The L3/35 or Carro Veloce CV-35 was an Italian
tankette
A tankette is a tracked armoured fighting vehicle that resembles a small tank, roughly the size of a car. It is mainly intended for light infantry support and scouting. that saw combat before and during
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
.
Although designated a light tank by the Italian Army, its turretless configuration, weight and
firepower
Firepower is the military capability to direct force at an enemy. (It is not to be confused with the concept of rate of fire, which describes the cycling of the firing mechanism in a weapon system.) Firepower involves the whole range of potent ...
make it closer to contemporary tankettes. It was the most numerous Italian
armoured fighting vehicle
An armoured fighting vehicle (AFV) is an armed combat vehicle protected by armour, generally combining operational mobility with offensive and defensive capabilities. AFVs can be wheeled or tracked. Examples of AFVs are tanks, armoured car ...
and saw service almost everywhere the Italians fought in World War II 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 to mostly colonial, policing, reconnaissance, and supply duties. However, given its low production costs, proved to be efficient in the
Second Italo-Abyssinian War
The Second Italo-Ethiopian War, also referred to as the Second Italo-Abyssinian War, was a war of aggression which was fought between Italy and Ethiopia from October 1935 to February 1937. In Ethiopia it is often referred to simply as the Itali ...
,
Spanish Civil War
The Spanish Civil War ( es, Guerra Civil Española)) or The Revolution ( es, La Revolución, link=no) among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War ( es, Cuarta Guerra Carlista, link=no) among Carlists, and The Rebellion ( es, La Rebelión, lin ...
and the
Greco-Italian War
The Greco-Italian War (Greek language, Greek: Ελληνοϊταλικός Πόλεμος, ''Ellinoïtalikós Pólemos''), also called the Italo-Greek War, Italian Campaign in Greece, and the War of '40 in Greece, took place between the kingdom ...
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
Britain most often refers to:
* The United Kingdom, a sovereign state in Europe comprising the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland and many smaller islands
* Great Britain, the largest island in the United King ...
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.
L3/33
In 1933, a new design was built jointly by the
Fiat Company of
Turin
Turin ( , Piedmontese language, Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital ...
and the
Ansaldo Company of
Genoa
Genoa ( ; it, Genova ; lij, Zêna ). is the capital of the Italian region of Liguria and the List of cities in Italy, sixth-largest city in Italy. In 2015, 594,733 people lived within the city's administrative limits. As of the 2011 Italian ce ...
. This vehicle was introduced as the
Fiat-Ansaldo CV-33. About 300 CV-33s were built.
L3/35
In 1935, a slightly improved model of the CV-33 was introduced and designated CV-35. The primary differences were that the armour was bolted rather than riveted and the single 6.5 mm machine gun was replaced with twin 8 mm machine guns.
Many older CV-33s were retrofitted to meet the specifications of the CV-35. In 1938, the vehicles were redesignated L3/33 ("L" for ''Leggero'' or 'light') and the L3/35.
L3/38
In 1938, a further development of the L3 design was designated L3/38. The L3/38 had
torsion bar
A torsion bar suspension, also known as a torsion spring suspension, is any vehicle suspension that uses a torsion bar as its main weight-bearing spring. One end of a long metal bar is attached firmly to the vehicle chassis; the opposite end termi ...
suspension and two versions of a single mounted 13.2 mm machine gun.
Italy retrofitted at least 12 L3/35s to meet the specifications of the L3/38. The converted L3/35s with the L3/38's torsion bar suspension saw limited service in September 1943 until June 1944. These L3/38s versions of the L3/35s were armed with a single 13.2 mm Breda M31 machine gun.
Layout
The L3/35 was a lightly armoured two-man vehicle typically armed with twin 8 mm machine guns, though variants were developed with other armament.
Other than the number and type of machine guns, the differences between the L3/35 and the L3/33 were few. Both featured riveted and welded construction.
The vehicle's commander/gunner sat on the left and the driver sat on the right. The engine was mounted transversely in the rear.
A circular radiator was mounted behind the engine. The transmission went to the front to the final drive. The Vickers-Carden-Lloyd type suspension had two three-wheel
bogies
A bogie ( ) (in some senses called a truck in North American English) is a chassis or framework that carries a wheelset, attached to a vehicle—a modular subassembly of wheels and axles. Bogies take various forms in various modes of transp ...
on leaf spring and a single unsprung wheel on each side. There was an
acacia wood rail that the top run of the tracks went on.
