3/15/2023 0 Comments Otomatic tank![]() ![]() In Armored Warfare, the OF-40 is a Tier 4 Main Battle Tank in the Leopard branch, following the Tier 3 Leopard 1 and preceding the Tier 5 Leopard 1A5. ![]() The most successful version however is the Palmaria 155mm export self-propelled gun with over 250 made. The hull was also used for the Otomatic SPAAG turret.The hull was used to house the Gepard SPAAG turret.The OF-40 ARV – two or three (sources vary) of these vehicles were made and sold to the United Arab Emirates along with the tanks.This vehicle, however, was never mass-produced.Įven though the OF-40 MBT itself was not successful, its hull was used for several purposes: One more version of the tank appeared later on – the Mk.2A, which was equipped with a new turret (resembling the C1 Ariete) and a 120mm OTO-Melara smoothbore gun. This is unlikely to change since OTO-Melara stopped offering the OF-40 as a product some time ago. Neither country, however, was interested in the end and the Emirates remains to this day the sole user of the vehicle. There were two other countries interested in the OF-40 – Libya, which considered purchasing 100 Mk.1s and Thailand, which trialed the Mk.2 variant in the mid-1980s as part of a program to replace its aging fleet of American M48A3 Patton tanks. According to some sources, the 18 UAE OF-40 Mk.1s were upgraded to the Mk.2 version and 18 more Mk.2s were ordered and delivered. In 1983, an upgraded version called OF-40 Mk.2 was developed, featuring the new Officine Galileo OG 14 LR fire control system with a laser rangefinder and a new stabilized periscope with night-vision for the commander. ![]() Mobility is very good thanks to a German 830hp MTU MB 838 Ca M500 diesel engine and the vehicle can reach a speed of 60 km/h. While its performance is roughly equal to its more famous British counterpart, the Royal Ordnance L7, this gun is not a copy of this weapon, it was developed in Italy. The vehicle is armed with a non-stabilized 105mm L/52 rifled gun that was designed by OTO Melara with a thermal sleeve, capable of firing standard NATO 105mm ammunition. Its armor is more or less similar to that of the later Leopards and although there aren’t really any reliable public sources describing its thickness available, protection levels can be deduced to offer sufficient protection mostly only against automatic cannon fire. It weighs 45.5 tons and has a crew of four (commander, gunner, loader, and driver). The OF-40 is a conventional design and many parts are similar to (or even interchangeable with) the Leopard 1. In 1977, the first Lion prototype was built and shown to a Pakistani committee, but in the end the only country interested in the vehicle was the United Arab Emirates and only 18 were ordered (with 2 OF-40 based ARVs, although some sources claim 3), which were delivered in 1981. After that plan failed due to a lack of interest in Italy, OTO Melara and Fiat re-oriented themselves to produce an export vehicle instead. ![]() The initial version of the tank, sometimes known as the “Lion” or “Leopardino”, was – contrary to popular belief – actually not intended for export, but to replace the aging upgraded M47 and later on the Leopards in Italian service. OTO Melara wasn’t developing the vehicle from scratch – in the 1970s, the company license-produced 720 Leopard 1A1 tanks for the Italian military and its experience with the Patton tank series was incorporated into the design as well. Its development program started as early as 1976, when OTO Melara and Fiat decided to build a new tank in the 40 ton category (the later OF-40 designation stands for OTO Fiat, 40 tons). The OF-40 Main Battle Tank is the first Italian-designed heavy armored fighting vehicle since the Second World War. ![]()
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