New JV fulfils Italian AFV requirement with new A2CS
Leonardo Rheinmetall Military Vehicles – a new joint venture for European armoured vehicle production – has won its first contract to deliver 21 vehicles to the Italian Army, according to a release today (5 November 2025).
The team, established a year ago, will provide its Army Armoured Combat System, or A2CS as the Italian Army programme to procure more than 1,000 armoured tanks is known. These will replace its ageing fleet of VCC-80 Dardo and M113s. The vehicle is based on Rheinmetall’s Lynx KF41 infantry fighting vehicle.
Discover B2B Marketing That Performs
Combine business intelligence and editorial excellence to reach engaged professionals across 36 leading media platforms.
Find out more
With the baseline Lynx chassis, the Italian Army has the option to select a range of different turret systems according to their specific mission requirements.
In this spirit, the first five units will be integrated with the German manufacturer’s optionally crewed, medium calibre Lance turret while another 16 units will feature Leonardo’s Hitfist system operated by two personnel.
Both turrets provide mobile protected firepower, 30-millimetre guns, however the Hitfist is a sovereign system to Italy, prioritising local production despite the next generation German systems.
Modularity – the ability to reintegrate different capabilities where needed – is a necessity to meet what the Italian Ministry of Defence described in a report outlining their specifications for A2CS back in 2023 as “heterogeneous and unpredictable threats”: from explosive ordnance, anti-tank weapons, direct or indirect fire and air support fire, to drones, kamikaze drones or loitering munitions, and the new space/cyber domains.
The agreement also includes upgrading the whole fleet to the Hitfist configuration, as well as including an additional 30 optional vehicles, and training and simulation systems to better train crews.
In tandem, the Army will also operate new KF51 Panther main battle tanks, also Rheinmetall platform, alongside the A2CS, replacing enduring fleet of C1 Ariete MBTs. This was agreed upon after talks to cooperate on an Italian version of the Leopard 2A8 fell through in 2024.
