Carro Armato L3/38

This Italian L3/38 unit represents a family of 3-ton tankettes the Fiat-Ansaldo company designed and evolved in the 1930s in reference to the British Carden Loyd Mark VI tankette of the late 1920s. Initially given the nomenclature 'Carro Veloce' ('fast tank'), before World War II the Italian military re-classified these vehicles as 'Carro Armato Leggero,' or light tanks. With their turretless configuration, relatively low weight, thin armor, and minimal firepower, these vehicles were closer to contemporary tankettes than proper tanks. By the late 1930s, the L3/33, L3/35, and L3/38 were the most numerous Italian armoured fighting vehicle. Inexpensive and easy to produce, they saw service throughout Italy's colonial possessions in the 1930s, conducting colonial, policing, reconnaissance, and supply duties. They also proved to be effective in providing reliable support to Italian infantry and in disrupting enemy lines during the Second Italo-Abyssinian War (1935-1937), Spanish Civil War (1936-1939), and Greco-Italian War (1940-1941). However, when Italy entered World War II in 1940, the type quickly proved inadequate for modern warfare. Nevertheless, it served in the Italian Army throughout the war. Fiat-Ansaldo produced about 2,500 between 1935 and 1938. Minor variations are consolidated into this single unit. It carried a crew of 2 (commander and driver), was armed with two 8 mm (0.31 in) Breda Modello 38 machine guns in a forward-facing mantlett; and had a top speed of 26 mph.