Centauro II

A tank's gun on wheels — Italy's Centauro II (B2 Centauro) is an 8×8 wheeled tank destroyer mounting a full 120mm cannon with main-battle-tank-class firepower on a fast, road-mobile, mine-protected hull. It is the heavier, harder-hitting successor to the original Centauro — the world's pioneering wheeled tank destroyer — and it answers a perennial question for medium forces: how to put a tank-killing gun where you need it quickly, without a tank's weight, cost and logistics tail.

Overview

The Centauro II is an 8×8 wheeled armoured fighting vehicle built by CIO — the consortium of Iveco Defence Vehicles (hull and mobility) and Leonardo (turret and armament) — for the Italian Army. Its defining feature is firepower: a 120mm L/45 smoothbore cannon delivering, per IDV, the same firepower and ballistic performance as most modern main battle tanks, but on a wheeled chassis rather than tracks. It succeeds the original B1 Centauro (which used a 105mm gun), upgrading to the 120mm to match NATO main-tank ammunition logistics and to defeat heavier armour, while adding much-improved mine, IED and ballistic protection. The Centauro II is a fire-support and tank-destroyer vehicle for rapid, road-mobile operations — fast strategic and operational mobility, lower cost and logistics burden than a tank, and a gun that hits like one.

Development

The Centauro lineage began with the B1 Centauro of the 1990s, the first successful wheeled tank destroyer. In December 2011 the CIO consortium contracted with the Italian Army to develop a successor — what became the B2 Centauro / Centauro II — with a completely revised structure, far better mine/IED protection, and a 120mm cannon to align with the Army's main-tank ammunition logistics, per Tanks Encyclopedia and Wikipedia. The vehicle emerged around 2015 and entered Italian Army service and production thereafter. It has also been exported: the Brazilian Army ordered the Centauro II BR, completing operational tests in 2025, with national modifications (V-hull, modular armour, CBRN), per Army Recognition. The manufacturer (now via Iveco Defence Vehicles) markets it widely; a 105mm option remains available to customers.

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