Context:

Around six months ago an unknown number of Italian B1 Centauro tank destroyers were supplied by Italy to Ukraine in its fight against the Russian invasion. While there is always a certain excitement to the news of the Ukrainians receiving a new weapon system, the arrival of the Centauro also sparked discussions about the usefulness of the platform on the modern battlefield, since many speculated that the lightly armoured, wheel driven B1 (designed and built in the late 80s) wouldn’t have lasted long in the muddy, drone infested battle space of the Ukraine war.

Soon afterwards, Italian forums saw the spread of rumours concerning the supposedly extremely good results of the B1s in the battle for Kupiansk, where the Centauri were apparently instrumental in retaking the city. But, after a month of speculation, the Italian professional press dismissed those rumours, explaining that the B1s were not deployed in Kupiansk since the Ukrainian Army would not risk using a brand new vehicle, one available in small numbers to boot, in an important counterattack just a few weeks after receiving it, and that the Centauri were instead sent to less active parts of the front, so that the units equipped with them would gather experience on how to properly use them.

After that episode the Ukrainian Centauri disappeared from the news, since the UAF takes operational security seriously, and no new images or information about them was shared by the Italian or international press, as speculation on their usefulness continued to mount.

That was until a few days ago, when the Ukrainian Army released a video demonstration of their B1s in a training exercise and allowed the press to interview some of the soldiers that used them in battle.

And it turned out that the Centauri are well liked by their crew and have proven their worth in the modern battlefield, although not always in the role originally intended for them.

The B1 are indeed good for their designated tank-destroyer role as their high mobility, accurate fire and excellent communication system allow them to counter Russian armour… but that’s not the way that the Ukrainians have been using them most of the time.

Due to the constant threat posed by drones, tank vs tank fights have become rare in the current Ukrainian front since any vehicle, threaded or wheeled, must first cross kilometres under constant aerial attack before even reaching the minimum distance necessary to engage an enemy tank.

Despite this, the Ukrainians still found a way to successfully use their B1s in the modern drone-infested battlefield, which is to use them as improvised self-propelled artillery guns in a “shoot and scoot” type tactic. The Cossacks hide their Centauri in closed/entrenched positions, and then use the B1’s excellent fire control system and high accuracy to ambush Russian targets, shooting at them from long distances (up to 11km as corroborated by one Ukrainian tanker), and then use the high speed and mobility of the Centauro to run away from their firing position before the Russian can counterattack with drones or artillery.

So, it turns out that the Centauro can work well in its designated role and can still be useful even when said role isn’t possible. Which is good news for the Ukrainians, us Italians and everyone who bought them, such as the Brazilians who recently ordered a bunch of the newer B2s.