Roshindow

17 minutes ago, Scolopax said:

So will this mid-life upgrade package produce a new variant name?  I would ask about the C2/Mk 2, but in looking this up I had come across some of you posting on the War Thunder forum regarding the matter.

C2/Mk2 I think was always just an "internet" name, the usual feature of this supposed variant are the turret addons, but those were supposed to be on all production Ariete since almost the start (it was discussed in a specialized magazine already in 1996), which is why all have the mounting points, those bolt looking things on the turret front. 200 of the turret front addons, named WAR, were bought but due to them not being up to specs (Protection? Weight?) the installation was cancelled and the contract was changed to reduce the price, same for the 30 side turret and hull addons, named PSO, the price was reduced for those too. The addons were still bought and are presumably in some warehouse. The WAR addons seem to be for KE protection, while the PSO addon seems to be intended for urban/asymmetric warfare.

This update is called either Ariete AMV or Ariete MLU, the first is the acronym for the Italian Aggiornamento Mezza Vita, which is the direct translation of MLU, Mid Life Update/Upgrade. AMV was in some budget documents, MLU is in these recent slides.

It's 3:30 am and my connection is unstable for some reason, I can post some of the documents and photos of the various addons tomorrow.

Some of the indended updates to the Ariete, not all though, there are 7 slides that "leaked"

-unchanged performance
-replacement of Halon 1301 with FM200

-removal of ITAR/EAR/Dual use components

-solving of obsolescence problems [duh]

-maximum logistical compatibility with the new armored car Centauro II

-all components are made in Italy with MIL-STD-1275D, MIL-STD-461F qualifications

-programmable digital electronics

-obscurable light warnings [I think?]

-battery power with timer to preserve battery charge

The general gist of it is modified engine with common rail tech to bring it up to 1600hp, new transmission, suspension and brakes to go with it (apparently even now the brakes could break "easily"), new optics for the commander, gunner and driver, replacement of the hydro system for the turret trasverse with an electric system, some other various systems.

16 minutes ago, Scolopax said:

 

 

My initial reaction to the above was that it's a photoshopped image.  However, the lighting on it seems consistent across the vehicle.  Image searching doesn't bring up anything for it.

 

Assuming then that it's real, I don't really see what the point of it would be unless it was for some reason done just to test if it was even possible.  I suspect the Centauro 2's turret armor isn't anywhere close to the Ariete's, and the tank already has a 120mm.  I guess this would mean that the two vehicles have the same turret ring diameter.  Please share if you know more.

It's from Leonardo HITFACT MK2 (essentially the Centauro II turret) brochure, I suppose it is an exaple of use for the product

https://www.leonardocompany.com/documents/20142/8863233/BROCHURE_2018_HITFACT+MkII.PDF

While it is true the Ariete turret already has a 120mm and more armor, this wouldn't be too bad in terms of optics, the Ariete still has no thermal mode  on the commander periscope and merely a 240p resolution gunner thermal, all managed by an Intel 8086 derived processor (+ 8087 coprocessor, gotta give it that). The HITFACT II turret also has a 12 round autoloader, and the 120/45 might fire higher pressure rounds compared to the 120/44.

Not that it matters much anyway, this was a promotional shot and the actual Ariete upgrade program shows the same turret with minor upgrades (including, speculation, the same optics as on the HITFACT MK2 turret)

On 10/6/2019 at 11:03 PM, LoooSeR said:

Dardo IFV and Freche APC (or how it is written in capitalist...)

Singular is Freccia, plural would be Frecce going by regular grammar, but I don't know if a vehicle name gets changed like that or it it remains Freccia

Have some Ariete - Centauro II mix in the meantime

On 2/5/2019 at 2:09 AM, Clan_Ghost_Bear said:

Considering that they didn't even test the Ariete I think he's right.

Yeah not like Italy was in need of it first 

That said even if they tested it I'm not sure they'd appreciated it as much as the others