The I-MBT will be built between Italy and Germany by Joinmt-venture Leonardo Rheinmetall Military Vehicles; we will provide electronic systems and part of the armament, while the Germans will build the hulls
The joint venture formed by Leonardo and Rheinmetall Military Vehicles (Lrmv) has been awarded the first contract for the construction of the new tank of the Italian Army (I-Mbt, acronym which stands for Italy-Main battle tank), and the related mobile platforms deriving from it. The supply includes 48 tracked armored platforms, of which 26 are in the combat version. This is therefore a very important contract both for the largest Italian defense company and for the dozens of related companies that will be involved.
The value of the operation was calculated at 3.4 billion euros, with options for a further 850 million euros. Yesterday’s is the first important step for the supply which, in its entirety, sees a total of 132 I-Mbt units and 140 derived platforms.
How the new Italian tank is made up
Production of the tank will be divided between Germany and Italy: the 52 120 mm barrels will be produced in the Rheinmetall plant in Unterlüß, while the remaining 80 will be produced at the former Oto Melara in La Spezia.
The Germans will be responsible for the construction of the turret structure, the automatic loading system and the active protection system.
The Italian companies will supply the thruster, the passive armor, the target acquisition system and the fire control system, as well as the electronic unit for command and control of the turret and the electronic and communication package.
The I-Mbt was derived from Rheinmetall’s German Kf51 Panther technological demonstrator, on which Italian weapon components and systems managed by Leonardo, Iveco Defense Vehicles and Elettronica spa were added. According to what was announced last year, 82 examples will be armed with the new Leonardo 120/L55 cannon (120 mm, 55 caliber) also produced at the La Spezia factories, compatible with the new Vulcano guided ammunition. The latter allows the guns to fire much further than traditional ammunition and conduct precision attacks.
In the guided variants, the projectile corrects its course in flight using GPS or inertial systems or semi-active laser guidance via ground designators, drones or infrared sensors. The Rheinmetall L55A1 cannon will be installed on another 50 examples, although the architecture is planned to accommodate larger calibers (such as the 130 mm) in the future. On board there will also be a secondary weapon system and an air defense and anti-drone system; machine guns, remote turrets (like the 30mm Blaze) will be installed.
The identikit of the new Italian tank
Among the latest generation features, the tank has the NGVA open digital architecture, sensors positioned at 360°, the possibility of integration with drones and artificial intelligence systems for crew assistance. The armor is of the multilayer type and the engine is entrusted to an IDV12 supplied with around 1800 horsepower but a hybrid version is not excluded in the future.
The overall weight of the wagon is around 70 tons. Regarding the crew, there can be up to four members on board: the tank commander who sits in the turret and provides tactical and situational control; the pointer-gunner also positioned in the turret next to the main weapon system; the pilot who sits in the hull together with the drone management specialist, responsible for managing any unmanned vehicles or aircraft, secondary weapon systems and providing support to operations. All this because the latest war experiences in which extensive use of tanks was made such as Iraq (useful to the USA and Great Britain), Syria (an experience useful to the Russians) and in the last four years Ukraine, have all demonstrated the need for highly computerized “systems”, to be able to control drones for detection and attack as well as to be able to communicate at a data level with aircraft and helicopters.
All this, for example, led the Russians to concentrate on solving the system gaps with respect to the German tanks and the Americans to understand that in European scenarios, tanks that are too large and heavy are not suitable, nor those with a turbine engine powered by kerosene.
