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ELVO Kentaurus

2012 MODERN

History of ELVO Kentaurus

At the end of the Cold War (1991), the Greek army faced an aging stockpile of armored vehicles supporting infantry. Therefore, expansion of the existing Leonidas-1 armored personnel carrier (APC) production line is being considered. The Leonidas-2 partially succeeded in this task, although it was not well equipped for the role of an Infantry Fighting Vehicle (IFV) and therefore not a complete solution in the long run. ELVO in Greece began work on a fully localized IFV design, which became "Kentaurus" ("Centaurus"), following the generally accepted form and function of other Western IFVs.

Despite the promises of the Greek government and the Greek military authorities, Kentaurus was never introduced and is still awaiting its fate. Design work ran from 1996 to 1998, and the order for 140 units was never completed. Kentaurus has successfully passed the evaluation phase.

The heart of the Kentaurus is a traditional infantry fighting vehicle in the 20 to 22 ton range. It is powered by a German MTU 6V 183TE22 diesel engine producing 420 hp, providing road speeds of up to 50 mph and running service of up to 310 miles. A rotary damper (lever arm) suspension system was added for off-road touring. Its armored structure uses welded steel, with a standard crew of three for eight combat-ready infantrymen.

The driver sits on the front left, with the power pack to his right. There is a turret position above the top of the fuselage, and the rear of the fuselage is occupied by a passenger compartment, accessible through a door on the rear surface of the fuselage. One side of the undercarriage includes six twin-tire wheels, with the drive sprocket at the front and the idler at the rear.

Dimensions include 6 meters long, 2.5 meters wide and 2.4 meters high.

The turret (based on the original Rheinmetall/Mauser design) is full power and holds a 30mm EBO automatic cannon and 396 rounds of system-ready projectiles. It also includes a coaxially arranged 7.62mm machine gun that can receive 1,600 rounds of ammunition.

Smoke grenade launchers provide the vehicle with self-shielding capabilities.

While it was initially thought that the Russian BMP-3 series would be introduced into Greek service, the deal was cancelled, eventually opening the way for the possible arrival of the Kentaurus. However, this remains to be seen and is further hampered by Greece's ongoing economic problems.