for the Italian armed forces to start putting the vehicle into service. Interestingly enough, the name Fiat Campagnola given to the family of vehicles was done due to its exceptional off-road characteristics, it could be easily used on bumpy and unsurfaced roads but also could be used on those of the agricultural world, becoming a hit with many farmers and Italian army chiefs. The initial variant would be called Fiat AR51, however later down the line an upgrade would be made to the Campagnola’s 1900 petrol engine, it was joined by a diesel unit which would make the vehicle a bit weaker, on the plus side it did reduce fuel consumption, one of the many quirks which Fiat had to adress. There was other minor upgrades to the vehicle which ultimately meant that it would be reclassified as the Fiat AR59. Once Italy had reached a suitable ammount of Campagnolas in service with the Italian Army, Fiat moved towards supplying the first responders which lead to some Italian police units to also have access to it. In 1974 Fiat presented the ‘‘Nuova Campagnola’’, which would be the basis for the Fiat AR76 military version. The Fiat AR76 would have a lot of improvements from the previous design, such as a new and modern body chassis, 2 new Engines (could choose from a 2-litre petrol engine which derived from the engine of the Fiat 131 and a 2500 diesel version, which became available from 1979) and lastly but most important, the ability for the vehicle to be more easily modified to allow the installation of more weapon systems. Previously the Fiat AR59 would be able to be armed with either a 106mm Recoiless Rifle, Cobra ATGM’s and Mosquito ATGM’s. The Fiat AR76 however was able to mount either a TOW ATGM launcher, Milan ATGM launcher or even a Stinger Anti Air manpad. In terms of mobility the Fiat AR59 and Fiat 76 was able to reach speeds of up to 105km depending on the engine given. In terms of survivability, sadly both versions would not be very armoured. The most they could take is small arms fire but even then the crew inside would not be protected. Ultimately the Fiat Campagnola proved that it would do what it was designed to do, and served inside the Italian armed forces faithfully up until the end of the cold war, were it would be slowly phased out for more modern designs such as the Iveco VM90. The Fiat Campagnola had great success in the civilian market, many people still owning the vehicle today. It also would get exported to outside nations, such as Mexico and Yugoslavia where it was license produced by the Zastava Trucks company.
Armament+Equipment
106mm Recoiless Rifle
Cobra ATGM’s
Mosquito ATGM’s
SS.11 ATGM’s
Specifications
Spoiler
Why it should be in game
I think it should be in game since this vehicle with the misslies would be great additions for Italy’s tech tree. Along with my previous suggestion of the Fiat campagnola, there is a potential 4 vehicles you can make out of the fiat campagnola. This could fill in gaps, would be fun to play and will also allow other countries vehicles that used these armaments to maybe show up in the future as it will be easier to make at that point. I also want to see it added in game due to it being a unique vehicle that we don’t have anything similar to in game yet, allowing the Italian tech tree to be more liked.
Sources
Spoiler
Mosquito (missile) - Wikipedia
Mosquito ATGM
Cobra-Mamba - Wikipedia
https://www.archivioluce.com/
La storia della parata del 2 giugno tra curiosità, aneddoti e foto d'epoca
Festa della Repubblica Italiana - Wikipedia
http://www.lagunaridellamarca.it/?page_id=900
Italy Vehicles (Tab) - Album on Imgur
https://campagnola.org/website/index.php/foto-storiche-la-nuova-campagnola/esercito
ALTA - 41° Bgt. f. Mec. "Modena"
Fiat Campagnola - Wikipedia
Italian Light Unarmored Vehicles
Fiat Campagnola
Fiat Campagnola - Wikipedia
http://www.lagunaridellamarca.it/?page_id=900
I missili c/c della prima generazione in servizio nell'EI
Richiami
http://files.pierogiacomelli.com/files/rombo/il_rombo_112.pdf
http://www.fireandfury.com/orbats/modcwitalian.pdf
Carlo
JOURNAL OF ITALIAN ARMY 1988 N.1 "RIVISTA MILITARE" by Biblioteca Militare - Issuu
Fiat AR 59 Campagnola
Photos
Spoiler
