Fiat L6/40

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Carro Armato L6/40
Type Light Tank
Place of origin Italy
Specifications
Weight 6.8 tonnes
Length 3.78 m (12 ft 5 in)
Width 1.92 m (6 ft 4 in)
Height 2.03 m (6 ft 8 in)
Crew 2 (commander/gunner and driver)
Armour 6 mm to 30 mm
Primary
armament		 20 mm Breda 35
Secondary
armament		 8 mm Breda 38 machine gun
Engine SPA 180 four-cylinder
70 hp (52 kW)
Operational
range		 200 km (125 mi)
Speed 42 km/h (26 mph) Road

The Fiat L6/40 was a light tank used by the Italian army from 1940 and on through World War II. The official Italian designation was Carro Armato L 6/40. This designation includes the weight in tons and the year of adoption.

Contents

[edit] Description and History

The L6/40 was a conventional light tank design of riveted construction. A one-man turret in the center mounted a single Breda Modello 35 20 mm main gun and a Breda Modello 38 8 mm coaxial machine gun. The driver sat in the front right of the hull. Armor was 6 to 30 mm in thickness. In armor and firepower the L6/40 was the rough equivalent of contemporary light tanks.

Interestingly, the vehicle was designed by Fiat-Ansaldo as an export product, and was only adopted by the Italian Army when military officials learned of the design and expressed interest.

The L6/40 was the main tank employed by the Italian forces fighting on the Eastern Front alongside the L 6/40-based Semovente 47/32. L6/40s were also used in the North African Campaign.

[edit] Development

A further development of the Fiat L3 light tank, the L6 went through a number of prototypes during the late 1930s. The first was armed with a sponson-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.

A flamethrower variant was developed in which the main gun was replaced by a flamethrower with 200 l of fuel. A command-tank variant carried extra radio gear and had an open-topped turret. Most successful of the 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 armed only with a single 8 mm Breda machine gun. It was used alongside the Semovente 90/53 in order to carry extra ammunition, as the Semovente itself only carried 6 rounds of ammunition.

[edit] Extended specification

  • Obstacle clearance:
    • Water fording: 0.8 m (2 ft 8 in)
    • Gradient: 60%
    • Vertical obstacle: 0.7 m (2 ft 4 in)
    • Trench: 1.7m (5 ft 7 in)
  • Armament
    • Ammunition: 296 rounds of 20 mm and 1,560 rounds of 8 mm
    • Elevation and Traverse: -12° to +20° through 360° of rotation

[edit] External links

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  • Bishop, Chris (ed.) 1998, The Encyclopedia of Weapons of World War II, Barnes & Noble, New York. ISBN 0-7607-1022-8.


Italian armoured fighting vehicles of World War II
Light Tanks and Tankettes
L3/35 | Fiat L6/40
Medium Tanks
Fiat M11/39 | Fiat M13/40 | Fiat M14/41 | M15/42
Heavy Tanks
P 40
Armoured Cars
AB 40 | AB 41 | Lince scout car
Self propelled guns
Semovente 47/32 | Semovente 75/18 | Semovente 75/34 | Semovente 90/53 | Semovente 105/25 | Semovente 149/40
Italian armoured fighting vehicle production during World War II
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