18th (Croatian) Eastern Bosnian brigade
Operation ZIETHEN
Soviet 236th Rifle Division
Hellgate: London
France Pirc (1899 - 1954)
L6/40
Second light tank type in armament of Italian army was L6/40. Its construction dated back to 1936 when Fiat-Ansaldo constructed larger and heavier armed 5-tone tank with two crew members as possible replacement for L3. In the beginning L3 with 37mm gun look was copied
Italian army wasn't interested in the beginning, so the construction was improved only for exports, although later after experiments it was decided to replace L3 in cavalry units. New tank, which appeared in 1940, was . Prototypes had turret with 37mm gun or two machine-guns, but production variant received 20mm Breda automatic gun and co-axial machine-gun. Same turret was used with Autoblinda 41 armored cars.
L6/40 with radio was first used in action of one reconnaissance group in late 1941
First formation which used this tank in significant numbers was 3rd Group of regiment Lancieri di Novara, which was sent to North Africa as armored group of armored division Littorio in Spring 1942. L6/40 was usually given to the reconnaissance formation of Italian army and were also used in USSR, Sicily. Some were used in Yugoslavia against partisans, were several captured and used against previous owners.
Yugoslavia for occupation duties.
Armament: Crew: Armor: hull front and side - mm
hull rear - mm
hull top - mm
hull floor - mm
turret front - mm
turret side and rear - mm
turret top - mmMax speed: km/h ( mph) Range: km ( miles) Engine: six cylinder liquid cooled petrol rated at hp Fording: meters Vertical obstacle: meters Trench: meters Length: meters ( ft) Height: meters ( ft) Width: meters ( ft) Combat weight: kg ( lb)
tones ( US tons)
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