IVECO has developed a new family of four-stroke, diesel/multifuel, direct injection, turbocharged and intercooled engines in V6, V8 and V12 configurations for installation in the new family of armoured fighting vehicles for the Italian Army.

These utilise commercial components to reduce both procurement and life cycle costs. The commercial engines have been militarised in a number of areas including the ability to operate in high longitudinal/ lateral slopes, high temperatures and multifuel operations in extreme environmental conditions.

They also have increased specific power with boosted supercharging integrated by feeding air cooling (aftercooling).

The complete power pack comprises the engine, transmission, air filter assembly, cooling group and the exhaust group.

Building on its experience in the manufacture of the 4 HP 250 transmission for the Italian-built Leopard 1 MBTs, IVECO is proposing the German ZF LSG 1500, Renk LSG 2000 and Renk LSG 3000 automatic transmissions for use with its engines.

The V6M TCA is already in production for the Centauro (8 x 8) tank destroyer and in this application is coupled to a ZF 5 HP 1500 transmission. The V6M TCA coupled to the ZF LSG 1500 automatic transmission is installed in the IVECO/Otobreda Dardo HITFIST infantry fighting vehicle which is now entering production for the Italian Army. This was previously called the VCC-80 but has now been fitted with a new turret which has a 25 mm Oerlikon Contraves cannon, 7.62 mm coaxial machine gun and TOW missile launchers.

The V12M TCA coupled to the Renk 3000 automatic transmission is in production for the Ariete MBT. First production MBT was completed at the La Spezia facility of Otobreda late in 1995.

V6M TCA is in production for the Centauro and the Dardo HITFIST while the V12M TCA is in production for the Ariete MBT. By mid-1999 total production of these engines for military applications had reached over 600 units.