Add-on armour suites are available to protect all variants against direct fire, land mines and IEDs. The APC has a monocoque hull construction based on high hardness steel. On the APC variant, the commander/gunner is located in the middle of the troop compartment, with a single hatch opening backwards surrounded by a railing supporting the MH3. It is far back of the nose, occupied by the engine compartment and transmission. The driver has its own hatch and three sights, including a cetral IR one for night operations. Crew protection is assured with full collective NBC protection, slight overpressure to vent off toxic gasses, and automatic fire suppression systems. There is also a centralized inflation system. The vehicle is design to still running with two tires blown up. Add-on Protection covers are also available to withstand 8 kg mine blasts under any wheel. The Freccia's underbely had a V-shaped section and can withstand 6 kg anti-tank mine blasts. All-round protection is provided against 14.5 mm armor-piercing rounds. Exact thickness of the glacis is unknown, but the vehicle is said by the manufacturer immune on its frontal arc against 25 to 30 mm rounds (so same as the main armament, and standad for IFVs today).
Protection and construction of the hull is generally similar to the Centauro, and made of welded steel RHA all around. The first of this 249 vehicles batch was delivered in 2009. These tests were succesful, leading the Italian Army to order its first batch in 2006.
The first prototype was completed in 1996, pocured to the Army, and field-tested. It was developed as a private venture, aimed to meet Italian Army requirement, calling for a wheeled IFV to operate alongside the Centauro.
The VBM Freccia (Veicolo Blindato Medio or "medium armored vehicle" IFV was developed as a variant of the Italian Centauro B1 tank destroyer, which leads some sources to call it Centauro VBC. It is up-armoured and equipped with the Hitfist turret, an evolution of the Dardo IFV turret with a 25mm autocannon in addition to ATGM, mixed with the Centauro's advanced fire control system, while as the same time, it is capable of bringing eight combat-ready troops, much faster than the VCC-2 which its replace. Soon the Veicolo Blindato Medio "Freccia" ("Arrow") was a reconfigured variant acting as a wheeled infantry fighting vehicle declined into operational variants, which production is ongoing today for all Italian units procurement. Freccia IFV Italy (2006) Infantry Fighting Vehicle - 600+ built, ongoing The "Arrow", fast Italian 8x8 IFVĪfter taking a great amount of development to design the Centauro, one of the very best wheeled tank in the world today, also adopted by Spain and copied by the Chinese, there was the possibility to convert the vehicle into a multitude of variants.
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