- Yes
- No
Author’s note: The basic B1 Centauro 105mm is already in War Thunder in the Italian tech tree.
History: The B1 Centauro is a wheeled mobile gun system of Italian origin which mounts an OTO-Melara 105mm L/52 cannon. The vehicle was produced for the Italian Army in the 1990s and into the mid 2000s, in response to a request for a wheeled gun system which offered better strategic mobility than an MBT and could be easily integrated into a motorized division. The vehicles remain in service to this day with Italy and Jordan, but are slowly being phased out for the Centauro 2, which features a 120mm cannon, better armor and a gen 2 thermal imager.
The B1 Centauros were initially equipped with high-hardness rolled armor capable of stopping all small arms and some 12.7mm/14.5mm rounds, gen 1 thermal imagers, and both coaxial/external machineguns for protection from enemy infantry. Later, some vehicles were equipped with ROMOR explosive reactor armor to counter RPG threats, or additional steel armor to protect agaisnt autocannons. The 105mm gun was capable of firing any NATO-standard 105mm ammunition at the time, which included HEAT, HESH, and APFSDS-T. Smoke grenade launchers and a laser warning system also improved vehicle survivability passively.
In the year 2000, the US requested, and received from Italy, 20 B1 Centauro wheeled fire support vehicles for testing, evaluation and familiarization with wheeled mobile guns prior to the delivery of the M1128 MGS “Stryker”. The vehicles were delivered to Fort Lewis that year, for testing with the 2nd Infantry Division, and returned in 2002. The vehicles were ultimately never type-classified or adopted into American service and the Stryker MGS would be America’s wheeled FSV until 2020.
**Armament+Equipment:**105mm L/52 Oto-Melara cannon
2x Mg42/59 machinegun (one external, one coaxial)
Smoke grenade launchers
Laser Warning/Rangefinder System
Additional optional ERA package (ROMOR in Italian service)
Additional optional high hardness armor package (Spanish service)
NOTE: The vehicles sent to the United States did not come equipped with any additional armor or a commander’s machine gun.
Other Specifications:
25,000 kg (no additional armor)
7.85m long
2.94m wide
2.73m tall
Crew: 4
Drivetrain: IVECO V6 diesel, 520 hp (HP/T ratio: 20).
Automatic transmission, five forward/two reverse gears
Top speed forward: 110 km/h
Top speed reverse: 22 km/h
Gunner optics: 8-12x, gen 1 FLIR
Commander’s optics: 2.5x-10x, gen 1 FLIR (commander’s override available)
“Why should this vehicle be included?”
To put things simply, the US has a rather small number of wheeled platforms in-game, which include the Stryker MGS and the LAV-AD. The addition of this vehicle, which was tested by the US extensively, would create a more unique experience for players who want a fast, nimble vehicle, where the current US tech tree mostly has slower, but better protected tracked tanks. In addition, this vehicle would be very easy to implement: It’s already in the Italian tech tree (various models).
https://www.jstor.org/stable/43985049 (US report)
https://nara.getarchive.net/media/us-army-first-lieutenant-1lt-james-anderton-left-and-sergeant-sgt-emil-woeppel-227205 (pictures of the tank in US testing)
Centauro B1 Tank Destroyer | MilitaryToday.com
https://tanks-encyclopedia.com/modern/italy/b1_centauro.php