Though the first tank on comparable terms with Allied tanks - the P26/40 was still not a very good tank due to engine and reliability problems. Of the 1,500 ordered - only a handful were completed as operational tanks. Most of the tanks built ended up being used as pillboxes.
CARRO ARMATO PESANTE P26/40Although designed in 1940 the first prototype was not completed until 1942. The initial plan was for a 25 ton tank with a 75 mm gun and hence named P75. The development work procedeed quickly except for the engine; the Italian military staff, the Stato Maggiore, wanted a diesel engine, while the builders favoured a petrol engine. However, in Italy at the time there were no new engines available, diesel or petrol, capable of delivering the necessary 300 hp required, and the Italian tank industry (i.e. the duopoly Fiat-Ansaldo) didn't think to use easily available old aircraft engines for its tanks as the contemporary U.S., British and Russian tank manufacturers had done. The design of a new engine was very slow and in the end a 420 hp petrol engine was eventually tested. The main weapon selected was a 75/34 cannon (in lieu of the shorter barrelled original 75/18 gun). The tank's armor was sloped and 60 mm thick at the front. The P40 was the first Italian tank design that was comparable to Allied medium tanks.
Of the 1,200 tanks ordered, only five pre-production models were completed before the Italian surrender in September 1943 when they were taken over by the German troops. About a hundred P40 tanks were built by Ansaldo from then until the end of the war although most were not entirely completed because of a lack of engines. A few were used in combat, under the German designation of Panzerkampfwagen P40 737(i), for example at Anzio. Some, without engines, were used as static strongholds.
Country : Italy
Role : Heavy Tank
Production Date : April 1943
Manufacturer : Fiat
Number Produced : 105
Crew : 4
Radio : RF.2CA
MECHANICS:
Road Speed : 42 Kilometers per Hour
Rough Speed : 15 Kilometers per Hour
Road Range: 275 Kilometers
Off-Road Range: Unknown Kilometers
Engine Name: Fiat SPA
Coolant : Water
Cylinders: V-12
Capacity: 25 Liters
Power : 330 hp @ 2100 rpm
Power / Weight Ratio : 21.29 hp per tonne
Transmission : Unknown
Gears : 5 Forward / 1 Reverse
Suspenion : Semi-Elliptic Leaf Spring
Fuel Type : Diesel
Fuel Capacity: 227 Liters
Road Consumption: 0.83 Liters per Kilometer
Off-Road Consumption: Unknown Liters per Kilometer
SPECS:
Length : 5.8 meters
Height : 2.5 meters
Width : 2.8 meters
Weight : 15500 kilograms
Ground Clearance : 41 centimeters
Ground Pressure : Unknown kg/cm²
Track Links : Unknown per track
Track Width : Unknown centimeters
Track Ground Contact : Unknown centimeters
Gradiant : 45°
Vertical Obsticle : 0.8 meters
Fording Depth : 1 meters
Trench Crossing : 2.1 meters
Turning Radius : Unknown meters
ARMAMENT:
Main Gun : 75mm Breda 75/34 M39 L / 34
Gunsight : Unknown
Traverse : 360° (Electric)
Elevation : +23° / -10°
Main Gun Ammo : 63
Secondary Weapons : 1x 8mm Breda M38 (Coaxial - 576 rounds)
1x 8mm Breda M38 (AA - 576 rounds each)
ARMOR:
Hull Front (Upper) : 50mm @ 45°
Hull Front (Lower) : 50mm @ 35°
Hull Sides (Upper) : 45mm @ 55°
Hull Sides (Lower) : 40mm @ 90°
Hull Rear : 40mm @ 80°
Hull Top : 20mm @ 7°& 0°
Hull Bottom : 15mm @ 0°
Turret Front : 60mm @ 75°
Turret Mantlet : 60mm @ Round
Turret Sides : 45mm @ 65°
Turret Rear : 40mm @ 65°
Turret Top : 20mm @ 8° & 0°
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