Centauro I 105

Centauro I 105

VCC-80/60

Centauro I 105 R

Centauro I 105

VCC-80/60

Centauro I 105 R

Italy

VI Rank

Battle rating:

AB	RB	SB
9.3	9.3	9.3

Class:

Light tank

Research:190 000

Purchase:520 000

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Description

The Blindo pesante Centauro, Preserie is a rank VI Italian tank destroyer with a battle rating of 9.3 (AB/RB/SB). It was introduced in Update 1.85 "Supersonic".

General info

Survivability and armour

Centauro has little armour, though, enough to trigger the fuze in APHE type projectiles. The lack of armour makes this vehicle very agile.

Armor Composition:

• Rolled Homogeneous Armor

Armour	Front (Slope angle)	Sides	Rear	Roof
Hull	15 mm (80°) Upper Glacis 35 mm (44°) Lower Glacis	25 mm	20 mm	10 - 20 mm
Turret	25 mm (19°)Turret front 40 mm (6°-51°-56°) Gun mantlet	25 mm	15 mm - 15+15 mm	15+15 mm Front 15 mm Rear

Notes:

• The rear of the turret is covered with 5 mm of structural steel.

Mobility

Game Mode	Max Speed (km/h)		Weight (tons)	Engine power (horsepower)		Power-to-weight ratio (hp/ton)
	Forward	Reverse		Stock	Upgraded	Stock	Upgraded
Arcade	123	25	24.7	739	992	29.92	40.16
Realistic	110	23		460	520	18.62	21.05

Armaments

Main armament

105 mm OTO Melara 105/52
Capacity			Vertical guidance	Horizontal guidance	Stabilizer
40			-6°/+16°	±180°	Two-plane
Turret rotation speed (°/s)
Mode	Stock	Upgraded	Prior + Full crew	Prior + Expert qualif.	Prior + Ace qualif.
Arcade	21.5	__.__	__.__	__.__	__.__
Realistic	14.5	__.__	__.__	__.__	__.__
Reloading rate (seconds)
Stock	Prior + Full crew	Prior + Expert qualif.	Prior + Ace qualif.
6.7	__.__	__.__	__.__

Ammunition

Penetration statistics
Ammunition	Type of warhead	Penetration @ 0° Angle of Attack (mm)
		10 m	100 m	500 m	1,000 m	1,500 m	2,000 m
M392A2	APDS	303	302	296	277	257	252
M393A2	HESH	127	127	127	127	127	127
M456	HEATFS	400	400	400	400	400	400

Shell details
Ammunition	Type of warhead	Velocity (m/s)	Projectile Mass (kg)	Fuse delay (m)	Fuse sensitivity (mm)	Explosive Mass (TNT equivalent) (g)	Ricochet
							0%	50%	100%
M392A2	APDS	1478	4.0	N/A	N/A	N/A	75°	78°	80°
M393A2	HESH	732	14.85	0.4	0.1	4,310	73°	77°	80°
M456	HEATFS	1173	10.5	0.0	0.1	1,270	65°	72°	77°

Smoke shell characteristics
Ammunition	Velocity (m/s)	Projectile Mass (kg)	Screen radius (m)	Screen deploy time (s)	Screen hold time (s)	Explosive Mass (TNT equivalent) (g)
M416	730	11.4	20	5	25	50

Ammo racks

Full ammo	1st rack empty	2nd rack empty	Visual discrepancy
40	26 (+14)	1 (+39)	no

Machine guns

8 mm Beretta MG 42/59
Mount	Capacity (Belt)	Fire rate (Shots/min)	Vertical	Horizontal
Coaxial	4500 (200)	1200	N/A	N/A
Pintle	2000 (200)	1200	-7°/+21°	±120°

Secondary weapons are a 7.62 mm coaxial machine gun, and another 7.62 mm machine gun on the roof for anti-aircraft purposes.

Usage in battles

With a top speed of 110 km/h, a two-plane stabilizer, and access to thermals and HEAT-FS, the Centauro is truly a jack of all trades. This AFV can fill a variety of roles with frightening efficiency.

As a sniper

In a sniping role, the Centauro has two primary advantages: it has access to HEAT-FS, and it has thermal imaging. The HEAT-FS round has good velocity and is often more than enough to deal significant damage to any poor enemy tank that enters your gunsights. The thermal imaging mod allows you to pick out targets and countersnipe like nobody's business, letting you be able to dominate the battlefield for your team.

As a flanker

As a flanker, the Centauro's lightning fast speed and two-plane stabilizer allows this AFV to quickly obliterate unaware enemy tanks and move on before anyone notices. This deadly combo makes the Centauro one of, if not the best vehicle for flanking in the entire game. A resourceful Centauro player can often make use of their low profile and fast speed to quickly break through enemy lines and wreck havoc on tunnel-visioned snipers.

