Serious controversy erupted over the fact that Russia acquired from Italy a pair of so-called Centauro wheeled tanks with 120 and 105 mm guns and is going to purchase two more similar vehicles with 120 and 30 mm cannons in the future. The first two units of Italian armored vehicles, reportedly, have already been sent to one of the proving grounds near Moscow, where the vehicles must undergo a whole range of tests.
If we talk about the characteristics of the Centauro, they are as follows: the crew of the car is 4 people, from weapons - in addition to the cannon, 2 machine guns (caliber 7, 62) are installed, the Centauro's power reserve is 800 km, the maximum speed is about 110 km / h, the wheel arrangement is 4x4, hull length 7, 4 m, width 2, 94 m, equipped combat weight - about 24, 8 tons. Today, this technique is produced by the Italian company Oto Melara, part of the CIO production group. The Italian army is armed with 4 hundred of these armored vehicles. It is reported that Russia is going to buy a license from Italian manufacturers in order to start production of Centauro at the KamAZ plant in Naberezhnye Chelny.
Of course, the name "tank" for this unit of armored vehicles can be used with great stretch. The Italians themselves call the vehicle a wheeled tank destroyer. At the same time, the initial development of the Centauro samples was made in the 80s of the last century. In this regard, it is also possible to say that the car is modern, perhaps with a big stretch. Moreover, military experts argue that the Italian "tank" has, to put it mildly, little strong armor. Even during peacekeeping operations in Africa, it became clear that the armor of the "Centaurs" is easily penetrated even from heavy machine guns DShK and DShKM. The RPG successfully resisted the Italian armored vehicles. True, the cars of the next generation were equipped with reinforced armor, but this also did not become a panacea.
If we talk about the Centauro as the possible main vehicles of the Russian army in operations in the city (in the future, of course), then experts are sure that they ("Centaurs") will become ideal targets. All the fault is precisely the main weak point of the Italian "tanks" - armor, which hardly fits the very concept of "tank".
But if so, why did the Ministry of Defense need to purchase these armored vehicles, and even count on obtaining a license for their mass production? There are several considerations on this score.
First, a contract has already been signed with Italian firms for the production of armored vehicles "Lynx" (Italian name IVECO LMV M65 Lynx) in Voronezh. That is, the stake is placed on those partners with whom it is quite convenient to negotiate and conduct well-coordinated work. By the way, the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation plans to supply 57 "Rysey" to the troops this year (according to available data, not a single one has been delivered yet …)
Secondly, some experts, including the head of the Military Forecasting Center Anatoly Tsyganok, believe that the procurement of Italian equipment is a new proven corruption scheme. In his opinion, laundering money abroad is much easier than openly purchasing military equipment from Russian manufacturers.
Thirdly, the Ministry of Defense specifically focuses on the purchase of not the most reliable "Centaurs" in order to make their serious modernization and get, let's say, a new version of armored vehicles that would be ideal for use in Russian conditions, including and in the conditions of use in the North Caucasus.
All three of these versions, undoubtedly, have the right to exist. Purchases of military equipment from foreign manufacturers, in principle, are consistent with the strategy of the Ministry - to buy prototypes abroad and adopt advanced Western technologies. Another thing is that the case with the same wheeled "tank" Centauro can hardly be called "advanced development". It turns out that the Italian design of the 80s, according to Russian buyers, has much more potential than similar versions of Russian armored vehicles. Why then should the Russian military department not purchase the French version of the Vextra-105 armored vehicle? After all, Russia's military doctrine, to all appearances, has been reoriented towards the use of wheeled "tanks" in a whole series of operational actions. Moreover, this particular model (Vextra-105) is considered the best of its kind today.
It turns out that Russian military buyers are not looking for easy ways … And this again leads to Anatoly Tsygank's version of a certain underwater part of the Russian-Italian contract "iceberg".
However, there is another opinion about the use of Italian "Centaurs" by Russia. This opinion is expressed, for example, by an expert in the field of armored vehicles, retired colonel Viktor Murakhovsky. He is sure that it is not worth concluding any contracts for the licensed and mass production of Centauro in Russia. The fact is that Russian military manufacturers may only need experience in creating a unified platform for domestic armored vehicles. After that, statements were received from representatives of the public council at the Ministry of Defense. It was stated that until the prospect of the transaction is not assessed by the expert council of the Military-Industrial Commission, there is no talk of any acquisition of a license for the production of "Centaurs" in Russia.
It remains to wait until the end of the tests of Italian equipment and whether the RF Ministry of Defense is really going to buy a license from the Italians for the serial production of wheeled "tanks" in Tatarstan.
