Discover new Italian upgraded Ariete Main Battle Tank for Italian army
According to pictures published on the Twitter account, Ciro Nappi on September 14, 2022, the Italian defense industry has finalized the third prototype of the upgraded program of the C1 Ariete Main Battle Tank (MBT) for the Italian army.
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The new upgraded Italian Ariete Main Battle Tank. (Picture source Ciro Nappi Twitter account)
The first prototype of the Ariete Main Battle Tank (MBT) was completed in 1986 and by 1988 all six prototypes had been completed and trialed by the Italian Army. The first production Ariete MBT was delivered late in 1995 and the final production vehicles were delivered to the Italian Army in 2002.
The design of the Ariete is standard for a modern MBT with the driver's compartment front right, the turret in the center, and the powerpack at the rear. It has a crew of four including a driver, commander, gunner, and loader. The hull and turret are of all-welded steel construction with an additional layer of advanced armor over the frontal arc, including the nose, glacis plate and turret front and sides.
The main armament of the Ariete MBT consists of an Oto Melara 120 mm 44 caliber smoothbore gun fitted with a muzzle reference system, thermal sleeve, and fume extractor. The second armament includes one 7.62mm coaxial machine gun and one 7.62mm machine gun mounted on the turret roof.
The Ariete is powered by an IVECO V-12 MTCA a 12-cylinder, four-stroke, direct-injected, water-cooled, supercharged, after-cooled diesel engine developing 1,300 hp coupled to a German Renk LSG 3000 fully automatic transmission with four forward and two reverse speeds. The tank can run at a maximum speed of 65 km/h with a maximum cruising range of 550 km.
The upgraded version of the Ariete MBT is powered by an MTCA AMV engine developing 1500 hp. It also has new tracks and transmission. In terms of protection, the hull and the turret are fitted with a new armor package to increase protection against modern anti-tank guided missiles and RPGs (Rocket-Propelled Grenades). according to mission requirements, the modernized Ariete could be fitted with add-on armor including the PSO (Peace Support Operation) and WAR (symmetrical warfare with MBTs). The hull is also fitted with mine blast armor plates.
The new version of the Italian Ariete MBT is fitted with new optronics and electronics. It will keep the same armament as the previous Ariete MBT.
The new upgraded Italian Ariete main battle tank can be fitted with new armor packages. (Picture source Ciro Nappi Twitter account)