Kentaurus

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with ELBO Kentaurus. (Discuss)

Kentaurus is an Armored Infantry Fighting Vehicle (AIFV) designed and developed by the Greek vehicle builder ELBO. Its history is connected with the need for an advanced AIFV by the Greek Armed Forces.

In 1988 ELBO started cooperation with Steyr-Daimler-Puch of Austria on a joint development of an AIFV, but soon pulled out due to the high cost of the vehicle compared to the Greek Army specifications. (Santa Barbara of Spain continued development with the Austrian company, resulting in the ASCOD AIFV). ELBO then worked entirely on its own, on a new design according to the specifications given at the time. The resulting AIFV developed by the Greek company, named 'Kentaurus', was officially introduced in the Defendory Arms Exhibition in Athens in 1998, and at that time was one of the most advanced AIFV's in the world. It features a 420hp MTU engine, EBO (Mauser and Rheinmetall licences) cannons and KUKA turret. The crew is 3+8, maximum speed (street) is 75 Km/h and maximum weight is 19,8 tons. However, despite successful intensive tests by the Greek army, its fate is to this date uncertain due to cutbacks in relevant military spending, and evaluation of cheaper alternatives.

This military vehicle article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.