IVECO/Oto
Melara C-1 Ariete
Notes:
The Ariete (Italian for “Ram”) is similar in form and concept to the
Leopard 2 or Leclerc, being a modern design with a 120mm gun, advanced fire
control and night vision, and composite armor for protection.
In fact, some sources say that the Ariete’s initial design concepts
started with the Leopard 1 as a base (the Italians used and to an extent still
use the Leopard 1), though the design of the Ariete is considerably more
advanced than the Leopard 1. The
Ariete is a product of two of the largest military contractors in
The Ariete
Mk 1
The design of
the Ariete Mk 1 is standard, with the driver at the front center deck, and
commander and loader’s hatches on the turret roof.
The commander’s hatch is ringed by vision blocks, while the loader’s
hatch has a single wide-angle vision block to the front and another to the left.
The commander and loader both can have pintle-mounted machineguns, though
in practice the loader does not always have a machinegun mounted, as the loader
can also operate the commander’s machinegun if necessary.
The commander’s machinegun can be aimed and fired from under armor.
The commander has more simplified versions of the gunner’s sights; these
give him basic night vision and magnified day vision and a simple aiming
reticule without access to the laser rangefinder or ballistic computer.
(The commander has access to the gunner’s thermal imager, but no control
over it.) These give the Ariete Mk 1 a
basic level of hunter-killer capability, as well as allowing the commander to
take control of the main gun for use against targets at close range.
(Under normal circumstances, the commander can feed basic target location
information to the gunner’s computer, and then he would let the gunner take over
from there.)
Construction is
largely of all-welded steel, with spacing over some arcs of the armor and
composite armor over the frontal arc of the Ariete, in addition to armored track
skirts. The turret bustle also has
blow-out panels and blast doors similar to those of the M-1 Abrams tank.
The turret bustle contains 15 rounds of main gun ammunition, with the
remaining 27 rounds being in armored bins in the hull that are also surrounded
by anti-spalling liners. The left
side of the turret has a small (but quite heavy) hatch to make ammunition
resupply easier; protection level of this hatch is equal to that of the rest of
the turret side, but it is not large enough for a crewmember to enter or exit
the vehicle through it. The crew is
protected by an NBC overpressure system with a collective NBC system backup.
The gun is
manufactured by the Otobreda branch of Oto Melara, but conforms to the standard
Rheinmetall 120mm L/44 gun used by NATO (and many other places in the world).
It can use any sort of standard NATO 120mm ammunition, as well as some
made by other countries such as
The Ariete Mk 1
is equipped with an IVECO MTCA engine, a supercharged diesel that develops 1250
horsepower. The transmission is a
license-produced version of the German Renk LSG-3000 fully-automatic
transmission. The engine and
transmission form a complete power pack that can be removed from the Ariete as
one unit. The driver has a
180-degree arc of vision blocks, including one that can be removed and replaced
with an IR vision block. The driver
uses a steering wheel and otherwise standard gas and brake pedals; his seat is a
power-adjustable seat (in all directions) with a manual backup.
The Ariete primarily uses a pair of flexible-bag-type tanks, but a small
auxiliary tank carried internally ensure that fuel will still flow when the
Ariete is climbing or descending steep slopes.
If one of the fuel tanks is damaged and in danger of catching fire (or
already on fire), the commander can cut off fuel flow from that tank, and a fire
suppression system will automatically kick in.
Access to the tank can be re-established once the danger is passed.
Ariete Mk 2
Called the
Enhanced Ariete during its early development, the Ariete Mk 2 may spend a lot of
time in limbo due to Italian budget shortfalls – development and trials
continue, but the Italian Army has as of yet no concrete plans to buy any of
them. Nonetheless, IVECO and Oto
Melara say they are ready to commence production of the Mk 2 at any time.
