Ariete Armored Brigade

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132nd Armored Brigade "Ariete"
132a Brigata Corazzata "Ariete"
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Armored Brigade "Ariete" Insignia after 1986
ActiveOctober 1, 1986 – present
CountryFlag of Italy.svg  Italy (1986 - present)
Branch Italian Army
Type Armored Cavalry
Role Armored warfare
SizeBrigade
Part of Division "Vittorio Veneto"
Garrison/HQ Pordenone
Nickname(s)Ariete (Ram)
Motto(s)"Ferrea mole, Ferreo cuore"
Colorsblue and red
Mascot(s)Ram Head
Engagements Somalia UNITAF
Bosnia SFOR
Kosovo KFOR
Afghanistan ISAF
Iraq Multinational force in Iraq
Lebanon UNIFIL

The 132nd Armored Brigade "Ariete" is the only active armored brigade of the Italian Army. Its core units are Tank and Bersaglieri regiments. The brigade's headquarters is in the city of Pordenone. Most of its units are based in the North-East of Italy. The brigade's name comes from the battering ram (in Italian: Ariete). The brigade draws much of its historical traditions from the 132nd Armoured Division Ariete, active during the Second World War from 1939-42, and again active from 1948-1986. The brigade is part of the Division "Vittorio Veneto".

Armoured warfare Military use of armored fighting vehicles

Armoured warfare or armored warfare, mechanised warfare or tank warfare is the use of armoured fighting vehicles in modern warfare. It is a major component of modern methods of war. The premise of armoured warfare rests on the ability of troops to penetrate conventional defensive lines through use of manoeuvre by armoured units.

Brigade Military formation size designation, typically of 3-6 battalions

A brigade is a major tactical military formation that is typically composed of three to six battalions plus supporting elements. It is roughly equivalent to an enlarged or reinforced regiment. Two or more brigades may constitute a division.

Italian Army land warfare branch of Italys military forces

The Italian Army is the land-based component of the Italian Armed Forces of the Italian Republic. The army's history dates back to the unification of Italy in the 1850s and 1860s. The army fought in colonial engagements in China, Libya, Northern Italy against the Austro-Hungarian Empire during World War I, Abyssinia before World War II and in World War II in Albania, Balkans, North Africa, USSR and Italy itself. During the Cold War, the army prepared itself to defend against a Warsaw Pact invasion from the east. Since the end of the Cold War, the army has seen extensive peacekeeping service and combat in Afghanistan and Iraq. Its best-known combat vehicles are the Dardo infantry fighting vehicle, the Centauro tank destroyer and the Ariete tank and among its aircraft the Mangusta attack helicopter, recently deployed in UN missions. The headquarters of the Army General Staff are located in Rome opposite the Quirinal Palace, where the president of Italy resides. The army is an all-volunteer force of active-duty personnel.

Contents

Constitution

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Armored Brigade "Ariete" battalions in 1989
Ariete main battle tanks of the 8th Tank Battalion "M.O. Secchiaroli" / 132nd Tank Regiment SETC Italy (26890728102).jpg
Ariete main battle tanks of the 8th Tank Battalion "M.O. Secchiaroli" / 132nd Tank Regiment
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Dardo

On 1 October 1986 the Italian Army abolished the divisional level and brigades, that until then had been under one of the Army's four divisions, came forthwith under direct command of the Army's 3rd and 5th Army Corps. As the Armored Division "Ariete" carried a historically significant name, the division ceased to exist on 30 September in Pordenone and the next day the command of the 132nd Armored Brigade "Manin" moved from Aviano to Pordenone and changed its name to 132nd Armored Brigade "Ariete".

Armored Brigade "Manin"

The 132nd Armored Brigade "Manin" was a short-lived armored brigade of the Italian Army based in the country's North-East. Its core units were tank and Bersaglieri battalions from the disbanded 132nd Tank Regiment of the 132nd Armored Division "Ariete". The brigade's headquarters was in the city of Aviano and the brigade's name honored the Italian unification hero Daniele Manin.

Aviano Comune in Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Italy

Aviano is a town and comune in the province of Pordenone at the foot of the Dolomites mountain range in Friuli-Venezia Giulia, northern Italy.

