Among the most marked memories of our visit to the latest edition of Eurosatory of Paris (the largest international land defense fair) first place is certainly occupied by a fright. After having covered the first kilometres, scrolling through hundreds and hundreds of companies linked to an immense world - which can only be "whispered" here (...) - we enter the Rheinmetall exhibition area. After a few steps a pang of pain stabs us in the chest: we find ourselves in front of an intersection between an armored combat vehicle Lynx and the armored tower Centaur II.
It's certainly not there Hitfact with a 120 mm cannon in itself to worry us, it represents an excellent tower with considerable firepower and very high precision, but rather that particular “marriage”. On the other hand, we had "serenely" seen the same one shortly before Centaur II in the IOC stand (Iveco Consortium – Oto Melara) and even on the crawler Tulpar of the Turkish Otokar (following photo).
What we fail to understand is the combination of different levels of protection. How will a crew split up in the vehicle, in case of real, high-intensity combat? Will "short toothpicks" be provided to draw the distribution on board or will the gunners and tank leaders be Zen masters capable of teaching that the "emotions" of those above will inflame their colleagues below too?
The aforementioned combinations of Centaur II or of Tulpar are correct and coherent because the protection from a "peacekeeping mission" (as correctly reported in the yesterday's statement from the IOC) is homogeneous, i.e. low. But what about the Lynx???
The comments of some technicians (not just Germans) present come to our aid: what we observe is not a final version, but rather a "demonstration of integrability". Firepower like that of the Italian system can enrich the family Lynx with a new variant. Integration, it is implied, will lead to harmonization (upward) of the protection offered by the union.
With a foggy and late AICS (Armored Infantry Combat System) program still being defined, Leonardo seems to have made a winning move: providing the best combat vehicle manufacturer in the field with a version that will also be of interest to the international market.
At that point the bewilderment gives way to a smile of satisfaction: with a heavy component of the Army totally inadequate to the challenges of the current battlefields and the urgency of becoming "Germans", have we even managed to (positively) bring Italy into Germany?
Then... Chapeau!
Images: Online Defense