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| all photos are from Wikipedia...and they're of the VBM Freccia...the Italian "Stryker"..only better. |
UK Armed Forces Commentary's has an excellent article that is a MUST read on the Italian Medium Weight Brigade.
Take the time to follow the link to his house. Its worth it---I guarantee!
Sol when you say "better" do you mean the vehicle or the unit or both? The Army originally viewed the Stryker as an interim vehicle in the APC role while Italy's requirement is for an IFV in a mechanized brigade (wheeled). Also part of the US Army requirement was for strategic mobility, including the since dropped goal to airlift a brigade in 96 hours.
ReplyDeleteAs for the Italian unit in my view the one mistake Italy looks to make is going with a 155/39 for the unit's artillery. They would be far better served with a 155/52 even if only towed.
It would be interesting to know and compare the total unit weight of the Italian medium vs a Stryker brigade. Of course I'm fairly certain Italy never conceived of deploying one of these brigades by air.
i'm talking about both the VEHICLE and the UNIT!
Deleteits clear from reading the specs that the Freccia is the superior vehicle and quite honestly might be the best all around wheeled IFV in the west. additionally its only shortcoming is the 25mm gun but if they were to upgun it like UK Commentary stated to a 40mm then it would be a complete ass kicker. i'm also impressed by the entire formation and how balanced it is. its the right mix of infantry and mobility for a medium brigade in my opinion.
but the Italian formation over the top completely is the Centauro. its what the MGS should have been and because of improvements to its armor (to include a v-hull) it makes these guys able to punch above their weight.
@Solomon
Deletethanks again for speaking of my piece on here. I'm glad you liked the article.
Regarding the artillery subject: the 155/39 self propelled is a Oto Melara proposal. It has awakened real interest in the italian ministry of defence, but the budget will no doubt be the deciding factor in the end. The italian army is working out its future structure, for the 2020s, following a strategic review which (of course) brought cuts forwards.
There will now be two Medium Brigades, two Heavy brigades, 2 mountain brigades, 1 airmobile/amphibious brigade and 1 Para brigade.
As of now, the plan shows the Medium Brigades lacking their artillery regiment, as the PZH2000s are regrouped in just two, larger regiments for the Heavy brigades, and the last M109s are withdrawn from service, leaving FH70 towed howitzers and 120mm mortars for the PARA, Airmobile and Mountain brigades and nothing for the mechanised, to-be-medium brigades.
The Army of course hopes to correct the situation sometime in the future, eventually replacing the FH70 with the M777A2 and then by introducing, if financially possible, artillery integral to the Medium Brigades.
In that case, the choice is set to be either the Oto Melara self propelled solution (fascinating but expensive) and the M777A2.
awesome info. do you have any info on the SuperAv going to the Italian Marines? and would the Italians actually disrupt the mechanization that they're achieving with these (in my opinion) wonderfully designed medium brigades by going with towed artillery? would they actually do that!
DeleteIt is possible that towed artillery would be chosen, yes. But i guess it's way too early to say what will happen on that particular front.
DeleteThe Lagunari and San Marco regiments (the two amphibious units of the italian armed forces, one Army and one Navy) are to be mechanised in the coming years with the SuperAV. There is going to be an APC version with the HITROLE remote-control turret, armed with a 25mm or 30mm gun. An Anti-tank variant will add SPIKE missile launchers. And a 120mm mortar carrier is also wanted.
Funding has not yet been released for an order, though, if i remember correctly.
I'm not sure why you want to jam a 155/39 on this platform vs going with a less expensive but far more long range solution with a 155/52? Their are also truck mounted 155/52 systems. Consider that a 155mm/L39 fires the M982 to about 40km vs 60km for a 155mm/L52. Moreover, the heavy brigades have the 155/52 in PzH2000 so it would appear to make sense to standardize here and achieve a unified artillery doctrine instead of a two tiered system.
ReplyDeletegeez dude,. who said anything about anyone WANTING to jam a 155/39 on this platform?
Deleteyou're getting wrapped up in an idea and putting words into peoples mouths...again no one said that. man what is it!
Sol the demonstrator of the 155/39 on this vehicle was shown publicly last year, I'm pretty sure you posted something about it and it was discussed and shown in the article you linked to above.
DeleteHow is this vehicle any better than, say the Patria AMV or VBCI?
ReplyDeleteI like the IFV style vs the straight APC armament of Stryker. However it increases vehicle weight and cost and reduces the number of dismounts.
I'd be interested to see how their cavalry squadron is organized. A Centauro-heavy unit won't have as many dismounted scouts, but certainly has more firepower than the Stryker RSTA squadron. It's perhaps closer to a traditional cavalry formation.