Ariete PSO
This page is about the Italian medium tank Ariete PSO. For other versions, see Ariete (Family). |
Contents
Description
The C1 Ariete PSO is a rank VII Italian medium tank with a battle rating of 11.7 (AB/RB/SB). It was introduced in Update 1.91 "Night Vision".
General info
Survivability and armour
The Ariete PSO's armour can withstand some 105mm APFSDS shells, though the turret can resist some high ranking HEAT-FS shells as well. Though the composite side skirts does not provide much protection against kinetic shells, it does affect HEAT-FS shells in that even if one penetrates, the penetrating projectile does not travel as far into the tank and so reduces the overall damage to the tank (outside of direct hits to the ammunition racks).
A common weak point on the Ariete PSO from the front is the gun mantlet, as some shots may go through the armour and damage the gun breech and/or the crew. When dealing with a shell that can penetrate, the Ariete PSO's left side (right when facing directly at the Ariete) has three ammo racks lined up with each other, and so a frontal penetration at that side of the Ariete has a high chance of detonating these rack, or a shot at the Ariete's left side.
Under normal circumstance however, the Ariete PSO's four crew members make it a relatively survivable tank to drive, as the common knock-out of the gunner and commander with a penetration through the turret will leave just two (loader and driver), allowing the Ariete PSO to withdraw and continue fighting at the expense of a longer reload time.
Mobility
Game Mode | Max Speed (km/h) | Weight (tons) | Engine power (horsepower) | Power-to-weight ratio (hp/ton) | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Forward | Reverse | Stock | AoA | Stock | Upgraded | Stock | Upgraded | |
Arcade | 73 | 52 | 56.2 | 0.8 | 1,761 | 2,480 | 31.33 | 43.51 |
Realistic | 65 | 47 | 1,150 | 1,300 | 20.46 | 22.81 |
The top speed is similar to other tanks, but the acceleration is bad so take this into consideration with tactical mobility. While the Ariete can't turn well at low speeds, it does have a good neutral turning speed on the spot.
Modifications and economy
Armaments
Main armament
The armament of the Ariete PSO is one of the greatest in the game, with a large amount of penetration in every armour-piercing shell. Their performance lines-up with other 120 mm guns in other tanks like the Leopard, and so it should be able to deal with the majority of the top-ranking vehicles with consideration of armour weak points and vulnerabilities.
While the Ariete starts off like most other high BR vehicles with HEAT-FS, that challenge is easily overcome once you get the 1st round which is DM33, a tier 1 modification which brings its firepower equivalent to the Leopard 2A5 and Type 90. As for a tier 4 modification you get access to the CL3143 APFSDS, which is the second most powerful round in the game currently that will be able to dispatch your enemies with ease.
120 mm OTO Breda 120/44 | Turret rotation speed (°/s) | Reloading rate (seconds) | |||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Mode | Capacity | Vertical | Horizontal | Stabilizer | Stock | Upgraded | Full | Expert | Aced | Stock | Full | Expert | Aced |
Arcade | 42 | -10°/+20° | ±180° | Two-plane | 38.1 | 52.7 | 64.0 | 70.8 | 75.3 | 7.80 | 6.90 | 6.36 | 6.00 |
Realistic | 23.8 | 28.0 | 34.0 | 37.6 | 40.0 |
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 | ||
DM12A1 | HEATFS | 480 | 480 | 480 | 480 | 480 | 480 |
DM33 | APFSDS | 481 | 478 | 470 | 461 | 450 | 440 |
CL3143 | APFSDS | 625 | 622 | 613 | 601 | 588 | 575 |
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% | |||||||
DM12A1 | HEATFS | 1,140 | 13.5 | 0.05 | 0.1 | 2,150 | 65° | 72° | 77° |
DM33 | APFSDS | 1,640 | 4.3 | N/A | N/A | N/A | 78° | 80° | 81° |
CL3143 | APFSDS | 1,705 | 5.6 | N/A | N/A | N/A | 78° | 80° | 81° |
Ammo racks
Full ammo |
1st rack empty |
2nd rack empty |
3rd rack empty |
Visual discrepancy |
---|---|---|---|---|
42 | __ (+__) | __ (+__) | __ (+__) | No |
Machine guns
7.62 mm Beretta MG42/59 | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Mount | Capacity (Belt) | Fire rate | Vertical | Horizontal |
Coaxial | 4,500 (200) | 1,200 | ±5° | N/A |
Commander's cupola | 2,000 (200) | 1,200 | -8°/+60° | ±120° |
Loader's cupola | 2,000 (200) | 1,200 | -8°/+60° | ±120° |
Usage in battles
The Ariete won't win any races with its mobility but it has the firepower to back it up. The Ariete can sit back and use its powerful APFSDS to take care of enemies at range to make up for its rather lacklustre armour for a top BR vehicle. The Ariete you can also play it aggressive but be warned! The Ariete doesn't have any composite armour on the front of the hull, only spaced armour on the upper plate. When playing aggressive you need to rely on fast reflexes otherwise there is a good chance that the 1st hit from a enemy will cripple you or knock you out of battle.
Pros and cons
Pros:
- Powerful OTO Breda 120/44 cannon
- Currently shares the second best APFSDS round with the regular Ariete
- Turret armour gives crew good survivability
- Unlike other NATO MBT’s, there is no ammorack in the turret, reducing the chances of an instant knockout if the turret is penetrated
- Fast turret traverse
- Second generation CITV and gunner’s sights
- High reverse
- Frontal turret armour is immune to nearly all HEAT-FS, thanks to the PSO armour pack
- Another additional roof mounted Beretta MG42 to ward of enemy helicopters
Cons:
- Mobility is subpar, only the Challenger 2 and ZTZ99 are less mobile
- Large lower glacis
- Least armoured MBT in the game
- PSO Tipo 2 doesn’t really offer any substantial differences or advantages over the regular PSO armour pack
- Russian tanks with Kontakt-5 armour are capable of stopping CL3143 in certain places. Don’t expect to simply point-and-click on top tier Russian tanks
- Huge ammorack next to the driver
- Narrow FOV and low levels of zoom for the gunner’s sight
History
Describe the history of the creation and combat usage of the vehicle in more detail than in the introduction. If the historical reference turns out to be too long, take it to a separate article, taking a link to the article about the vehicle and adding a block "/History" (example: https://wiki.warthunder.com/(Vehicle-name)/History) and add a link to it here using the main
template. Be sure to reference text and sources by using <ref></ref>
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, also if applicable).
Media
See also
External links
Paste links to sources and external resources, such as:
- topic on the official game forum;
- encyclopedia page on the tank;
- other literature.
Italy medium tanks | |
---|---|
Italy | |
M13/40 | M13/40 (I) · M13/40 (II) · M13/40 (III) |
M14/41 | M14/41 · M14/41 (47/40) |
M15/42 | M15/42 |
M16/43 | Celere Sahariano |
P26/40 | P40 · P40 "G.C. Leoncello" |
OF-40 | OF-40 · OF-40 Mk.2A · OF-40 (MTCA) |
Ariete | Ariete (P) · Ariete · Ariete PSO · Ariete AMV |
Germany | ▄Pz.III N · ▄Pz.IV G · ▄Leopard 1A5 |
Allied powers | ▄Sherman I Composito · Sherman Ic · ▄Sherman Vc · ▄Sherman V · M26 "D.C.Ariete" · M26A1 · M47 (105/55) · M60A1 "D.C.Ariete" |
Hungary | |
Turán | Turan I · Turan II · Turan III |
Germany | ◔Leopard 2A4 · Leopard 2A7HU |
USSR | ◔T-72M1 |