- 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 IV L35 Tank Battalion in North Africa modified some L3/35 tanks to mount the rifle above the tank in a joint on a support slightly set back from the brake ventilation hatch. In order to use the weapon, the shooter remained exposed to the eventual enemy reaction and while on the move the gun was anchored to the left front edge of the vehicle’s casemate.
This promising arrangement remained in place until late 1941 when the tanks were lost or modified.
Armaments and propulsion.
The tank was equipped with two Fiat-Revelli Modello 35 machine guns and a 20 mm Solothurn S18/1000 rifle. The rifle was placed higher than the machine guns, and had a firing angle of at least 30° (theorical 360°) with an elevation of -10°/+40°.
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: 3.4 t
Engine: Fiat 4 cylinder 2746 cc petrol
Power: 43 HP
Maximum speed: 40 km/h
Autonomy: 130 kilometers
Maximum gradient: 45%
Armament: 2x Fiat Mod. 14/35 and 1x Solothurn S18/1000
Armor: 14-8 mm
Pictures and drawnings.
Sources.
Spoiler
CV33 - Wikipedia
L 3-35 Light Tank
Italian tankette L3/33
Solothurn S 18-1000 - Tank Encyclopedia
“Gli autoveicoli da combattimento dell’esercito italiano Volume II”
“La meccanizzazione dell’esercito fino al 1941 tomo 1”