The L6/40 was a light tank used by the Italian army from 1940 through

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

. It was designed by Ansaldo as an export product, and was adopted by the Italian Army when officials learned of the design and expressed interest. It was the main tank employed by the Italian forces fighting on the Eastern Front alongside the L6/40-based Semovente 47/32 self-propelled gun. L6/40s were also used in the North African campaign. The official Italian designation was Carro Armato ("armored vehicle", i.e. "tank") L6/40. This designation means: "L" for ''Leggero'' ("light"), followed by the weight in tons (6) and the year of adoption (1940).

Design and development

The L6/40 was a conventional light tank design of riveted construction. A one-man turret in the centre mounted a single Breda Modello 35 20 mm main gun and a

Breda 38 The Mitragliatrice Breda calibro 8 modello 38 per carri armati was an Italian tank-pattern machine gun used in the Second World War on the Fiat L6/40, the Fiat M11/39 and the Fiat M13/40. It was also adapted as infantry machine gun. The M38 is ...

8 mm

coaxial In geometry, coaxial means that several three-dimensional linear or planar forms share a common axis. The two-dimensional analog is ''concentric''. Common examples: A coaxial cable is a three-dimensional linear structure. It has a wire condu ...

machine gun. The driver sat in the front right of the hull. The riveted armour was six to 40 mm in thickness, which was roughly equivalent to existing Allied light tanks. A further development of the

L3/35 The L3/35 or Carro Veloce CV-35 was an Italian tankette that saw combat before and during World War II. Although designated a light tank by the Italian Army, its turretless configuration, weight and firepower make it closer to contemporary tan ...

light tank, the L6 went through a number of prototypes during the late 1930s. The first was armed with a

sponson Sponsons are projections extending from the sides of land vehicles, aircraft or watercraft to provide protection, stability, storage locations, mounting points for weapons or other devices, or equipment housing. Watercraft On watercraft, a spon ...

-mounted 37 mm main gun and a machine-gun armed turret. A later version featured a turret mounted 37 mm gun and yet another version had only twin 8 mm machine guns. Ultimately, the production configuration, named Carro Armato L6/40, was put into production in 1939, with 283 finally produced.

Variants

The L6 Lf (Lancia fiamme)

flame tank A flame tank is a type of tank equipped with a flamethrower, most commonly used to supplement combined arms attacks against fortifications, confined spaces, or other obstacles. The type only reached significant use in the Second World War, dur ...

variant was developed in which the main gun was replaced by a flamethrower with 200 litres of fuel. A command-tank variant carried extra radio gear and had an open-topped turret. The most successful of the L6 variants was the Semovente 47/32, which eliminated the turret and substituted a 47 mm antitank gun in the open-topped hull. A final version late in the war was an ammunition carrier armed only with a single 8 mm Breda machine gun. It was used alongside the Semovente 90/53, carrying 26 extra 90 mm rounds, as the Semovente 90/53 itself could only carry eight rounds.

Combat use

L6/40 light tanks were used by the Italians in the Balkans Campaign, in the war against the Soviet Union, in the latter stages of the North African campaign, and in the defence of

Sicily (man) it, Siciliana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Ethnicity , demographics1_footnotes = , demographi ...

and

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

. The L6/40 was the main tank employed by the Italian forces fighting on the Eastern Front. The L6 fought alongside the L6/40-based Semovente 47/32 self-propelled gun. Although a good light tank for its size and an improvement over the

tankette A tankette is a tracked armoured fighting vehicle that resembles a small tank, roughly the size of a car. It is mainly intended for light infantry support and scouting.

s that were common within the Italian army, it was already obsolete by the time of its introduction. The low silhouette of the vehicle (somewhat taller than the average man) made it useful for reconnaissance, and its armament was effective against any light vehicles it might encounter. However, due to a lack of a suitable medium tank, it was often employed in a combat role for which it was unsuited. The L6 was also used by the German Army. In 1943, 26 Italian L6s were captured and used by the Hrvatsko domobranstvo of the

Independent State of Croatia The Independent State of Croatia ( sh, Nezavisna Država Hrvatska, NDH; german: Unabhängiger Staat Kroatien; it, Stato indipendente di Croazia) was a World War II-era puppet state of Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy. It was established in p ...

. The L6/40 was used postwar by the

Polizia di Stato The ''Polizia di Stato'' (State Police or P.S.) is one of the national police forces of Italy. Alongside the Carabinieri, it is the main police force for providing police duties, primarily to cities and large towns, and with its child agencie ...

until it was phased out during the early 1950s.

Surviving examples

Three L6/40s survive: one is kept in Legnano near the "Cadorna" barracks, one is in the inventory of the

Kubinka Tank Museum The Kubinka Tank Museum (Центральный музей бронетанкового вооружения и техники - Tsentral'nyy Muzey Bronetankovogo Vooruzheniya I Tekhniki -Central Museum of Armored Arms and Technology) is a larg ...

, and another is preserved in the Arms Museum in the castle of

Gjirokastër Gjirokastër (, sq-definite, Gjirokastra) is a List of cities and towns in Albania, city in the Republic of Albania and the seat of Gjirokastër County and Gjirokastër Municipality. It is located in a valley between the Gjerë mountains and th ...

Albania Albania ( ; sq, Shqipëri or ), or , also or . officially the Republic of Albania ( sq, Republika e Shqipërisë), is a country in Southeastern Europe. It is located on the Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea and shares ...

Extended specification

* Water fording: 0.8 m (2 ft 8 in) * Gradient: 60% * Vertical obstacle: 0.7 m (2 ft 4 in) * Trench: 1.7 m (5 ft 7 in) * Elevation and Traverse: -12° to +20° through 360° of rotation

Photo Gallery

File:Fiat-Ansaldo L6 40.jpg, Fiat-Ansaldo L6/40 in 1940 File:Bundesarchiv Bild 101I-203-1680-14A, Albanien, deutsche Soldaten, italienischer Panzer.jpg, An L6/40 with German markings passes German infantrymen in occupied Albania, September 1943. File:Cingoletta Ansaldo L40.jpg, L6/40 ammunition carrier.

References

* Bishop, Chris (ed.) 1998, ''The Encyclopedia of Weapons of World War II,'' Barnes & Noble, New York. .

External links

L6/40 Light Tanks
at wwiivehicles.com

at onwar.com {{DEFAULTSORT:L6 40 Light tanks of Italy World War II tanks of Italy Gio. Ansaldo & C. armored vehicles World War II light tanks Military vehicles introduced from 1940 to 1944