C1 Ariete modernization
The Ariete has high firepower, potentially equivalent to an Abrams or Leopard 2s with a 44-caliber cannon, obviously not taking into account the characteristics of the ammunition and the parameters of the fire control system.
The C1 Ariete MBT entered service with the Esercito Italiano (Italian Armed Forces) in 1995, a quarter of a century ago. Italian soldiers will use them for another decade, so it is not surprising that a comprehensive modernization program has recently started, which will be carried out by the CIO consortium (Consorzio FIAT-Iveco - Oto Melara), i.e. car manufacturer .
There is no need to hide that Ariete is already old. It was created in response to the need of the Italian ground forces for a modern, independently designed and manufactured main battle tank of the 3rd generation, under the requirements of which they were created in the mid-80s. In the 70s, the Italian military began to consider the purchase of foreign tanks (imported M47 and M60, as well as imported and licensed Leopardy 1/A1/A2) with a relatively high demand and at the same time the strength of their own automotive industry, the phenomenon is unprofitable. Based on the experience gained during license production of the Leopard 1A2 in 1977, Oto Breda and FIAT began work on the OF-40 tank ("O" for Oto Breda, "F" for "FIAT", "40" for the expected weight, which was supposed to be 40 tons, although it was exceeded). The prototype, clearly inspired by the Leopard 1 (and not dissimilar in performance), was tested in 1980 and quickly purchased by the United Arab Emirates. In 1981–1985 they received 18 tanks in the Mod base. 1, same for mod. 2 (including new observation and aiming devices) and three technical support vehicles. It was a meager success, 40-mm Palmaria self-propelled howitzers, developed using the OF-155 chassis, were sold 235 pieces to Libya and Nigeria (Argentina bought an additional 20 towers, which were mounted on the TAM tank chassis). The OF-40 itself found no further buyers, and development of the design was finally halted in 1997 with a deeply modernized Mod prototype. 2A. Nevertheless, the development of a completely modern - in some respects - tank in Italy was considered successful, and already in 1982, the preparation of requirements for the promising Esercito Italiano tank began.
The Italian tank is not the worst in terms of mobility. The engine, which is weaker than some competing designs, is offset by lighter weight.
C1 Ariete - history, development and troubles
Initially, some Italian military were skeptical about the idea of developing their own tank, leaning more towards buying a new Leopard 2 in Germany. However, the "patriotic camp" won and in 1984 requirements were formulated for the new car, the most important of which were: the main armament in the form of 120- mm smoothbore gun; modern SKO; relatively strong armor using special armor (instead of the previously used steel armor); weight less than 50 tons; good traction characteristics; improved ergonomics and significant ease of use. The development of the machine, which received the designation OF-45 at this stage, was entrusted to Oto Melara and Iveco-FIAT, which had already formed a consortium to develop and implement other modern wheeled (later Centauro) and tracked combat vehicles (Dardo) for their own purposes. own army. Five or six prototypes were built between 1986 and 1988, very similar to the future production car. The vehicle was originally expected to enter service in 1990 or 1991, but attempts were delayed and this was overshadowed by the financial problems of the Italian Ministry of Defense after the end of the Cold War. The future C1 Ariete ("C" for "Carro armato", meaning "tank", ariete meaning "ram and ram") was originally planned to be produced in quantities of 700 - enough to replace over 1700 M47s and M60s, and, at least some of the more than 1300 Leopard 1 tanks. The cutbacks from the end of the Cold War were evident. Part of the tanks were to replace the B1 Centauro wheeled support vehicles, developed in parallel with the C1 Ariete and the Dardo tracked infantry fighting vehicle. Finally, in 1995 Esercito Italiano placed an order for just 200 production tanks. Deliveries were completed in 2002. These vehicles were used by four armored regiments, 41 or 44 tanks each (depending on the source). These were: 4° Reggimento carri in Persano, 31° Reggimento carri in Lecce, 32° Reggimento carri in Tauriano and 132° Reggimento carri in Coredenone. Not all of them currently have standard equipment, and one was planned to be dismantled. By the middle of this decade, there should have been 160 cars in the lineup. This number probably included the Arietes, who remained in the state of Scuola di Cavalleria in Lecce, and the training centers for technical personnel. The rest are saved.
