- Yes
- No
General Info
The story of the AVL 6634 would begin during the late stages of the cold war, many countries at the time would be experimenting on light multi role vehicles can were able to perform a variety of roles, such as reconnaissance, tank destroyer and armored personale carrier. Italy would be no stranger to that, in fact they’d be developing many light armored fighting vehicles, some of which saw wide success in the export market. During the early 1980’s Fiat and IVECO would begin to develop as a sole private venture a new family of wheeled armored vehicles, these would be the FIAT 6634 (4x4) the FIAT 6633 (4x4) and lastly the FIAT 6636 (6x6). The FIAT 6634 was one of the first to be worked on, it was designed as an armored assault vehicle, which would be able to be modified with a wide array of armaments to fit its operational needs. The AVL 6634 would have an all-wielded hull that gave protection to the majority of small arms fire and a few shell splinters.The driver would sit at the front of the hull on the left side and would have access to a single-piece anti-splinter hatch cover that opened to the right. To the front and to the sides there is a bullet proof observation block that can withstand most small arms fire. In terms of visibility there would be a single forward facing periscope that could be replaced for a passive periscope in case the was a need for night driving. In terms of mobility, the AVL 6634 was powered by FIAT diesel engine that could provide 120hp, and likely could reach speeds of 105km an hour. The engine compartment would be placed at the rear of the hull. Armament wise the only which was actually fitted unto the vehicle would be a 12.7mm machine gun, however if a customer was interested in the vehicle, the AVL 6634 was able to be outfitted with 2 EUROMISSLE MTC MILAN launchers, which would be installed on the prototype in mock-up form… Other armaments that would be able to be added would include a Swedish anti air Bofors RBS-70,Javelin and finally MATRA SATCP surface to air missiles. Sadly, development of this specific family of vehicles wouldn’t become operational armament wise, similarly to the R3 Capraia TOW variant, unless a customer was interested, to save money Iveco and Fiat would not physically install the actual weapon system, and usually would rely on installing mock up weapons for visual representation. What was learned from this vehicle family was used to develop and produce the B1 Centauro and Puma 4x4+6x6 vehicles, which both are currently in service inside the Italian army. Just for avoid confusion, the platform in itself was fully functional and was extensively tested, the armament planned was also made and already widely availble on a multitude of AFV’s. Some pictures used were taken at the Museo della Motorizzazione Militare della Cecchignola, Rome and 1 was taken under the Bunker in Monte Soratte. From the pictures i was sent thanks to my contacts, it seems like it could have a maximum of 6 ATGM’s, 2 already loaded, and 4 inside. It shares similarities with what end up becoming the Iveco-Oto Melara Puma AFV.
Armaments+Equipment
12.7mm machine gun
Offered Armaments+Equipment
Dual EUROMISSLE MTC MILAN launcher
Anti Air Bofors RBS-70
Shortsblowpipe/Javelin
MATRA SATCP surface to air missiles
Specifications
Spoiler
Why it should be in game
I believe it should be in game as it is a great unique vehicle for Italy, would be great in the tank destroyer line, and some versions of the vehicle planned to have a wide array of armaments which could possibly mean gaijin could re-use the model and make more variants of the vehicle.
Sources
Spoiler
Janes Armour and Artillery Volume 12
Janes Armour and Artillery 1985-86
Monte Soratte museum
Century of italian armored cars/Un secolo di autoblindate in Italia
VBL Puma
http://www.ecsbdefesa.com.br/fts/IVECO.pdf
http://swbplus.bsz-bw.de/bsz327092831inh.pdf?1362966795219
CENTAURO PUMA Family
Jane's Armoured Fighting Vehicle Retrofit Systems 1993 94 : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive
Photos
