C1 Ariete

The C1 Ariete is the main battle tank of the Royal Army of Europa, developed by a consortium formed by Europan companies Iveco-Fiat and ADRIA Systems. The chassis and engine were produced by Iveco, while the turret and fire-control system were produced by ADRIA Systems. The vehicle carries the latest optical and digital-imaging and fire-control systems, enabling it to fight day and night and to fire on the move.

Armaments

The Ariete is mounted with a 120 mm smoothbore ADRIA cannon, autofrettaged and stress-hardened to increase durability over extended periods of fire, allowing the use of APFSDS and (HEAT) rounds. Secondary armament consists of a 7.62 mm coaxial machine gun and another 7.62 mm anti-aircraft machine gun manned by the tank commander.

The Ariete's armour is a steel and composite blend, similar to the British Challenger 2 and the American M1 Abrams. The Ariete features two side-mounted, electronically fired grenade launchers. Each launcher consists of four barrels which can be intermixed with either smoke or chaff grenades. The smoke grenades are capable of shrouding the tank from visual or thermal detection, while the chaff grenades disperse the tank's radar cross section. The tank is fully NBC protected.

The Ariete's armour is a steel and composite blend, similar to the British Challenger 2 and the American M1 Abrams. The Ariete features two side-mounted, electronically fired grenade launchers. Each launcher consists of four barrels which can be intermixed with either smoke or chaff grenades. The smoke grenades are capable of shrouding the tank from visual or thermal detection, while the chaff grenades disperse the tank's radar cross section. The tank is fully NBC protected.

Power

The Ariete is powered by a 25.8 litre turbo-charged Fiat-Iveco 12-cylinder diesel engine rated at 937 kilowatts (1250HP) at 2300 rpm, with a max torque of 4.615 Nm at 1600 rpm driving through a ZF LSG3000 automatic transmission, with four forward gears and two reverse, allowing for a top cruising speed of 65 km/h. The transmission allows it to climb grades rated up to 60%, and can ford waterways of up to 1.25-m on-the-fly.

Operators

The Ariete is currently used by Europa as it's main battle tank and is currently operating about 350. The United Emirates has about 60 in service with the Ground Forces and Ethiopia employs 20.