With the division disbanded the brigade came now under direct command of the 5th Army Corps. The 5th Army Corps was tasked with defending the Yugoslav-Italian border against possible attacks by either the Warsaw Pact, or Yugoslavia or both. The brigade’s authorized strength was 3,381 men (214 Officers, 516 non-commissioned officers and 2,651 soldiers) and it was initially composed by the following units:

5th Army Corps (Italy)

The 5th Army Corps was one of three corps the Italian Army fielded during the Cold War. Based in the regions of Veneto and Friuli-Venezia-Giulia the corps was the army's main combat force. The 5th Army Corps was arrayed close to the Yugoslavian border and tasked with meeting any Warsaw Pact forces that crossed the border. On the left flank of the corps the 4th Alpine Army Corps was tasked with blocking the Alpine passes and in the rear of the corps the 3rd Army Corps served as operational reserve. After the end of the Cold War the corps was reduced in size and on 1 October 1997 it became the 1st Defence Forces Command. In 2013 the COMFOD 1° was disbanded and its function and brigades taken over by the 20th Infantry Division Friuli in Florence.

Yugoslavia 1918–1992 country in Southeastern and Central Europe

Yugoslavia was a country in Southeastern and Central Europe for most of the 20th century. It came into existence after World War I in 1918 under the name of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes by the merger of the provisional State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs with the Kingdom of Serbia, and constituted the first union of the South Slavic people as a sovereign state, following centuries in which the region had been part of the Ottoman Empire and Austria-Hungary. Peter I of Serbia was its first sovereign. The kingdom gained international recognition on 13 July 1922 at the Conference of Ambassadors in Paris. The official name of the state was changed to Kingdom of Yugoslavia on 3 October 1929.

Warsaw Pact international military alliance of Communist states

The Warsaw Pact, formally known as the Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Mutual Assistance, was a collective defence treaty signed in Warsaw, Poland between the Soviet Union and seven other Eastern Bloc socialist republics of Central and Eastern Europe in May 1955, during the Cold War. The Warsaw Pact was the military complement to the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance (CoMEcon), the regional economic organization for the socialist states of Central and Eastern Europe. The Warsaw Pact was created in reaction to the integration of West Germany into NATO in 1955 per the London and Paris Conferences of 1954, but it is also considered to have been motivated by Soviet desires to maintain control over military forces in Central and Eastern Europe.

Pordenone Comune in Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Italy

Pordenone is the main comune of Pordenone province of northeast Italy in the Friuli-Venezia Giulia region.

M60 Patton American second generation main battle tank

The M60 Patton is an American second generation main battle tank (MBT) introduced in March 1959. With the United States Marine Corps deactivation of their last (M103) heavy tank battalion in 1963, the M60 became the Army's primary main battle tank during the Cold War. Although developed from the M48 Patton, the M60 series was never officially classified as a Patton tank, but as a "product-improved descendant" of the Patton series. In March 1959, the tank was officially standardized as the Tank, Combat, Full Tracked: 105-mm Gun, M60. Over 15,000 M60s were built by Chrysler. Hull production ended in 1983, but 5,400 older models were converted to the M60A3 variant ending in 1990.

Main battle tank Tank designed to conduct primary combat missions on the battlefield

A main battle tank (MBT), also known as a battle tank or universal tank, is a tank that fills the armor-protected direct fire and maneuver role of many modern armies. Cold War-era development of more powerful engines, better suspension systems and lighter weight composite armor allowed a tank to have the firepower of a super-heavy tank, armor protection of a heavy tank, and mobility of a light tank all in a package with the weight of a medium tank. Through the 1960s, the MBT replaced almost all other tanks, leaving only some specialist roles to be filled by lighter designs or other types of armored fighting vehicles.

History

On 10 January 1991 the brigade disbanded the 10th Tank Battalion and the 20th Artillery Group. The 13th Tank Battalion had already been reduced to a reserve unit and was subsequently transferred to the Mechanized Brigade "Mantova" in December 1989. As replacement the brigade received units from brigades disbanded during the Army's draw-down of forces after the end of the Cold War: from the disbanded Armored Brigade "Mameli" came the 3rd Tank Battalion "M.O. Galas", the 5th Tank Battalion "M.O. Chiamenti" and the 23rd Bersaglieri Battalion "Castel di Borgo". From the Mechanized Brigade "Garibaldi", which had moved to Caserta in the south of Italy, came the 19th Self-propelled Field Artillery Group "Rialto".

Mantova Mechanized Brigade various Italian Army units, the last of which was disbanded in 1997

The Mantova Mechanized Brigade was a mechanized brigade of the Italian Army. Its core units were mechanized infantry battalions. The brigade's headquarters was in the city of Cividale del Friuli. All the brigade's units were based in the region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia. In 2003, the Mantova was raised again as a division command.