Production and sales
Between 2,000 and 2,500 L3 tankettes were built in different models and variants for the
Royal Italian Army
The Royal Italian Army ( it, Regio Esercito, , Royal Army) was the land force of the Kingdom of Italy, established with the proclamation of the Kingdom of Italy. During the 19th century Italy started to unify into one country, and in 1861 Manfre ...
(''Regio Esercito'') and for other users.
Twenty L3/33 tankettes were sold to
China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
. Other L3 tankettes were sold to
Afghanistan
Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...
(unknown number),
Albania
Albania ( ; sq, Shqipëri or ), or , also or . officially the Republic of Albania ( sq, Republika e Shqipërisë), is a country in Southeastern Europe. It is located on the Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea and shares ...
(unknown number),
Austria
Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...
(72),
Bolivia
, image_flag = Bandera de Bolivia (Estado).svg
, flag_alt = Horizontal tricolor (red, yellow, and green from top to bottom) with the coat of arms of Bolivia in the center
, flag_alt2 = 7 × 7 square p ...
(14),
Brazil
Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...
(23),
Bulgaria
Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedon ...
(14),
Croatia
, image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg
, image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg
, anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland")
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, capit ...
(10),
Hungary
Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia a ...
(65),
Iraq
Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...
(16),
Nationalist Spain
Francoist Spain ( es, España franquista), or the Francoist dictatorship (), was the period of Spanish history between 1939 and 1975, when Francisco Franco ruled Spain after the Spanish Civil War with the title . After his death in 1975, Spai ...
, and
Venezuela
Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...
(2).
Many foreign buyers substituted other machine guns as the main armament. The Hungarians added a raised commander's vision cupola to 45 of the L3s they acquired. In 1937, the Brazilian Army ordered 18 L3/35 tankettes, designated ''Auto Metralhadora de Reconhecimento''
which remained in active service until 1945 when some units were resold to the
Dominican Republic
The Dominican Republic ( ; es, República Dominicana, ) is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean region. It occupies the eastern five-eighths of the island, which it shares wit ...
. Venezuela bought two units in 1934 for evaluation in infantry support operations, because of several incidents on the border with Colombia, like other weapons acquired from the Italian mission they did not survive past World War II.
Combat history
![Bundesarchiv Bild 101I-201-1563-11A, Balkan, deutsche und italienische Soldaten](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1b/Bundesarchiv_Bild_101I-201-1563-11A%2C_Balkan%2C_deutsche_und_italienische_Soldaten.jpg)
In addition to seeing action in the
Second Italo-Abyssinian War
The Second Italo-Ethiopian War, also referred to as the Second Italo-Abyssinian War, was a war of aggression which was fought between Italy and Ethiopia from October 1935 to February 1937. In Ethiopia it is often referred to simply as the Itali ...
, the
Second Sino-Japanese War
The Second Sino-Japanese War (1937–1945) or War of Resistance (Chinese term) was a military conflict that was primarily waged between the Republic of China and the Empire of Japan. The war made up the Chinese theater of the wider Pacific Th ...
, the
Spanish Civil War
The Spanish Civil War ( es, Guerra Civil Española)) or The Revolution ( es, La Revolución, link=no) among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War ( es, Cuarta Guerra Carlista, link=no) among Carlists, and The Rebellion ( es, La Rebelión, lin ...
, the
Slovak-Hungarian War, and the
Anglo-Iraqi War
The Anglo-Iraqi War was a British-led Allied military campaign during the Second World War against the Kingdom of Iraq under Rashid Gaylani, who had seized power in the 1941 Iraqi coup d'état, with assistance from Germany and Italy. The c ...
, the L3 was used almost everywhere that Italian troops fought during
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
.
L3s were found on the
Italian/French border,
North Africa
North Africa, or Northern Africa is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region, and it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of Mauritania in ...
,
Italian East Africa
Italian East Africa ( it, Africa Orientale Italiana, AOI) was an Italian colony in the Horn of Africa. It was formed in 1936 through the merger of Italian Somalia, Italian Eritrea, and the newly occupied Ethiopian Empire, conquered in the Seco ...
, the
Balkans
The Balkans ( ), also known as the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throughout the who ...
,
USSR
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...
