But despite these performances, the Army insisted for a better armed model. It has an impressive 42 km/h (26 mph) top speed and far better range (200 km/125 mi). The Carro Armato Leggera M6T (1938) was given a stronger chassis, more powerful SPA 8-cyl engine, a reworked suspension, and a light turret bearing twin 8 mm (0.31 in) Breda modello 38 machine-guns. A second prototype had the gun placed in the hull, and a fully traversible light machine-gun turret.ĭespite some production advantages, the Army choose a new scaled-up model. The armor was raised to 30 mm (1.18 in), speed lowered to 32 km/h (20 mph) and the range was only 80 km (50 km). This issue was first addressed with a prototype, the FIAT-Ansaldo Carro d’Assalto L/36 or 5-tons modello 36, a CV-35 light tank equipped with a new suspension and a light traversing turret, armed with a L/26 37 mm (1.46 in) and a coaxial Breda 6.5 mm (0.25 in) machine-gun. These had several limitations, like weak protection, machine-gun armament, and no traversing turret, which all prevented any use against other tanks. Accordingly, these light tanks saw extensive service, despite being obsolete by 1940.īy June 1940, the bulk of the Regio Esercito armored forces was made of light tanks. These were the most produced armored vehicles in Italy so far, being an export success and even cheaper than the original Vickers model. It was followed by the CV-35, and the CV-38. Ansaldo and FIAT earned contracts for the first Italian design, the CV-33 (“Carro Veloce”). The Mk.VI, distributed by Vickers, was an instant success, sold and produced under licence abroad. In 1928, an Italian army commission attended the first public demonstrations of the British fast one-man tankette designed by Major Giffard LeQuesne, which later became the first Carden-Loyd tankette design. Italian tank development during the thirties They also soldiered in East Africa, in the Balkans and Greece, and still operated in 1943, when the Allies landed in Sicily, at Gela. Despite this, some were exported, including to Eritrea, and others fought during the second Italian-Ethiopian war of 1935. But only 153 were built in all, and they never achieved all the expectations placed on them. The FIAT 3000B (later L5/30) was an important step towards full-scale tank production. From there on, official designations incorporated “Carro Armato or “CA”, meaning “armored carriage” and an abbreviation composed of the army model designation( L for “Leggera”, M for “Medio”, P for “Pesante”), the weight and the year of first production. Both formed the bulk of the Italian army corp, until new models arrived in 1935. A variant developed in 1930, armed with the Vickers-Termi 37 mm (1.46 in) gun, named FIAT 3000B. These vehicles were ready in 1922, and served well to forge Italian interwar armored tactics. The first model produced for the Royal Army (Regio Esercito) was a local derivative of the French Renault FT, called FIAT 3000. One of these two machines was operationally tested in Libya, and the other displayed in several propaganda shows.īy 1918, FIAT and Ansaldo were the only industrial complexes large enough to deal with tank production. It had innovative features, like a completely separated engine compartment, with the crew being posted above. It never entered production, as the war came to an end. It was a 40 ton boxy model, which bore some superficial resemblance to the German Sturmpanzerwagen A7V. It was ordered after the plans were drawn up, and the construction of two prototypes soon began. A similar indigenous model was started the same year when FIAT, by then the industrial giant of Italy, proposed a new design, the FIAT 2000. The general staff ordered a single French Schneider CA-1 in 1916, for extensive trials. However, in some areas, like Northern Dalmatia, tanks were ideally suited. The Austro-Hungarian border was mostly an Alpine battleground, which prevented any efficient use of tanks. However, the Italian view on armored warfare was limited in scope, mostly because of the landscape where most divisions fought. They observed Allied efforts in 1916, and the first successes in the field. Like other nations involved, Italian tank development dates back from WW1. Italian tanks ww2 Regio Esercito - Italian Tanks & armoured cars Tanks
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