Carro Armato P26/40

The 26-ton Fiat-Ansaldo Carro Armato P26/40 was an Italian heavy tank that saw limited service in small numbers (with 103 examples produced 1943-1944). Development began in 1940, but its design was significantly influenced by Italian experiences facing T-34 and KV tanks on the Eastern Front in 1941 so that only a handful of pre-production models were available at the time of the September 1943 armistace. The type featured a 75 mm (L/34) main gun in a fully-rotating turret; it also carried one or two 8 mm Breda 38 machine guns. Its turret and hull were sloped and thickly-armored, by Italian standards. On-par with its contemporaries in some respects, the type was without some modern features such as welded armour, modern suspension, and a cupola for the commander. Characterized as a 'heavy tank' in the context of Italian armored doctrin, in weight, armour, and armament it was similar to the medium tanks of the Wehrmacht or other contemporary armies, its armament and protection being roughly the same as the early production American M4 Sherman tank. After the armistace, the Germans used some in combat under the designation Panzerkampfwagen P40 737(i), notably at Anzio, northern Italy, and briefly for policing duties in Russia. German forces also dug-in about 100 examples late in the war as static emplacements in northern Italy.