Commanders!
We are happy to present another amazing Legendary Vehicle that’s coming to Armored Warfare – this time it’s the Centauro 2 Tank Destroyer!
But first a bit of history as usual.
The Centauro 2 is, as its name suggests, an evolution of the Italian Centauro design. During the Cold War, Italy, along with France, went the unusual way of wheeled Tank Destroyers and Fire Support Vehicles with MBT-caliber guns. For France, the choice was rather simple – it had vested interest in and close ties to post-colonial African countries and operating Main Battle Tanks in such harsh environments simply wasn’t cost-effective. It needed a fleet of vehicles with high firepower and mobility but, at the same time, lower operating costs and wheeled vehicles such as the Sagaie or the AMX 10 RC offered just that. For Italy, this wasn’t that big of a consideration. Instead, they opted for high road mobility that would allow the army to move forces around quickly and provide MBT-level firepower to its infantry units at a fraction of its cost.
That is how the Centauro concept was born. The downside, of course, is the protection level. This was the pre-drone era where speed and stealth were still (sort-of) viable and where MBTs ruled supreme so, back then, this direction made perfect sense. You can read more about the original Centauro in its dedicated article.
Fast-forward to mid-2016, a prototype of Centauro’s successor was revealed at the Eurosatory expo in Paris. Even before the current conflict experience, the decision to continue in the Centauro direction was somewhat controversial and likely driven by costs and existing doctrines rather than actual combat usefulness, but such is often the case until actual combat proves everyone wrong.
The largest upgrade to the design was the inclusion was the low-recoil OTO-Melara 120mm L/45 gun derived from Ariete’s L/44 cannon. In the mid-2010s, the 105mm gun of the original Centauro was obsolete and there were two ways of solving that issue – you can either switch to gun/missile combo (that is the route the French went), or you can add a bigger gun. The Italians went with the latter.
The 120mm gun was installed in a HITFACT II turret by OTO-Melara (which was developed especially for it) and was loaded automatically – to a point. There was a six-round autoloader with a dedicated crewmember loading it from the ammo rack located in the back of the turret (and additional ammunition in the hull).
The gun had respectable depression and elevation angles too (-7/+16) along with an advanced Fire Control System and other optics:
- Attila-D stabilized commander optics with thermal imager
- Lothar-SD stabilized gunner optics with thermal imager and laser rangefinder
The gun could fire standard 120mm NATO ammunition.
The weight increased of course (from roughly 24 tons of the classic Centauro to officially 30 tons, but unofficially possibly 35 tons), but this was more than compensated by a more powerful 720hp IVECO engine paired with an automated ZF suspension, allowing the Centauro 2 to go as fast as 105 km/h on the road.
Protection levels remained of course relatively low compared to tanks, but the vehicle could frontally withstand 30mm autocannon fire and its thinner sides were protected from 25mm to 12.7mm caliber fire. Additional protection was provided by 81mm smoke grenade launchers and radio jammers but the vehicle lacked hard-kill active protection systems.
Two years after the appearance of the prototype, in 2018, a contract was signed for the first 10 vehicles of the type out of 150 planned to replace the roughly 300 service B1 Centauros, followed by roughly bi-annual updates to the contract.
The actual production number is, however, unknown. The first unit to receive the Centauro 2 was the Aosta Mechanized Brigade of the Italian Army in May 2025 with no more than 18-20 vehicles likely currently built (the last confirmed delivery was 16 vehicles in 2024).
As for the exports, Brazil ordered 98 of these vehicles in November 2022 with the first two vehicles (made in Italy) delivered in 2023. Local mass-production is supposed to launch in 2027 in Sete Lagoas.
There are four versions of the vehicle known:
- The 2016 prototype with 81mm smoke grenades and older radio jammers
- The 2022 production version with new 40mm ROSY smoke grenades
- The 2024 version with upgraded jammers as well as a modified Fire Control System to fire the Vulcano 120 rounds
- Simplified Brazilian export version
The vehicle we have for you is based on the Italian 2024 version. And speaking of:
In Armored Warfare, the Centauro 2 will be a Legendary Tank Destroyer.
In order to obtain it, you’ll have to first collect the usual 10 thousand Legendary Blueprints, but also obtain the Wilk XC-8 Tier 10 Tank Destroyer.
Role-wise, the Centauro 2 will be akin to the BMPT Mod.2025 – an uncompromising dealer of damage on the battlefield, only trading missiles and autocannons for a rapid-firing large gun. However, the actual approach to dealing damage will be different.
The core of the gameplay is that the Centauro 2 can’t boast thick armor or ERA like the BMPT can. Sure, it’ll be mostly resistant to 30mm autocannons frontally and it’ll feature soft-kill APS, but it essentially has to rely on stealth, mobility and firepower. And rest assured, it’ll have plenty of them all.
Mobility will mostly be relegated to roads and similar surfaces as this is not a tracked vehicle. It’ll perform decently in this regard but do not expect performance similar to a Light Tank. Stealth, however, is where the Centauro 2 begins to shine as it’ll be extremely high. Despite its size, the Centauro 2 will be very difficult to spot, including by FPV missiles. Firing the gun will naturally reduce the camouflage a fair bit, but it’ll still be very difficult to discover when positioned properly.
But you want to hear more about the most important aspect, its firepower. Rest assured, it is substantial. The 120mm gun is similar in performance to the gun of the Leopard 2A7DK so that can be taken as a baseline. However, the Centauro 2 gun fires noticeably faster (with 4 second reload time). It’ll feature the following ammunition:
- 120mm APFSDS (similar to Leopard 2A7DK, including the module damage bonus)
- 120mm HEAT (similar to Leopard 2A7DK)
- 120mm HE (with increased penetration, damage and splash radius)
- Inferno rounds
Inferno rounds are a new mechanic of the Centauro 2. They work similarly to White Phosphorus rounds – they create a zone on the ground and if an enemy vehicle enters it, it’ll catch fire and start taking damage. However, there is one key difference – where the old rounds damage engine and cause it to catch fire, Inferno rounds damage all external modules. The effect is red in color and has an extended duration.
This gives experienced Centauro 2 commanders the ability to “stunlock” enemy vehicles by immobilizing them first, firing an Inferno round and watch them lose their hitpoints and modules. Even the mighty Reaper can be subdued this way but the Centauro 2 is also very useful in dealing with powerful PvE enemies, something that’ll come in handy in the near future.
As for the Black Company, the Centauro 2 prototype once again comes from Clayburn Industries experimental stock and was captured along with the previous vehicles. Unlike the BMPT, however, it took considerably more time to repair and become combat-ready but now that it is, Black Company’s technicians are already hard at work restoring several more experimental projects looted from Clayburn’s armories.
And that’s about it, commanders. We’re looking forward to your feedback and, as always:
See you on the battlefield!
