Re: Italian P.40 heavy tank: how well did they perform?

Branek wrote:
Here are the stats I have for this tank:

Weight : 26.0 ton
Dimensions : 5.80 x 2.80 x 2.52 mt
Armor (max) : 60 mm
Range : 150 km
Speed (max - route) :35 km/hr
Weapons : n.1 gun 75 mm + n.1 8.0 mm MG
Crew : 4

Apparently, this would have been the magnum opus of Italian tanks, how well did
they perform for the wehrmacht?

According to Germans it could hold its own against Shermans, but was still somewhat inferior to the later Pz IV models (Ausf. G and H). Reliability was not very good, albeit better than some of the earlier Italian mediums. Without a doubt it was still the best WW2 Italian tank design that was actually produced. Well, the L6 light tank was an OK reconnaissance vehicle, but it was often pushed to infantry support, which it was not designed for.

I'm somewhat shocked at how *really* bad italian tanks were. I wonder why the
Germans just didn't give them (the itais) plans for their tanks and have the italians just manufacture
German tanks for their own use?

The Germans did not have much cooperation with the Italians before Italy entered the war in June 1940. By that time it was too late to start any kind of widespread sharing of technology, since accommodating the Italian factories and production methods to German designs would have taken too much time, probably years. The Italians were for example still using rivets whereas the Germans used welding all the way.


Tero P. Mustalahti

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