- Yes
- Maybe
- No
History.
The Carro Leggero L3/35 was a tankette produced by Ansaldo for the Royal Army starting in 1936. The project was an improvement of the previous CV33, in turn derived from the development of the English Carden-Loyd Mk VI light tank. In 1937 it had already been realized that the tank’s armament was too weak, and attempts had been made in vain to replace it with something more powerful. In North Africa the need for heavier armament became very evident, as the vehicles had difficulty facing even enemy armored cars. After a while, having understood the fact that Italian heavy machine guns were unsuitable for use on L3 tanks, it was decided to fall back on a weapon that was a good compromise between power and size, namely the 20 mm Solothurn S18/1000 rifle. mm. How to mount the rifle was tested in various ways: the best known is the use of the casemate weapon instead of machine guns. But there were other attempts to mount the weapon on the tank: the XXI L35 Tank Battalion in Cyrenaica in 1940 modified some L 35/r tanks (equipped with radios) to mount the rifle above the tank in a special bipod. By doing so the tank maintained the combination of machine guns and could also use the anti-tank rifle (however exposing the gunner, who could not use both armaments at the same time). Various of these adaptations were made on the tanks of that Battalion, but all the vehicles were lost over time and in the fighting against the English forces.
Armaments and propulsion.
The tank was equipped with two Breda Model 1938 machine guns, the standard machine guns for L tanks at that time, and a 20 mm Solothurn S18/1000 rifle. The rifle was placed higher than the machine guns, and had a firing angle of 40° with an elevation of -20°/+20°.
The tank was also powered by a Fiat 4-cylinder 2746 cc petrol engine with 43 HP of power, which allowed it to reach a maximum speed of 42 km/h.
Specifications.
Spoiler
Crew: 2
Length: 3.2m
Width: 1.46 m
Height: 1.8 m (with Solothurn rifle at maximum elevation)
Weight: 3.3 t
Engine: Fiat 4 cylinder 2746 cc petrol
Power: 43 HP
Maximum speed: 41 km/h
Autonomy: 130 kilometers
Maximum gradient: 45%
Armament: 2x Breda Mod.38 and 1x Solothurn S18/1000
Armor: 14-8 mm
Pictures and drawnings.
Sources.
Spoiler
LA MECCANIZZAZIONE DELL'ESERCITO FINO AL 1943 tomo I -parte 2 by Biblioteca Militare - Issuu
GLI AUTOVEICOLI DA COMBATTIMENTO DELL'ESERCITO ITALIANO VOL II TOMO II by Biblioteca Militare - Issuu
Giustino Bisol, patriarca del Prosecco Docg: «Tutto iniziò con 600 bottiglie imitando lo spumante di Asti» - Tribuna di Treviso