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

Photograph pending. No clearly licensed photograph of this vehicle was found.

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.

OF-40 Mk 1
1981
Baseline export vehicle
OF-40 Mk 2
1983
Stabilised gun, thermal sights, digital fire control

OF-40

Development history

Variants

OF-40 Mk 1

OF-40 Mk 2