Unwanted and Unloved | The Italian OF40 Main Battle Tank

🇮🇹Throughout the 1950s and up to the 1970s, the Italian Army had been using a variety of American surplus tanks, such as M47’s, and had even manufactured a large number of M60’s domestically under licence. Despite the various upgrades carried out on the M47 by OTO Melara, the tank was still outdated and the German Leopard was much better suited to Italian needs and wants. Several hundred Leopards ended up being used by Italy, with some supplied directly by Krauss-mawfai and others built domestically under licence. Work on an export vehicle was being carried out jointly by both Germany and Italy, the ‘Lion’ project, which ended at the prototype stage in the late 1970s when the German side withdrew. By 1980, with the end of Leopard production in Italy, OTO-Melara still wanted to be able to offer a tank for export, mainly to Middle-Eastern nations– something expressly prohibited within the terms of the Leopard licence.

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Sources:
OF 40 Mk.1 Manual – Oto Melara April 1981
War Machine Magazine Vol.1 Issue. 1 1983
Forecast international
Modern Armor, Pietrangelo Caiti
Janes Armour and Artillery 1985

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An article by Andrew Hills
Script written by Churchill7
Narrated by WOOD
Edited by Khan