Perhaps the biggest difference
between the Mk 1 and Mk 2 is the main gun – on the Mk 2, the gun will be an L/55
120mm gun which is fed by an autoloader, with the loader crewmember being
eliminated. The armor suite, though
only modestly improved, is modular, allowing repairs to be quickly made in the
field and improvements made to the armor package as new armor developments are
available or if the Italian Army desires even heavier armor.
The Mk 2 also has lugs for ERA on the turret front, turret sides, glacis,
hull sides, and the forward portion of the turret roof.
The commander has a true hunter-killer capability, with his own day/night
vision suite, laser rangefinder, ballistic computer, and gunsight for the main
gun and coaxial machinegun. The
loader’s hatch becomes the gunner’s hatch, but is otherwise unchanged, though
the gunner does not have any control over the commander’s machinegun.
The ballistic computers are improved models with updated software and
more computing power. Rearrangement
of turret components and ammunition storage has allowed the Mk 2 to carry a
little more ammunition, and given a bit more space for the crew to carry some
personal items or other items inside the tank.
Finally, the Mk 2 has the SICCONA navigation and command and control
system, allowing it to not only use GPS or inertial navigation, but plot enemy
and friendly positions and keep track of them in a dynamic battle situation.
This system will be interoperable with similar NATO systems.
Another major
improvement is the power pack, along with the suspension and drive train.
The Mk 2 is powered by a new version of the IVECO MTCA, with a power
output of 1500 horsepower. The
engine also has a reduced smoke and IR signature and quicker acceleration.
Wider tracks increase performance in soft terrain or snow.
The Italians have given little details, but apparently they have
developed some sort of RAM coating the exterior of the Mk 2.
Twilight 2000
Notes: In the Twilight 2000 timeline, deliveries of the Ariete Mk 1 began in
1993, but pre-war lack of funding meant that production was slower than
expected, so total production was little more than in real life (about 240
total). The Mk 2 does not exist in
the Twilight 2000 timeline.
Vehicle |
Price |
Fuel Type |
Load |
Veh Wt |
Crew |
Mnt |
Night Vision |
Radiological |
Ariete Mk 1 |
$536,157 |
D, A |
700
kg |
54
tons |
4 |
26 |
Passive IR (D, C), Image Intensification (G, C), Thermal Imaging (G) |
Shielded |
Ariete Mk 2 |
$996,810 |
D, A |
700
kg |
56
tons |
3 |
26 |
Passive IR (D), Image Intensification (G, C), Thermal Imaging (G, C) |
Shielded |
Vehicle |
Tr Mov |
Com Mov |
Fuel Cap |
Fuel Cons |
Config |
Susp |
Armor |
Ariete Mk 1 |
155/108 |
35/24 |
1400 |
668 |
Trtd |
T6 |
TF133Cp TS32Sp
TR29 HF166Cp
HS23Sp HR18 |
Ariete Mk 2 |
162/114 |
37/25 |
1400 |
689 |
Trtd |
T6 |
TF140Cp TS34Sp
TR31 HF174Cp
HS25Sp HR19 |
Vehicle |
Fire Control |
Stabilization |
Armament |
Ammunition |
Ariete Mk 1 |
+4* |
Good |
120mm Otobreda Gun, MG-42/59, MG-42/59 (C), MG-42/59 (L) |
42x120mm, 2500x7.62mm |
Ariete Mk 2 |
+5 |
Good |
120mm Otobreda L/55 Gun, MG-42/59, MG-42/59 (C) |
47x120mm, 3000x7.62mm |
*If the
commander is firing the main gun, his Fire Control modifier is only +1.
Notes:
The OF-40 was designed specifically for the export market and was not
intended to be used by Italian forces.
The OF-40 was designed by Oto Melara using experience they gained from
license-production of the Leopard 1, and the OF-40 does in fact share a number
of design features with the Leopard 1 (enough that many parts are compatible
with the Leopard 1). Though Oto
Melara’s primary export market was intended to be the
The OF-40 Mk 1
was a standard sort of tank for the time of its design (1980), though in some
areas a bit behind. It does not have the composite armor of some of its
contemporaries, but it does have the virtue of being lighter and cheaper than
them. It has night vision, but not
thermal imaging. The original version used a 105mm gun instead of the 120mm gun
that was becoming in vogue at the time.
