Italian Armored Vehicles of WW II
Regio Esercito

At the end of WW I, the Kingdom of Italy had acquired 5 French tanks (4 FT-17 and 1 Schneider) and managed to produce some 120 Lancia 1ZM armored cars and 2 prototype heavy tanks (Fiat 2000). The armored cars saw service in Libya in the 1920's, Italian East Africa in 1935-6, and Spain 1936-39. Between the wars, armor developments were focused on light tanks. The 40-ton Fiat 2000 was deemed impractical for the army's needs. The first Italian production tanks were the Fiat 3000 model 1921 (indigenous version of the French FT-17). In 1929, the Italians purchased from Vickers of UK, 1 Carden-Lloyd Mk VI tankette. It was decided to move forward with this and developed the CV (carro veloce, fast tank) series of light tanks. The Fiat CV3/33 and CV3/35 became the main tank of the Italian Army from 1933 to 1941.

So, to summarize the state of armored forces in Italy just prior to WW II, the Italian Army fielded the WW I armored cars, the Fiat 3000 and CV3 light tanks, most of which were armed with MG's only. These were satisfactory in the Colonial African actions but in 1936, the Spanish revolution, they came up against modern Soviet tanks and armored cars with 45 mm guns. The Italian armored vehicles were completely defenseless against these weapons and for the first time, the Italians knew they had to upgrade their tanks to compete with European armies. This would be years in the works as the Italian had to overcome a great deal of problems to develop and produce these new Armored Vehicles. First of all, Italy lacked knowledge and experience in design of heavier modern tanks and armored cars with larger guns than MG's. Second, they lacked industrial facilities and skilled workers for production of said new weapons. Finally, they lacked raw materials for said new weapons. Let us consider that the Italians were also building naval ships, aircraft, and artillery.

Thus, on the eve of War the Italian Army commissioned the following production series to modernize their Armored Forces: AB40 armored cars, L6/40 light tanks, M series medium tanks, P26/40 heavy tank.