The Italian 54-ton tank was built according to the classical layout, with a front steering compartment with a driver’s seat shifted to the right, a centrally located fighting compartment, covered by a turret (the commander is located to the right of the gun, the gunner sits in front of him, and the loader sits to the left of the gun position) and behind the control compartment. Ariete has a length of 967 cm (hull length 759 cm), a width of 361 cm and a height to the roof of the tower 250 cm (286 cm to the top of the commander's panoramic instrument), a ground clearance of 44 cm. The vehicle is armed with a 120 mm Oto Breda smoothbore gun with a barrel length of 44 caliber with 42 rounds of ammunition (including 15 on the floor of the turret basket) and two 7,62 mm Beretta MG 42/59 machine guns (one is coupled to the cannon, the other is mounted on a bench on top of the turret) with a stock of 2500 rounds. The range of elevation angles of the main armament is from −9° to 20°. A biaxial electro-hydraulic stabilization system and turret drives were used. The fire control system OG14L3 TURMS (Tank Universal Reconfigurable Modular System), developed by Galileo Avionica (now part of the Leonardo concern), should be considered modern at the time of the start of production, incl. thanks to the integration of the commander's panoramic observation device with a biaxially stabilized line of sight and a passive night vision channel or a gunner's sight with a thermal night channel.
External communication is provided by two SINCGARS (Single Channel Ground and Airborne Radio System) radios, manufactured under license by Selex (now Leonardo).
The forehead of the hull and turret (and according to some sources, the sides, although this is very doubtful) are protected by layered armor, the rest of the plane of the vehicle is protected by uniform steel armor.
The transmission consists of an Iveco MTCA 12V engine with 937 kW / 1274 hp. and automatic transmission ZF LSG 3000, which are combined into a power unit. The undercarriage consists of rear drive wheels, seven pairs of road wheels suspended on torsion bars, and four pairs of wheels supporting the upper branch of the caterpillar (Diehl / DST 840). The undercarriage is partially covered by a lightweight composite skirt.
The tank develops a speed of up to 65 km/h on a paved road, overcomes water obstacles up to 1,25 m deep (up to 3 m after preparation) and has a cruising range of up to 550 km.
During the service, "Ariete" was used, including in combat conditions. during a stabilization mission in Iraq in 2003–2006 (Operation Antica Babylonia). Some tanks, probably 30, received a PSO (Peace Support Operation) package at that time, which consisted of additional armor, hull sides (probably inserts were NERA panels) and frontal part of the turret (presumably steel sheets with very high hardness) and its boards (modules similar to those installed on the hull). In addition, these tanks received a second machine gun located on the roof of the tower, and both firing positions were equipped (very modestly - ed.) with covers. The weight of such an armored vehicle was to increase to 62 tons. VAR and MPK (mine-resistant) packages were also developed. Outside of Iraq, the Esercito Italiano did not use the Ariete in combat.
The tank has many flaws. Firstly, this is bad armor - the sides of the towers are probably protected by a uniform steel sheet with a thickness of about 80-100 mm, and special armor, according to official data, at best corresponds to its solutions (and effectiveness) on ten-year-old tanks, such as the Leopard 2A4 or M1A1 . Therefore, penetration of such armor today is not a problem even for kinetic anti-tank missiles of two decades ago, and the consequences of a hit can be tragic - ammunition is not isolated from the crew, especially a convenient supply. The effectiveness of own weapons is limited by the insufficient efficiency of the stabilization system drives, which causes a significant drop in accuracy when firing at speeds of more than 20 km / h when driving off-road. These shortcomings should have been fixed in the C90 Ariete Mod. 2 (including a more powerful engine, hydropneumatic suspension, reinforced armor, a new SKO, a new cannon with an automatic loader), but the vehicle was never built. A demonstrator vehicle was also built, combining the chassis of an Ariete tank with the turret of a Centauro II (HITFACT-II) wheeled combat vehicle. This very controversial proposal, apparently, did not meet any interest, therefore, in anticipation of the next generation MBT, the Italians were left with only the modernization of vehicles in the line.
Modernization
Since at least 2016, information has been circulating that the Italian Ministry of Defense may decide to upgrade the MLU (Mid-Life Upgrade, literally mid-life upgrade) of the C1 Ariete tanks. Conceptual work and negotiations with the CIO consortium were finally completed in August last year, when an agreement was signed with the Ministry of Defense of the Italian Republic for the construction of three prototypes of the upgraded tank. They should be delivered by 2021, and after the end of their testing, serial modernization of 125 machines will begin (according to some reports, “about 150”). Delivery is expected to be completed in 2027. The amount of the contract was not made public, but the Italian media estimated the cost of work in 2018 at 20 million euros for three prototypes and about 2,5 million euros for each "serial" tank. , which would give a total cost of less than 400 million euros. However, judging by the planned scope of work (see below), these estimates are somewhat underestimated.