As a Quick Response Force

The Centauro's fast speed and very deadly gun, along with its aforementioned stabilizer and thermals also make it a very good choice for a QRF, especially on maps covered mostly in asphalt, like Cargo Port, American Desert, or Alaska, to name a few. The fast speed of the Centauro allows to to quickly move to a capture point or to kill a pesky spawncamping Rooikat at a moments notice, and its two-plane stabilizer and thermal imaging lets it quickly find and dispatch its target.

Modules

Tier	Mobility		Protection	Firepower
I	Tires		Parts	Horizontal Drive	NVD
II	Suspension	Brake System	FPE	Adjustment of Fire	Airstrike	M393A2
III	Filters		Crew Replenishment	Elevation Mechanism	Improved optics	M416
IV	Transmission	Engine	Smoke grenade	Artillery Support	LWS/LR	M456

Pros and cons

Pros:

• Easily the fastest and most agile tank compared to its contemporary competitors
• Excellent reverse speed of 40 km/h
• Has a two-plane gun stabiliser
• High penetration on the HEATFS rounds (400 mm)
• One of the best top speeds in the game (110 km/h)
• Decent reload time, 8.7 seconds when stock, 7.7 with expert crew + all reloading skills, and 6.7 seconds with an aced crew
• Three types of ammunition available (APDS, HEATFS, HESH)
• Upper plate will occasionally bounce incoming shells due to its angle, even HEATFS and HESH!
• Has access to smoke grenades and smoke shells
• Low silhouette
• Hard to destroy in a single shot due to crew placement
• Can perform a wide variety of roles, ranging from support, sniper and QRF
• Has thermal sights, very advantageous at the rank
• A group of well-coordinated players in Centauros are unstoppable
• Classified as a tank destroyer, making spawn costs cheaper in RB and SB
• Thermal imaging is a tier 1 mod, allowing you to unlock it immediately

Cons:

• Lacking in armour department, every gun can penetrate it including SPAA
• Has hull-break
• Rather difficult stock grind as the stock APDS post-penetration performance is rather poor
• Turret traverse is slow compared to other vehicles at the same battle rating such at the T95E1, BMP-2, and Warrior which you will face often
• Poor accuracy at a medium-long range when stock
• HEATFS is a tier 4 upgrade
• Doesn't come with stock HESH; has to be researched
• No explosive-filler shells (eg APHE, APCB)
• HEATFS while it has solid penetration, it deals only punctual damage; does not shrapnel well

History

Development of the B1 Centauro began during the 1980s after the Italian Army issued a set of requirements for a new vehicle that would have equivalent firepower to the Leopard 1 MBT in Italian service at the time, but with greater combat mobility.

In response to this, the Italian companies Fiat, Iveco and Oto Melara joined forces to begin developing the vehicle requested by the Italian Army. In this joint venture, Fiat and Iveco were developing the vehicle’s hull and power supply, whilst Oto Melara took care of the vehicle’s turret and weapon systems.

In 1986, the final prototype of the B1 Centauro project was unveiled on Sardinia. The presented vehicle was an eight-wheeled lightly armored tank destroyer, equipped with a derived modification of the L7 105mm cannon, capable of reaching a very high top speed and covering large distances under its own power.

Impressed by the B1 Centauro, the Italian Military placed orders for a number of vehicles, with the first ones entering service as early as 1992. Early on in its service life, the Centauro received an ERA upgrade package that allowed for the installation of ROMOR ERA packs on the vehicle’s hull and turret sides as well as rear.

B1 Centauros took part in most major conflicts that defined the '90s and early 2000s, most notably in former Yugoslavia, Somalia, Iraq, Afghanistan and others. Apart from the Italian Army, other noteworthy operators of the Centauro include Spain, Jordan and Oman.

Around 400 B1 Centauros were built until 2006, including some other derived modifications of the vehicle filling other roles. The B1 Centauro still serves with the Italian as well as other armed forces to this day.

- From Devblog

Media

Skin and Camouflages for the Centauro in Warthunder Live.

Videos

The Shooting Range #129 - Pages of History section at 04:48 discusses the Centauro.

The Shooting Range #134 - Metal Beasts section at 00:35 discusses the Centauro.

See also

Links to the articles on the War Thunder Wiki that you think will be useful for the reader, for example:

• reference to the series of the vehicles;
• links to approximate analogues of other nations and research trees.

External links

• [Devblog] B1 Centauro: The Wheeled Cheetah
• [Wikipedia] B1 Centauro