C1 Ariete

Italy's sole indigenous third-generation main battle tank, fielded in 200 units since 1995 and now mid-way through a C2/AMV life-extension program.

Overview

The C1 Ariete is a main battle tank designed and built by the Iveco – Oto Melara consortium for the Italian Army. It is the only domestically developed MBT to enter Italian service, and with a combat weight of just under 54 tonnes and a 120 mm smoothbore gun it sits in the lighter, more mobile tier of NATO third-generation armour. A limited production run of 200 tanks was completed between 1995 and 2002; no export customers were found. Today the fleet is being upgraded to the Ariete C2 standard to address obsolescence, improve protection, and raise availability.

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