Fire control was adequate, but not exceptional.
Stabilization was rather poor compared to other contemporary designs.
Armor protection largely consisted of welded steel plates, with some
faces having spaced armor. The
frontal armor used greatly sloped armor to increase protection without an undue
increase in the OF-40’s weight.
Layout is
largely conventional, though the driver is at the front right instead of the
front left or center like most tank designs. To his left is a bin containing
ammunition for the main gun. The
driver has vision blocks for the frontal arc; the middle vision block can be
replaced with an IR vision block.
The commander has night vision and all-around vision blocks; the loader’s hatch
has vision blocks for the front and left side of the tank.
The commander has a machinegun on a simple pintle mount.
NBC systems consist of a simple collective NBC system that the
crewmembers may plug their protective masks into.
In 1981, Oto
Melara improved the OF-40, hoping for additional export sales; this was the
OF-40 Mk 2. Fire control and gun
stabilization were improved, and the gunner’s sight had a thermal imager added
(which the commander could also see through).
A ballistic computer laser rangefinder were added.
Unfortunately, the only sales were again to the UAR, who bought 18 more,
plus upgrade kits for the OF-40 Mk 1s they already had.
The OF-40/120 Mk
2A had an heavily-upgraded night vision suite, including an independent head for
the commander to give the new OF-40 a hunter-killer capability.
The ballistic computer and laser rangefinder were upgraded and more
integrated with the gunner’s sight.
Ammo bins were armored, and composite armor was incorporated into the frontal
armor. And the main gun was
replaced with a 120mm NATO/Rheinmetall-type gun, the same type used on the
Ariete. Unfortunately, the
OF-40/120 Mk 2A found no buyers, and was discontinued without any sales being
made.
Twilight 2000
Notes: The OF-40 found pre-war sales only to the
Vehicle |
Price |
Fuel Type |
Load |
Veh Wt |
Crew |
Mnt |
Night Vision |
Radiological |
OF-40 Mk 1 |
$308,908 |
D, G, A |
700 kg |
45.5 tons |
4 |
26 |
Passive IR (D, G), Image Intensification (C, G) |
Shielded |
OF-40 Mk 2 |
$422,653 |
D, G, A |
700 kg |
45.6 tons |
4 |
26 |
Passive IR (D), Image Intensification (C, G), Thermal Imaging (G) |
Shielded |
OF-40/120 Mk 2A |
$471,641 |
D, G, A |
700 kg |
49 tons |
4 |
26 |
Passive IR (D), Image Intensification (C, G), Thermal Imaging (G) |
Shielded |
Vehicle |
Tr Mov |
Com Mov |
Fuel Cap |
Fuel Cons |
Config |
Susp |
Armor |
OF-40 Mk 1/Mk 2 |
131/91 |
30/20 |
1000 |
454 |
Trtd |
T6 |
TF58Sp TS25Sp
TR22 HF72Sp
HS18Sp HR14 |
OF-40/120 Mk 2A |
120/84 |
27/18 |
1000 |
489 |
Trtd |
T6 |
TF92Cp TS36Sp
TR35 HF116Cp
HS26Sp HR22 |
Vehicle |
Fire Control |
Stabilization |
Armament |
Ammunition |
OF-40 Mk 1 |
+2 |
Basic |
105mm L-7 Gun, MG-42/59, MG-42/59 (C) |
57x105mm, 5700x7.62mm |
OF-40 Mk 2 |
+3 |
Fair |
105mm L-7 Gun, MG-42/59, MG-42/59 (C) |
57x105mm, 5700x7.62mm |
OF-40/120 Mk 2A |
+3 |
Fair |
120mm Otobreda Gun, MG-42/59, MG-42/59 (C) |
40x120mm, 5700x7.62mm |