Centauro I 105

Description

The Centauro I 105, developed in the 1980s by a consortium of Italian firms, addressed the Italian Army's need for a fast and manoeuvrable tank destroyer matching the firepower of their Leopard 1 MBTs. The Centauro featured a 105 mm cannon on an eight-wheeled chassis. The final prototype was unveiled in 1986 and finally entered service in 1992 and saw action in numerous conflicts. Over 400 were built, with some variants serving alongside the original design to this day.

Introduced in Update 1.85 "Supersonic", the Blindo pesante Centauro, Preserie is a fast and powerful light tank for its BR. Although it lacks armour, it compensates this with the ability to change positions quickly, overwhelming your opponents. To deal with enemy tanks, it has a 105 mm OTO Melara cannon with good APFSDS ammunition, for target acquisition it has access to first generation thermal sight for the gunner, while this system is quite bad at long ranges, it is good enough and makes finding targets easier, especially against enemies without any kind of thermal sight. The vehicle does suffer from a poor turret rotation speed, a mediocre reload rate, and a poor gun depression due to the turret placement.

General info

Survivability and armour

The Centauro I 105 has little armour but enough to trigger the fuse in APHE type projectiles. The lack of armour makes this vehicle very agile.

Armour type:

• Rolled homogeneous armour (hull, turret)
• Wheel (tires)

Notes:

• The wheels and suspension bars are 10 mm thick.
• The rear of the turret is covered with 5 mm of structural steel.
• Additionally to the external armour, an armour plate is also found inside the vehicle:

Notes:

• The engine is separated from the driver position and the crew compartment by a RHA armour plate.
• The driver viewport is a weak spot as it is the only place where the inner armour does not overlap with the external armour. It is a small spot though.

Mobility

Modifications and economy

Armaments

Main armament

Ammunition

Ammo racks

Ammo racks of the Centauro I 105

Notes:

• Shells are modeled individually and disappear after having been shot or loaded.
• Racks 3 and 4 are first stage ammo racks. They totals 16 shells and get filled first when loading up the tank.
• These racks are also emptied early: the rack depletion order at full capacity is: 4 - 3 - 1 - 2.
• Simply not firing when the gun is loaded will move ammo from racks 1-2 into rack 4 then 3. Firing will interrupt the restocking of the ready racks.

Machine guns

Secondary weapons are a 7.62 mm coaxial machine gun, and another 7.62 mm machine gun on the roof for anti-aircraft purposes.

Usage in battles

With a top speed of 110 km/h, a two-plane stabilizer, and access to thermals and HEAT-FS, the Centauro is truly a jack of all trades. This AFV can fill a variety of roles with frightening efficiency.

As a sniper

In a sniping role, the Centauro has two primary advantages: it has access to HEAT-FS, and it has thermal imaging. The HEAT-FS round has good velocity and is often more than enough to deal significant damage to any poor enemy tank that enters your gunsights. The thermal imaging mod allows you to pick out targets and countersnipe like nobody's business, letting you be able to dominate the battlefield for your team.

As a flanker

As a flanker, the Centauro's lightning fast speed and two-plane stabilizer allows this AFV to quickly obliterate unaware enemy tanks and move on before anyone notices. This deadly combo makes the Centauro one of, if not the best vehicle for flanking in the entire game. A resourceful Centauro player can often make use of their low profile and fast speed to quickly break through enemy lines and wreck havoc on tunnel-visioned snipers.

As a Quick Response Force

The Centauro's fast speed and very deadly gun, along with its aforementioned stabilizer and thermals also make it a very good choice for a QRF, especially on maps covered mostly in asphalt, like Cargo Port, American Desert, or Alaska, to name a few. The fast speed of the Centauro allows to to quickly move to a capture point or to kill a pesky spawncamping Rooikat at a moments notice, and its two-plane stabilizer and thermal imaging lets it quickly find and dispatch its target.

Pros and cons

Pros:

• Easily the fastest and most agile tank compared to its contemporary competitors
• Excellent reverse speed of 40 km/h
• Has a two-plane gun stabiliser
• High penetration on the HEATFS rounds (400 mm)
• One of the best top speeds in the game (110 km/h)
• Decent reload time, 8.7 seconds when stock, 7.7 with expert crew + all reloading skills, and 6.7 seconds with an aced crew
• Three types of ammunition available (APFSDS, HEATFS, HESH)
• Upper plate will occasionally bounce incoming shells due to its angle, even HEATFS and HESH!
• Has access to smoke grenades and smoke shells
• Low silhouette
• Hard to destroy in a single shot due to crew placement
• Can perform a wide variety of roles, ranging from support, sniper and QRF
• Has thermal sights, very advantageous at the rank
• A group of well-coordinated players in Centauros are unstoppable
• Classified as a tank destroyer, making spawn costs cheaper in RB and SB
• Thermal imaging is a tier 1 mod, allowing you to unlock it immediately

Cons:

• Lacking in armour department, every gun can penetrate it including SPAA
• Vulnerable to overpressure damage (HE shells, rochets, missiles, bombs, artillery strikes)
• Turret traverse is slow compared to other vehicles at the same battle rating such at the T95E1, BMP-2, and Warrior which you will face often
• Poor accuracy at a medium-long range when stock
• Doesn't come with stock HESH; has to be researched
• No explosive-filler shells (eg APHE, APCB)
• HEATFS does not shrapnel well

History

Development of the B1 Centauro began during the 1980s after the Italian Army issued a set of requirements for a new vehicle that would have equivalent firepower to the Leopard 1 MBT in Italian service at the time, but with greater combat mobility.

In response to this, the Italian companies Fiat, Iveco and Oto Melara joined forces to begin developing the vehicle requested by the Italian Army. In this joint venture, Fiat and Iveco were developing the vehicle's hull and power supply, whilst Oto Melara took care of the vehicle's turret and weapon systems.

In 1986, the final prototype of the B1 Centauro project was unveiled on Sardinia. The presented vehicle was an eight-wheeled lightly armoured tank destroyer, equipped with a derived modification of the L7 105mm cannon, capable of reaching a very high top speed and covering large distances under its own power.

Impressed by the B1 Centauro, the Italian Military placed orders for a number of vehicles, with the first ones entering service as early as 1992. Early on in its service life, the Centauro received an ERA upgrade package that allowed for the installation of ROMOR ERA packs on the vehicle's hull and turret sides as well as rear.

B1 Centauros took part in most major conflicts that defined the '90s and early 2000s, most notably in former Yugoslavia, Somalia, Iraq, Afghanistan and others. Apart from the Italian Army, other noteworthy operators of the Centauro include Spain, Jordan and Oman.

Around 400 B1 Centauros were built until 2006, including some other derived modifications of the vehicle filling other roles. The B1 Centauro still serves with the Italian as well as other armed forces to this day.

- From Devblog

Media

Skins

• Skins and camouflages for the Centauro I 105 from live.warthunder.com.

Videos

See also

Other vehicles of similar configuration and role

• Rooikat Mk.1D
• PTL02
• WMA301
• AMX-10RC

External links

• [Devblog] B1 Centauro: The Wheeled Cheetah
• [Wikipedia] B1 Centauro