Tankopedia
Late Cold WarMBTMain Battle TankItaly

OF-40

In service 1981 - 2000s

Italy's private-venture export tank, built on Leopard 1 experience and sold almost entirely to the UAE.

Built byOTO Melara, Fiat

OF-40
U.S. Army Armor Center / Wikimedia Commons · Public domain

Development history

OTO Melara had built Leopard 1s under licence and used that knowledge to develop the OF-40 with no Italian Army order behind it, aiming squarely at export customers. The result was a conventional, well-made 105 mm-armed tank with good mobility and a straightforward fire-control suite, later upgraded to Mk 2 standard with stabilisation and thermal sights. The United Arab Emirates bought the entire production run; Italy itself waited for the Ariete. Its chassis also underpinned the Palmaria self-propelled howitzer, which sold far more widely.

Variants

One canonical record, 2 recorded variants.

  1. OF-40 Mk 1

    1981

    Baseline export vehicle

  2. OF-40 Mk 2

    1983

    Stabilised gun, thermal sights, digital fire control