Ukraine receives Italian Centauro tank destroyers
Ukraine has confirmed receipt of Italian Centauro B1 wheeled armored fighting vehicles, Militarnyi reported.
The vehicles were delivered as part of military assistance from Italy; Rome has not disclosed the number of vehicles transferred.
The publicly shared images show Centauro B1 vehicles adapted for Ukrainian use, including the addition of anti-cumulative grilles and a folding field grill affixed to the hull. The footage suggests Ukrainian crews have already begun integrating the platforms into their units and fitting them with country-specific mission gear. Italy traditionally does not publish the details of its defence shipments, so the precise scale and configuration of the transfer remain unknown.
The Centauro B1 is a gun-armed wheeled combat vehicle built on an eight-wheel, four-axle chassis and designed for mobile firepower and rapid road movement. The vehicle listed in the footage has a combat weight of about 24 tonnes and a four-person crew: commander, gunner, loader, and driver. The turret mounts a 105 mm Oto Melara rifled gun, described in the material provided as a derivative of the British L7 family, with a 52-calibre barrel that fires standard NATO unitary rounds. That ammunition commonality is relevant to sustainment and logistics across coalition forces.
As noted by the reporting, the Centauro’s compact dimensions make it suitable for transport by military cargo aircraft, supporting faster strategic movement than heavy tracked main battle tanks. The vehicle’s wheeled design trades some heavy-armor protection for greater operational mobility on road networks and faster redeployment between sectors. The appearance of anti-cumulative grilles on the vehicles in the footage indicates a focus on protection against shaped-charge warheads and tandem-charge munitions frequently used by guided anti-tank weapons.
For Ukrainian forces, the Centauro B1 offers a mobile, gun-armed option for mechanized and reconnaissance formations. According to the published material, the platform’s 105 mm gun provides a level of direct-fire capability that can engage both armored targets and fortified positions, while the wheeled chassis enables long-range moves without the maintenance burden of tracked vehicles. The vehicle’s four-person crew structure follows established NATO practice, potentially easing interoperability with Western units during training and combined operations.
The delivery also has operational implications beyond battlefield performance. The Oto Melara 105 mm gun’s use of NATO standard rounds simplifies ammunition supply if Ukraine and its partners coordinate logistics, and the Centauro’s transportability by air increases options for rapid reinforcement and repositioning.
In practical terms, introducing a wheeled gun platform into Ukrainian inventories will require training, spare parts, and maintenance chains that must be established quickly to make the vehicles operational at scale. Italy’s decision to withhold shipment details complicates immediate assessments of how much effect the deliveries will have on frontline force structure.
