E.I. - STANAG for Blindo CENTAURO (small) - M36113

Centauro (autoblindo)

The Centauro armored car was designed during the Cold War to replace the now obsolete and slow M47 Patton tanks in the defense of areas of the Adriatic coast where it was supposed the Warsaw Pact could have carried out amphibious landings as well as protecting the rear of the main Corps of 'Army deployed on the threshold of Gorizia by air raids of enemy paratroopers. A fast wheeled vehicle was chosen, armored and armed with parts equivalent to the MBTs then in service: so, in 1986, in Sardinia, a model of the heavy armored car that would become the Centaur was presented by the Iveco - Fiat - Oto Melara Consortium. The first working prototype was first shown north of Rome, during an exhibition of new Italian weapon systems. Adopted in 1989 with the name Centauro, the armored car was delivered to the departments only in 1992, due to financial problems and some changes made.