The history of Leonardo, former Oto Melara, started in 1905 with the production of guns and weapon systems for the Italian Navy, the range of design and production being soon extended to land and antiaircraft artillery systems. With over 100 years in the military field, and in house full design, development, production and testing capabilities, its know-how includes state of the art technologies in mechanics, ballistics and electronics, and is a strong partner for military supplies to domestic and foreign militaries. Leonardo has in its portfolio a wide range of Turret Weapon Systems and Remotely Operated Weapon Stations in service with many armies all over the world. The company advanced technologies also focus on robotics, which can be deployed for various applications as a complement of the Armoured Combat Vehicles.

The narrow link between the Italian Army and the two major companies active in the land defence field, the former OTO Melara and FIAT Lancia, started in the 50s – 70s when the co-production under license of M113 APCs and of M60s and Leopard battle tanks was launched. These tracked vehicles were assembled and tested at the OTO Melara plant in La Spezia, with subsystems manufactured locally by OTO Melara while automotive parts were produced by FIAT Lancia in Bolzano. The need to revise this process emerged with the production of wheeled armoured and non-armoured vehicles developed to answer the new requirements of national and international Armed Forces. The first armoured cars were developed to equip Italian Police forces and Carabinieri Corps that were facing the emerging terrorist threat and were then widely used all over the world. The technical-productive relationship between the two companies, OTO Melara and FIAT Lancia, shifted, the assembling and testing process taking place in the Bolzano plant.

Iveco Defence Vehicles was formed in 1975 with the merger of the truck manufacturing operations of FIAT, Lancia, OM, Unic and Magirus, the name stands for Industrial Vehicles Corporation. In 1986 Iveco Ford, a joint venture between Iveco and Ford in the UK, was acquired by Iveco, followed shortly afterwards by the acquisition of Pegaso of Spain and its subsidiary Seddon Atkinson.

In the early ‘80s the Italian Army launched a programme aiming at replacing its whole armoured vehicles park. This included heavy investments for the research, development and production of a whole new brand of modern armoured vehicles and of a new state of the art main battle tank. To optimise the whole process the customer, the Italian Army, did not wanted anymore to separately negotiate the platform and the weapon system, and requested a single interface capable to manage products of increasing complexity. Both companies adapted themselves to the new industrial processes.

Therefore, in 1985 the Iveco – Oto Melara Consortium was established on an equal participation basis between Iveco Defence Vehicles and former Oto Melara, now Leonardo. Within the Consortium, Iveco Defence Vehicles, an Iveco Group company, provides for the engines, transmission and all the automotive components of wheeled armoured vehicles, as well as the hull and final assembly, while Leonardo handles the weapon systems, sight, command and control communication systems, as well as the hull and final assembly of tracked armoured vehicles. Both companies have consolidated experience in the field of protection against direct fire, mines and IEDs.

The mock-ups of four vehicles appeared at a static display during an Italian Army exercise; two were tracked, the Ariete C1 main battle tank and the VCC-80 infantry fighting vehicle, while the other two were wheeled, the B1 Centauro mobile gun system and the Puma 4×4 armoured car, later developed also in the 6×6 configuration. The following year running prototypes were presented. The tracked vehicles were to equip the Italian Army Heavy Brigades, armoured and mechanised, while wheeled vehicles were aimed to replace M47s and M113 tracked vehicles deployed in the Brigades operating along the peninsula and islands, to cope with potential Warsaw Pact air and amphibious assaults.

400 units of Centauro were delivered from early 1992. In early 1993 the wheeled armoured car armed with a 105 mm gun is deployed to Somalia within the Italian Contingent part of “Operation Restore Hope”. It would be then a regular presence in other theaters of operation, Lebanon, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Kosovo and Iraq.

The second member of the new family of vehicles to be delivered is the Ariete MBT, the first being handed over to the Italian Army in May 1996, the Tank School receiving a number of them in February 1997. 200 tanks armed with a 120 mm smoothbore gun were produced to equip four tank regiments.

To complete the modernisation of the remaining heavy brigades in October 1998 the Italian Army ordered a first batch of VCC-80, which are now known as Dardo. The handover of the first Dardo took place in May 2002, and one year later the IFV began its operational life in Iraq.

The last of the vehicles designed in the early 1980s to be contracted was the Puma, which in the meantime was developed also in the 6×6 version. In December 1999 the Italian Army ordered 330 two-axle and 250 three-axle vehicles. The first Puma vehicles were delivered in February 2005, and they are soon deployed in both Iraq and Afghanistan and also supplied to the Carabinieri Corps.

The Centauro achieved export success in the late 1990s, the Spanish Army receiving its first mobile gun systems in 2000. The fleet consists of 84 units. The service also fields a recovery version based on the same chassis. In October 2000, 16 Centauro were leased to the US Army to test the Mobile Gun System within the Interim Brigade Combat Team concept.

In the 2000s, the Centauro chassis, based on the unique “H shaped” transmission, led to the development of a series of new vehicles. Engaged in numerous operations in asymmetric scenarios the Italian Army decided to form Medium Brigades, equipped with wheeled infantry fighting vehicles. The CIO answered this requirement with the VBM (Veicolo Blindato Medio) referred to as “Freccia” by the Italian Army, based on an updated and uparmoured chassis derived from the Centauro, fitted with a two-man turret armed with a 25 mm cannon. Deliveries began in 2009 and the first Freccia were deployed in Afghanistan in early 2010.

In the mid-2010s the Centauro reached 25 years of active service; designed to operate on the Italian territory, its underbelly protection could not cope with new threats. The 2016 Financial Law financed the development of a new 8×8 mobile gun system, which became immediately known as Centauro II. The prototype was unveiled in October 2016; compared to its predecessor major upgrades were made in the protection, mobility and firepower areas, the new vehicle being armed with a 120 mm smoothbore gun. The first vehicles were delivered to the Italian Army two years later, those in the final configuration were provided later. The Centauro II is currently under delivery for a total supply of 150 units.

The evolving geopolitical situation in Europe led the Italian Army to upgrade its heavy formations, therefore the CIO was asked to develop a mid-life update programme for the Ariete main battle tank, bringing it to the Ariete C2 configuration which includes a new and more powerful powerpack, and a wholly revised turret, with electric actuators, new optronics, a command and control system and other improvements, to stretch the tank operational life into the next decade.

As a result of an international tender the Brazilian Army selected the Centauro II system to equip its cavalry units, two Centauro II in the Brazilian configuration being shipped to that country late that year for testing.

After 15 years of service the VBM Freccia also needed some upgrades. The CIO developed the so-called VBM 30 NG, a contract for the delivery of 76 such vehicles having been signed in late 2024. While a mid-life update for existing Freccia has been developed, the VBM 30 NG is in fact a wholly new vehicle, featuring an evolved chassis with higher protection and upgraded powerpack, along with a brand-new turret armed with Leonardo 30 mm X-Gun. The vehicles ordered in late 2024 are all at this standard, and the remaining vehicles to be produced to complete the VBM programme will all be of this type, which is obviously also proposed on the export market.