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Description:
Riepilogo
Back in 2022, when the Russo-Ukrainian war broke out, among the various nations of Western Europe, Italy understood that high intensity war was not just something that faded away after the collapse of the Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War but a part of modern reality that couldn’t have just been overlooked. Thus, alongside most of Europe’s nations, the Italian government allocated a significant additional amount of funds to the armed forces to allow them to modernize to better react to this new and hostile environment. The Italian Army in particular finally found itself with a good amount of resources to fix the sorry state of its armored division, which had been shrunk down in the last two decades, receiving next to no upgrades or spare parts. Indeed, the C1 Ariete, after being pressed into service in a very small amount compared to what had been initially planned, never ever received a single upgrade for 20 years and was only starting to get some form of mid-life upgrade now, and even then the timeline for said upgrades was far too slow, with the upgrades being a good refresh but sadly not enough, lacking blowout panels, an RWS, and an APS, to name a few. Moreover, the units fitted with them had received very little in terms of spare parts due to the constrained budget; thus, out of the original 200 units, many were in an inoperable state due to them being cannibalized of their parts in order to keep others running, diminishing even further the already small number of tanks. The same applied to the other Italian tracked armored vehicle in service with the infantry regiments, the VCC-80, which, albeit being in a better position spare parts-wise compared to the Ariete, received no upgrades, and plans for mid-life upgrades like the Ariete were considered only for a small amount of time, after which they were discontinued. With the new funds, the Italian army started acquisition projects for two new families of tracked vehicles: one that could replace the VCC-80 Dardo and the various legacy M113s still in service, named AICS, and the other that could have strengthened the armored division and replaced the old utility and recovery Leopard 1. Unlike the IFV competition, which saw various vehicles being taken into consideration, the MBT one was always oriented towards the latest version of the Leopard 2, the 2A8, which was later announced as the victor of said contract, with a total of 272 units being ordered, 132 of which in the MBT version and the remaining 140 in various utility versions, like recovery, engineering, assault bridge, and others. Due to the large Italian industrial presence in the defense sector, represented by Leonardo, the Leopards were supposed to be partially built in Italy, with plenty of Italian pieces, such as the optics, RWS, engine, radio, control systems, and maybe even the cannon. Initially everything went smooth, or at least it looked like so, due to the lack of any meaningful news, but after a while it became apparent the KNDS wasn’t willing to let Leonardo modify their tank with Italian pieces, even refusing under-license production at some point. This is effectively the death sentence of this collaboration, and the Italian army found itself at step 0 again. The second German defense giant, Rheinmetall, who had quietly followed the events, immediately proposed its new tank, the KF51, as an alternative, granting every single Italian request that was denied by KNDS. Thus, a new consortium was established shortly after, named LMRV (Leonardo Rheinmetall Military Vehicles), aimed at creating a new player in the European market and delivering to the Italian Army the new tank and IFV. After a while, the first data regarding deliveries were disclosed, and they mentioned that the Italian armed forces would have received two units based on the current international standard as a stopgap (aka the German KF51), and the other 270 units would have been fitted with the Italian technology and delivered in the span of eight years. After this whole bunch of news was revealed shortly one after another, things went quiet for nearly half a year, and no new updates were given on the current status of the tank. At Eurosatory 2026, the initial iteration and prototype of the IMBT (Italian Main Battle Tank), now labeled as the NMBT (New Main Battle Tank), was presented, featuring already a high degree of Italian technology, such as the optics, the RWS, various sensors, etc., which may indicate that the already mentioned initial two units in the German configuration will actually come already fitted with various Italian pieces. On the final iteration of the NMBT, the Italian parts are supposed to be the following: The 120/55 main gun from Leonardo (half will be fitted with the German L55A1 and half with this one); a new hull developed from the Buffel recovery vehicle; a new turret jointly developed by RH and Leonardo; the BLAZE 30 RWS, featuring a 30 mm anti-drone cannon; an under-license transmission made by Renk Italia; a new engine developed by Iveco based on the one used for the Centauro 2; command and control systems and other subsistems.
Vulcano 120
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Description: The Vulcano 120 is a brand-new guided 120 mm HEFSDS shell, developed from the already existing Vulcano 127 used on naval guns. The shell was officially presented on 16 july 2025, alongside the new 120/55 cannon, both made by Leonardo, at a firing range near the city of La Spezia. The features of the Vulcano 120 are unprecedented, as no similar shell was ever produced for a tank or a vehicle supposed to conduct engagements on the line of sight. Indeed, this new ammo opens a new realm of possibilities for a tank crew, being now able to engage a threat at long range with powerful and precise indirect fire. The Vulcano has a max range of 30 km, which could be increased thanks to the characteristics of the shell itself, but it’s mainly held back by the average elevation of a tank main gun. Thanks to its flight path, it can engage targets with a top attack approach, similar to various ATGMs like the Israeli Spike, being able to hit an enemy vehicle on its roof and outright destroy or severely damage it. A direct fire engagement mode was also mentioned, but it’s unclear how the shell is supposed to behave in such a situation. Speaking of damages, it is capable of completely destroying an IFV and either crippling or exploding an MBT as well; indeed, its high speed grants a modest armor penetration, even if the shell is just an HEFSDS. Lastly, a total of 3 different guide methods were implemented: GPS, SAL + GPS and IIR + GPS. The first one is only useful to hit stationary targets, while the second one can engage moving targets as well, granted that a unit, either a drone, an infantry squad, or another vehicle, guides the shell to the target using the buddy lazing technique, while the last one grants the platform using the Vulcano 120 full autonomy in engaging moving targets as well, thanks to the IIR seeker, which locks and guides the shell on target on its own. The Vulcano 120 was already tested and is scheduled to enter production soon. It will be mainly adopted by the Italian army, on every platform with a 120 mm gun, including the C2 Ariete.
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Specifications:
Riepilogo
Mass: 59 T (without addon armor, current weight) or 70 T (with addon armor, which has yet to be showcased)
Length: 7.8 m
Width: 3.7 m
Height: 2.5 m
Crew. 3–4
Engine: IDV V12 engine
Max speed: 70 km/h
Armaments:
1x 120/55 L55A1 gun or 130 L51 gun (optional)
1x 12.7 mm machinegun
1x 30x113 mm BLAZE cannon
4x Hero 120 loitering ammunitions
(the specs are based on the ones of the standard KF51, as despite featuring various Italian parts, this one is still based on the latest evolution of the standard KF51)
Sources
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https://aresdifesa.it/naufraga-il-programma-italiano-per-i-leopard-2a8/
Panther KF51 - Wikipedia
Leonardo Rheinmetall Military Vehicles
The Italian Ministry of Defense issued a request for the purchase of 132 Leopard 2A8IT
https://aresdifesa.it/rinnovamento-della-componente-corazzata-del-esercito-italiano/
https://aresdifesa.it/la-prossima-joint-venture-tra-leonardo-e-rheinmetall/
Leonardo Rheinmetall Military Vehicles S.r.l. | Rheinmetall
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