,
Sicily
(man) it, Siciliana (woman)
, population_note =
, population_blank1_title =
, population_blank1 =
, demographics_type1 = Ethnicity
, demographics1_footnotes =
, demographi ...
, and
Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...
.
The combat performance of the L3s during the
interwar period
In the history of the 20th century, the interwar period lasted from 11 November 1918 to 1 September 1939 (20 years, 9 months, 21 days), the end of the World War I, First World War to the beginning of the World War II, Second World War. The in ...
was poor. On at least two occasions during the
Italian
Italian(s) may refer to:
* Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries
** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom
** Italian language, a Romance language
*** Regional Ita ...
invasion of
Ethiopia
Ethiopia, , om, Itiyoophiyaa, so, Itoobiya, ti, ኢትዮጵያ, Ítiyop'iya, aa, Itiyoppiya officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country in the Horn of Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the ...
,
L3s were put out of action by massed infantry attacks. In the
Spanish Civil War
The Spanish Civil War ( es, Guerra Civil Española)) or The Revolution ( es, La Revolución, link=no) among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War ( es, Cuarta Guerra Carlista, link=no) among Carlists, and The Rebellion ( es, La Rebelión, lin ...
, L3s of the
Corps of Volunteer Troops (''Corpo Truppe Volontarie'', or CTV) were totally out-classed by the
T-26
The T-26 tank was a Soviet light tank used during many conflicts of the Interwar period and in World War II. It was a development of the British Vickers 6-Ton tank and was one of the most successful tank designs of the 1930s until its light ...
and
BT-5
The BT tanks (russian: Быстроходный танк/БТ, translit=Bystrokhodnyy tank, lit. "fast moving tank" or "high-speed tank") were a series of Soviet light tanks produced in large numbers between 1932 and 1941. They were lightly arm ...
tanks provided to the
Republican forces by the
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...
. The L3s were not a factor in
the brief war between
Hungary
Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia a ...
and
Slovakia
Slovakia (; sk, Slovensko ), officially the Slovak Republic ( sk, Slovenská republika, links=no ), is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the s ...
in 1939.
On 10 June 1940, when
Italy entered World War II, the
Royal Italian Army
The Royal Italian Army ( it, Regio Esercito, , Royal Army) was the land force of the Kingdom of Italy, established with the proclamation of the Kingdom of Italy. During the 19th century Italy started to unify into one country, and in 1861 Manfre ...
(''Regio Esercito'') possessed only about one-hundred
M11/39 medium tanks in two tank battalions. L3 tankettes still equipped all three Italian armoured divisions, the tank battalions in the motorized divisions, the light tank squadron group in each "Fast" (''Celere'') division, and numerous independent tank battalions.
On 22 March 1941, two Iraqi L3s were reported to have been put out of action near
Fallujah
Fallujah ( ar, ٱلْفَلُّوجَة, al-Fallūjah, Iraqi pronunciation: ) is a city in the Iraqi province of Al Anbar, located roughly west of Baghdad on the Euphrates. Fallujah dates from Babylonian times and was host to important Jew ...
during the
Anglo-Iraqi War
The Anglo-Iraqi War was a British-led Allied military campaign during the Second World War against the Kingdom of Iraq under Rashid Gaylani, who had seized power in the 1941 Iraqi coup d'état, with assistance from Germany and Italy. The c ...
.
More than 40 captured L3 tankettes were used by the Greek Army during the
Greco-Italian War
The Greco-Italian War (Greek language, Greek: Ελληνοϊταλικός Πόλεμος, ''Ellinoïtalikós Pólemos''), also called the Italo-Greek War, Italian Campaign in Greece, and the War of '40 in Greece, took place between the kingdom ...
, fought from 1940 to 1941, and were used to equip the
19th Mechanized Division, although they did not take part in combat with the latter. After the
invasion of Yugoslavia
The invasion of Yugoslavia, also known as the April War or Operation 25, or ''Projekt 25'' was a German-led attack on the Kingdom of Yugoslavia by the Axis powers which began on 6 April 1941 during World War II. The order for the invasion was p ...
and
Greece
Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...
in April 1941, L3 tankettes were also captured by the
Yugoslav and
Greek
Greek may refer to:
Greece
Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe:
*Greeks, an ethnic group.
*Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family.
**Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...
resistance forces. From 1941, some L3 tankettes were given to the German
puppet government
A puppet state, puppet régime, puppet government or dummy government, is a state that is ''de jure'' independent but ''de facto'' completely dependent upon an outside power and subject to its orders.Compare: Puppet states have nominal sovere ...
of the
Independent State of Croatia
The Independent State of Croatia ( sh, Nezavisna Država Hrvatska, NDH; german: Unabhängiger Staat Kroatien; it, Stato indipendente di Croazia) was a World War II-era puppet state of Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy (1922–1943), Fascist It ...
(''Nezavisna Država Hrvatska'', or NDH).
Though numerous, Italy's tankettes proved to be outclassed from the start and also proved to be of low tactical value. They were vulnerable to the British
Boys anti-tank rifle
The Boys anti-tank rifle (officially Rifle, Anti-Tank, .55in, Boys, and sometimes incorrectly spelled "Boyes"), is a British anti-tank rifle used during the Second World War. It was often nicknamed the "elephant gun" by its users due to its si ...
s. Other than those used for occupation duties in the Balkans and elsewhere, few L3s remained in front line service past the end of 1940. After the
Italian armistice with the Allies in 1943, L3 tankettes were used by
German Army
The German Army (, "army") is the land component of the armed forces of Germany. The present-day German Army was founded in 1955 as part of the newly formed West German ''Bundeswehr'' together with the ''Marine'' (German Navy) and the ''Luftwaf ...
forces and by the pro-Nazi
National Republican Army
The National Republican Army (Esercito Nazionale Repubblicano, or ENR) was the army of the Italian Social Republic ( it, Repubblica Sociale Italiana, or RSI) from 1943 to 1945 that fought on the side of Nazi Germany during World War II.
The EN ...
of the
Italian Social Republic
The Italian Social Republic ( it, Repubblica Sociale Italiana, ; RSI), known as the National Republican State of Italy ( it, Stato Nazionale Repubblicano d'Italia, SNRI) prior to December 1943 but more popularly known as the Republic of Salò ...
. Hungarian L3s had by this point been issued to the
Gendarmerie
Wrong info! -->
A gendarmerie () is a military force with law enforcement duties among the civilian population. The term ''gendarme'' () is derived from the medieval French expression ', which translates to " men-at-arms" (literally, ...
and 10 saw combat in Budapest and were destroyed in the fighting to reclaim the Racecourse Airfield.
L3/35s also joined the
Chinese Nationalist Army
The National Revolutionary Army (NRA; ), sometimes shortened to Revolutionary Army () before 1928, and as National Army () after 1928, was the military arm of the Kuomintang (KMT, or the Chinese Nationalist Party) from 1925 until 1947 in Chin ...
fighting against the
Japanese Imperial Army
The was the official ground-based armed force of the Empire of Japan from 1868 to 1945. It was controlled by the Imperial Japanese Army General Staff Office and the Ministry of the Army, both of which were nominally subordinate to the Emperor o ...
during the
Second Sino-Japanese War
The Second Sino-Japanese War (1937–1945) or War of Resistance (Chinese term) was a military conflict that was primarily waged between the Republic of China and the Empire of Japan. The war made up the Chinese theater of the wider Pacific Th ...
and the Communists during the
Chinese Civil War
The Chinese Civil War was fought between the Kuomintang-led government of the Republic of China and forces of the Chinese Communist Party, continuing intermittently since 1 August 1927 until 7 December 1949 with a Communist victory on m ...
Variants
![Bundesarchiv Bild 183-P0214-516, Spanien, Schlacht um Guadalajara](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/83/Bundesarchiv_Bild_183-P0214-516%2C_Spanien%2C_Schlacht_um_Guadalajara.jpg)
The L3/35 appeared in several variants including an anti-tank variant and a flame thrower variant.
L3 cc anti-tank
The "L3 cc" anti-tank (''controcarro'') was an L3 with a
Solothurn 20 mm anti-tank rifle
An anti-tank rifle is an anti-materiel rifle designed to penetrate the vehicle armor, armor of armored fighting vehicles, most commonly tanks, armored personnel carriers, and infantry fighting vehicles. The term is usually used for weapons that c ...
mounted in place of its normal machine gun armament. Only a few were so modified, and they saw action only in North Africa.
The Solothurn rifle could penetrate up to 18 mm of armor at 300 m (328 yards) which was effective against lightly armoured vehicles.
