L3/35
Sign in to saveThe L3/35, also known as the Carro Veloce CV-35, was an Italian tankette that saw combat before and during World War II. It was one of the smallest tanks that faced combat. Although designated a light tank by the Italian Army, its turretless configuration, weight and firepower make it closer to contemporary tankettes. It was the most numerous Italian armoured fighting vehicle and saw service almost everywhere the Italians fought in the Second World War but proved inadequate for modern warfare, having too thin armour and weak armament of only machine guns. It was cheaply produced but because of
Key facts
- Weapon.name
- Carro Armato L3/35
- Weapon.image
- Carro Leggero 3 35-001.jpg
- Weapon.image_size
- 300
- Weapon.caption
- L3/35 displayed at the South African National Museum of Military History (without machine guns).
- Weapon.origin
- Kingdom of Italy
- Weapon.type
- Tankette
- Weapon.is_vehicle
- yes
- Weapon.is_UK
- yes
- Weapon.service
- 1 October 1935 – 1944
- Weapon.used_by
- Kingdom of Italy and others
- Weapon.wars
- Second Italo-Abyssinian War Spanish Civil War Second Sino-Japanese War Slovak–Hungarian War Invasion of Albania Second World War Greco-Italian War Anglo-Iraqi War Chinese Civil War War in Afghanistan (2001–2021)
- Weapon.production_date
- 1935–1938
- Weapon.number
- 1,200 L3/33; 1,300 L3/35
- Weapon.variants
- L3/33, L3/38, L3 cc, L3 Lf,
- Weapon.crew
- 2 (commander and driver)
- Weapon.primary_armament
- 2 × machine guns
- Weapon.engine
- FIAT-SPA CV3 water cooled
- Weapon.suspension
- bogie
via Wikipedia infobox
Article
22 sectionsContents
- Development
- L3/33
- L3/35
- L3/38
- Layout
- Production and sales
- Combat history
- Variants
- L3 cc anti-tank
- L3 Lf flamethrower
- L3 ''Centro Radio'' command tank
- L3 ''Passerella'' bridge layer
- Planned variants
- ''Carro Veloce Recupero''
- Semovente L3 da 47/32
- L3 tank
- Aborted Spanish upgrade
- Users
- See also
- Comparable vehicles
- References
- External links
The L3/35, also known as the Carro Veloce CV-35, was an Italian tankette that saw combat before and during World War II. It was one of the smallest tanks that faced combat. Although designated a light tank by the Italian Army, its turretless configuration, weight and firepower make it closer to contemporary tankettes. It was the most numerous Italian armoured fighting vehicle and saw service almost everywhere the Italians fought in the Second World War but proved inadequate for modern warfare, having too thin armour and weak armament of only machine guns. It was cheaply produced but because of its light armaments and armour it was reserved for mostly colonial, policing, reconnaissance, and supply duties. Its low production costs contributed to its successful deployment in the Second Italo-Abyssinian War, Spanish Civil War and the Greco-Italian War, where it provided reliable support to Italian infantry and disrupted enemy lines.
==Development== The L3/35 was developed from the Carden Loyd Mark VI tankette, four of which were imported from Britain in 1929. The first vehicle developed by the Italians from the Carden Lloyd tankette was designated CV-29; "CV" being an abbreviation of Carro Veloce (Italian: "fast tank") and "29" as the year of adoption. Only twenty-one CV-29s were built.