Cold War Geopolitical tension after World War II between the Eastern and Western Bloc

The Cold War was a period of geopolitical tension between the Soviet Union with its satellite states, and the United States with its allies after World War II. The historiography of the conflict began between 1946 and 1947. The Cold War began to de-escalate after the Revolutions of 1989. The collapse of the USSR in 1991 was the end of the Cold War. The term "cold" is used because there was no large-scale fighting directly between the two sides, but they each supported major regional conflicts known as proxy wars. The conflict split the temporary wartime alliance against Nazi Germany and its allies, leaving the USSR and the US as two superpowers with profound economic and political differences.

Garibaldi Bersaglieri Brigade

The Garibaldi Bersaglieri Brigade is a mechanized infantry brigade of the Italian Army, based in the south of the country. Its core units are the Bersaglieri, an elite infantry corps of the Italian Army. The brigade is named after Giuseppe Garibaldi a hero of the Italian wars of unification. The brigade is part of the Division "Acqui".

In 1992 the brigade received the 2nd (Training) Battalion "Pordenone", while the 23rd Bersaglieri Battalion moved to Trapani in Sicily to join the Mechanized Brigade "Aosta". The same year the brigades battalions returned to be called regiments, although size and composition did not change. In 1997 the 33rd Tank Regiment of the Mechanized Brigade "Friuli" arrived and when the Mechanized Brigade "Mantova" was disbanded on 30 August of the same year the Ariete received the 82nd Mechanized Infantry Regiment "Torino" in Cormons, but already on 5 November 2001 the 82nd Regiment moved to Barletta in Southern Italy to join the Armored Brigade "Pinerolo". On 1 December 2000 the brigade took command of the 10th Engineer Regiment. When the Armored Brigade "Centauro" disbanded on 5 October 2002 the Ariete received the 3rd Bersaglieri Regiment and the 4th Tank Regiment. On 25 November 2009 the 3rd Bersaglieri Regiment moved to Sardinia and joined the Mechanized Brigade "Sassari".

Missions

In 1998 the Brigade's HQ, HQ & Tactical Support Battalion and Combat Service Support Battalion were deployed for a tour of duty in Sarajevo (Bosnia and Herzegovina, under the provision of the SFOR mandate for Operation Constant Forge, and three times in Kosovo (1999–2000, 2001, 2002) in Operation Joint Guardian, then Operation Consistent Effort, attached to NATO's Kosovo Force.

In 2001, the first enlisted women joined the ranks of the brigade units. These were later followed by female NCOs and Officers.

In 2002, elements from 10th Combat Engineer Regiment, and in 2004 the 132nd Artillery Regiment, took were deployed to Afghanistan. A significant part of the brigade was twice deployed to Iraq - first in early 2004 and a second time from late 2005 to early 2006. The latest overseas commitments were two deployments to Lebanon from early October 2007 to Spring 2008, then again in early summer to late Fall 2009. Small contribution of personnel (notably Staff Officers and NCOs) have been and are being provided to nearly all commitments overseas of Italian Army, from the Balkans, to Multinational HQs all around the world, including OMLT mentors supporting and advising the Afghan National Army in its struggle against insurgents.

Today

Structure of the brigade (click to enlarge) Struttura della Brigata Ariete.gif
Structure of the brigade (click to enlarge)
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Armored Brigade "Ariete" regiments in 2018
(The 10th Engineer Regiment is based in Cremona in Lombardy)

The Armored Brigade Ariete is along with the Bersaglieri Brigade "Garibaldi" one of two heavy formations of the Italian Army. The brigade is part of the Division "Vittorio Veneto" based in Florence. With the 2013 reform the brigade lost the 4th Tank Regiment and received the Cavalry Regiment "Lancieri di Novara" (5th) from the Cavalry Brigade "Pozzuolo del Friuli". The brigade headquarter is in Pordenone and the brigade consists of the following units:

All regiments are battalion sized.

Equipment

The tank regiments are equipped with Ariete main battle tanks. The Bersaglieri regiment fields Dardo infantry fighting vehicles. The Cavalry regiment is equipped with a mix of Centauro tank destroyers and VTLM Lince vehicles. The artillery regiment is equipped with PzH 2000 self-propelled howitzers.

Coat of arms

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References

Italian Army Homepage: Ariete Armored Brigade History

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