L3 Lf flamethrower
Development of the "L3 Lf" flamethrower (''lancia fiamme'')
flame tank
A flame tank is a type of tank equipped with a flamethrower, most commonly used to supplement combined arms attacks against fortifications, confined spaces, or other obstacles. The type only reached significant use in the Second World War, dur ...
began in 1935. The flamethrower nozzle replaced one of the machine guns, and the flame fuel was carried in an armoured 500-litre (133 US gallons) fuel trailer towed by the vehicle. Later versions carried another 60 litres of fuel in a box-shaped tank mounted above the L3's engine compartment. The vehicle weighed 5 metric tons.
The L3 Lf saw action in Abyssinia, Spain, France, the Balkans, North Africa, and Italian East Africa. From 1936 each CV/L3 company had a single L3 Lf platoon.
[Pignato 2004,p. 8-9]
L3 ''Centro Radio'' command tank
The basic L3 platform was also employed as a
command vehicle using the Marelli RF1 CA radio in platoon and company command vehicles. The L3 was considered too small to be effectively employed as a regimental level command radio vehicle so this task fell to the later and slightly larger
L6/40 CR (''Centro Radio'' = Radio Center).
L3 ''Passerella'' bridge layer
The few L3 ''Passerella'' (bridge layer) vehicles constructed were assigned to units at Armoured Brigade levels. The bridge was stripped down into sections on a trailer towed by the L3 itself for travel. On arriving at the combat zone, this bridge was assembled on the front of the tank, suspended by cables from two small cranes located over the crew's superstructure. The crew laid the completed bridge over the obstacle from within the vehicle. A L3 ''Passerella'' crew took seven minutes to lay out this bridge.
Planned variants
A single
Savoia-Marchetti SM.82 aircraft was modified to carry a L3/33 recessed under the fuselage for experiments with
airborne
Airborne or Airborn may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media
Films
* ''Airborne'' (1962 film), a 1962 American film directed by James Landis
* ''Airborne'' (1993 film), a comedy–drama film
* ''Airborne'' (1998 film), an action film sta ...
armour.
''Carro Veloce Recupero''
Unarmed
armoured recovery vehicle
An armoured recovery vehicle (ARV) is typically a powerful tank or armoured personnel carrier (APC) chassis modified for use during combat for military vehicle recovery (towing) or repair of battle-damaged, stuck, and/or inoperable armoured f ...
with a rear tow bar, did not progress beyond the
prototype
A prototype is an early sample, model, or release of a product built to test a concept or process. It is a term used in a variety of contexts, including semantics, design, electronics, and Software prototyping, software programming. A prototyp ...
stage.
[Miller, Chris, ]
The Illustrated Directory of Tanks of the World
', Zenith Imprint (2000), , pp.166-167
Semovente L3 da 47/32
Tank destroyer with a
47 mm L/32 gun mounted in the hull, based on the L3/35. At least one built but did not enter service.
L3 tank
Tank built by Fiat-Ansaldo in 1937 on the L3/33 chassis with a redesigned hull and a 20 mm gun in a rotating turret. Did not enter serial production.
Aborted Spanish upgrade
On 8 August 1937, Major General García Pallasar had received a note from Generalísimo
Francisco Franco
Francisco Franco Bahamonde (; 4 December 1892 – 20 November 1975) was a Spanish general who led the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalist forces in overthrowing the Second Spanish Republic during the Spanish Civil War ...
which expressed the need for a
Panzer I
The Panzer I was a light tank produced in Nazi Germany in the 1930s. Its name is short for (German for "armored fighting vehicle mark I"), abbreviated as . The tank's official German ordnance inventory designation was ''Sd.Kfz. 101'' ...
armed with a 20 mm gun. Although originally forty Italian L3/35 tankettes were ordered with the original armament exchanged for the 20 mm
Breda Model 35
The Breda 20/65 mod.35 (''"Breda 20 mm L/65 model 1935"''), also simply known as 20 mm Breda or Breda Model 35, among other variations, was an Italian anti-aircraft gun produced by the Società Italiana Ernesto Breda of Brescia company ...
instead, this order was subsequently cancelled after it was thought that the adaptation of the same gun to the German Panzer I would yield better results.
Users
*: at least one seen in use by Taliban in working condition.
*: some later modified with Soviet
KPV machine guns
*
Austria
Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...
: 36 CV-35s of the first batch of production, delivered in March 1937.
