- Yes
- No
During the late cold war OTO Melara had been very active in a lot of defence sectors, as such it was no surpise that they would begin to develop a multitude of wheeled and tracked military platforms. One of their most important designs was known as the OF-40. The OF-40 was a stepping stone for OTO Melara as thanks to that design a lot of new variants of vehicles would be made or proposed based on it. Its design could be traced back to the OTO Melara Leone, which was in essence a modified Leopard 1 tank. That experience was vital when creating the OF-40, so much so that some design elements from the Leone would make their way unto the OF-40. The tank was initally offered to the Italian army but due to the fact that they already had several hundred Leopard 1 tanks in service they would see no need in adopting the OF-40. OTO Melara would instead focus their efforts with the OF-40 by placing it on the export market. Some nations would be interested but only the UAE would ever adopt the OF-40. OTO Melara would then create an upgrade which improved the previous OF-40 (now known as OF-40 MK1) variants of the OF-40 into the MK2 standard. Sometime after OTO Melara had created the MK2 they had then kept on studying the machine to see what other upgrades could be implemented to further increase its chances of being exported. As such the OF-40 MK2 THETIS came to be, its main differences which set itself apart from the standard MK2 variant was the addition of the new officine Galileo THETIS thermal tank infra-red system, new additional armour on the turret sides and new additional armour on the hull. The armament was retained from the MK2, it being the stabilized OTO 105mm cannon. The THETIS was quite a special optic, it would allow tanks to utilize both night and thermal vision which increased visibility for the crew. Picking off targets both day and night would have not been a problem, at the time not many NATO tanks would have access to thermals in service so this optic was also offered and tested on the Italian army Leopard platform. The engine seemingly wasnt changed so the mobility was likely similar to its previous variants. Sadly despite this upgrade for the OF-40 MK2 being promising it would not be adopted by anyone, it would be placed in storage inside of the OTO Melara grounds for many years. Interestingly enough however its story did not end there. Mirabilandia, a well known Italian amusment park would actually ask OTO Melara to lease the OF-40 MK2 THETIS for its use in the ‘‘Scuola di Polizia’’ (Police school) show from the 2006-2008. OTO Melara would take it out of storage where either they or the staff at Mirabilandia would decorate it with a unique ‘Los Angeles Police’ decal and the name ‘LEOPARD’ on the side of the tank. In the act the OF-40 MK2 THETIS would drive up to the building where the show was taking place and fire there at several criminals lifting off from a helicopter. Mirabilandia eventually would return the tank back to OTO Melara where it was once again put in storage for several years, rotting away. Once OTO Melara began to restore its historical military vehicles to display at their museum in La Spezia, this OF-40 thankfully was in good enough condition to warrant its restoration. The tank is now currently exposed outside the museum together with the OTOMATIC and other important vehicles made by OTO Melara.
Armament+Equipment
x1 OTO 105mm cannon (able to fire all compatible nato standard munitions)
x2 7.62mm/12.7mm machine guns
x8 smoke grenades
THETIS Thermal imagining device
Specifications
Spoiler
Why it should be in game
It should be added as this would be a great vehicle to have added to flesh out the Italian mid tier lineups. Its got an interesting story, which Gaijin could factor in to make a cool event based on it. If not then it could easily be added as another researchable tank in the tech tree, squadron vehicle or GE premium. It would not be overpowered and would overall be a simple model to create.
Sources
Spoiler
OTO Melara Archives
Main battle tank OF-40 MK2 Specification Nov 1982
Jane’s A&A Upgrades 2006-07
Jane’s A&A 1991-92
Jane’s AFV upgrades 1993-94
Thetis
https://electronics.leonardo.com/documents/16277707/18363421/THETIS_LQ_mm07860_.pdf?t=1538987612626
OF 40 Mk.2 Main Battle Tank - Tank Encyclopedia
https://www.museodellamelara.it/
The Italian OF-40 Main Battle Tank - TankNutDave.com
http://www.military-today.com/tanks/of_40.htm
OF-40 - Wikipedia
OTO-Melara OF-40 Main Battle Tank (MBT) Combat Vehicle
Oto-Melara + Fiat OF 40 / Lion
OF-40 - Wikipedia
https://www.mirabilandia.it/
https://youtu.be/W8V9mtCBSR4
https://youtu.be/bA4BH56Wdno
Photos
