Tankopedia
WW2MediumMedium TankItaly

Carro Armato P26/40

In service 1943 - 1945

Italy only heavy-class tank, finished just as Italy left the war, so almost all of them fought in German hands.

Built byFiat-Ansaldo

Carro Armato P26/40
Ansaldo P26/40 — Unknown author, via Wikimedia Commons · Public domain

Development history

The P26/40 finally gave Italy sloped 50 mm armour and a 75 mm gun able to fight Allied medium tanks, but its intended diesel engine was unready and development dragged from 1940 to 1943. The armistice of September 1943 came as the first production vehicles were leaving Fiat-Ansaldo, and the Germans took over both the tanks and the factory, using them for occupation duties and anti-partisan work in Italy and the Balkans as the Panzerkampfwagen P40. Around a hundred were completed.

Variants

One canonical record, 2 recorded variants.

  1. P26/40 first series

    1943

    Petrol-engined early vehicles completed before the armistice.

  2. Panzerkampfwagen P40 (German service)

    1944

    Vehicles seized and used by German forces in Italy and the Balkans.

Notable actions

  • Italian campaign (German service)
  • Balkans anti-partisan operations