*: 18 armed with twin-
Madsen machine gun
The Madsen is a light machine gun that Julius A. Rasmussen and Theodor Schouboe designed and proposed for adoption by Colonel Vilhelm Herman Oluf Madsen, the Danish Minister of War, and that the Royal Danish Army adopted in 1902. It was the wor ...
s and 5 armed with a 13.2 Breda heavy machine gun.
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
* (the 2 examples were the first armoured vehicles used by its army)
*
Ethiopian Empire
The Ethiopian Empire (), also formerly known by the exonym Abyssinia, or just simply known as Ethiopia (; Amharic and Tigrinya: ኢትዮጵያ , , Oromo: Itoophiyaa, Somali: Itoobiya, Afar: ''Itiyoophiyaa''), was an empire that historical ...
Captured tanks during the
Second Italo-Ethiopian War
The Second Italo-Ethiopian War, also referred to as the Second Italo-Abyssinian War, was a war of aggression which was fought between Italy and Ethiopia from October 1935 to February 1937. In Ethiopia it is often referred to simply as the Itali ...
See also
*
Military history of Italy during World War II
The participation of Italy in the Second World War was characterized by a complex framework of ideology, politics, and diplomacy, while its military actions were often heavily influenced by external factors. Italy joined the war as one of the ...
*
List of tanks in the Spanish Civil War
The Spanish Civil War, fought between 1936 and 1939, provided an opportunity for many European countries to evaluate new technologies and tactics, including armored warfare. At the beginning of the war, the Nationalist and Popular Fronts each ...
*
Tank and Armoured Cars Group
*
Weapons employed in the Slovak-Hungarian War
A weapon, arm or armament is any implement or device that can be used to deter, threaten, inflict physical damage, harm, or kill. Weapons are used to increase the efficacy and efficiency of activities such as hunting, crime, law enforcement, s ...
Comparable vehicles
* Germany:
Panzer I
The Panzer I was a light tank produced in Nazi Germany in the 1930s. Its name is short for (German for "armored fighting vehicle mark I"), abbreviated as . The tank's official German ordnance inventory designation was ''Sd.Kfz. 101'' ...
* Italy:
L3/33
The Carro Veloce 33 (CV 33) or L3/33 was a tankette originally built in 1933 and used by the Italian Army before and during World War II. It was based on the imported British Carden Loyd tankette (license-built by Italy as the CV 29). ...
* Japan:
Type 94
* Romania:
R-1
* Poland:
TK-3 TK-3 may refer to:
*TK-3 (tankette), a Polish military vehicle of the Second World War
* Teradako-ken TK-3, a Japanese transport plane of the Second World War
*TK-3 (missile) or Sky Bow III, a 2010s Taiwanese anti-aircraft system
See also
*VR Clas ...
and
TKS
The TK (TK-3) and TKS were Polish tankettes developed during the 1930s and used in the Second World War.
Design and development
The TK (also known as the TK-3) tankette was a Polish design produced from 1931 based on the chassis of the British C ...
* Soviet Union:
T-27
The T-27 was a tankette produced in the 1930s by the Soviet Union. It was based on the design of the Carden Loyd tankette, bought under license from the United Kingdom in 1930.
Design
The Soviets were not fully satisfied with the Carden Loyd desi ...
•
T-37A •
T-38 T38 or T-38 may refer to:
* T38 (classification), a disability sport classification for disability athletics
* T.38, a standard for fax over IP
* T-38 tank, a Soviet light tank
* Allison T38, a turboprop aircraft engine
* Northrop T-38 Talon, a U.S ...
* Sweden:
Strv m/37
* United Kingdom:
Light Tank Mk VI
The Tank, Light, Mk VI was a British light tank, produced by Vickers-Armstrongs in the late 1930s, which saw service during the Second World War.
Development history
The Tank, Light, Mk VI was the sixth in the line of light tanks built by Vi ...
References
;Notes
;Bibliography
*
*
External links
L3/33 (CV 33), L3/35 (CV 35) Tankettesat wwiivehicles.com
at onwar.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:L3 35
Tankettes of the interwar period
World War II tanks of Italy
World War II tankettes
Fiat armored vehicles
Gio. Ansaldo & C. armored vehicles
Military vehicles introduced in the 1930s
World War II military equipment of Greece
SPGs. SPAs. Armored cars and trucks of 1935
de:L3/33#Entwicklungsgeschichte und Varianten
pl:L3 (tankietka)