FIAT 3000 (Carro d-assalto 3000 / L.5 Series)

History

The Fiat 3000 is the Italian version of the French FT-17. Modifications include (but are not limited to) side skirt armor and a redesigned turret. It was the first notable tank produced on Italian soil and formed the backbone of the Italian Armoured Corps before WWII. Like the French and American systems, the Fiat 3000 has a distinct "shell" appearance. The turrets were located on the superstructure, and all fairings had sloped surfaces.

The driver is located at the front of the fuselage, with a viewing port and a rectangular hinged door in the head, while the commander/gunner sits in a movable turret. External mufflers were placed on each side of the engine compartment. When used with side skirt armor, the Fiat 3000 has four different mudslides along the skirt.

Make no mistake, the Fiat 3000, like the Renault FT-17 before it, is a small vehicle - on inspection, it looks like a children's toy - in stark contrast to the imposing tank shapes we're used to today.

The original Renault FT-17 was a light tank of French design, introduced in 1917. Eugene Estien envisioned a lighter support vehicle that could advance alongside the infantry. The FT-17 has a single rear-mounted engine, a cast fuselage, machine gun armament, two crew members and a fully rotating turret.

Few could have guessed that the FT-17 would influence tank design philosophies for years to come. The FT-17 was first deployed in March 1917, and combat operations began more than a year later in May 1918.

Needless to say, the FT-17 proved successful at the time and was widely used in the post-war years, with countries operating their FT-17s simultaneously while their engineers focused on building more modern armored fighting vehicles. The United States introduced the model under the name "6-Ton Model 1917".

By the end of the First World War (November 11, 1918), 1,400 Fiat 3000s had been ordered, and deliveries did not begin until May 1919. As a result, the unfinished War Order was subsequently cancelled, and as few as 100 copies were eventually delivered.

The first Fiat 3000s (Carro d'assaulto Fiat 3000 Model 21) did not enter service with the Italian army until 1921.

The first Fiat 3000 was equipped with a 50 hp gasoline engine and had a top speed of 13 mph. The armament was rather rudimentary, consisting of a pair of 6.5mm machine guns. The operating weight is 5.5 tons. The Type 21 was ready for service in Libya in time for February 1926. Some were eventually exported to Abyssinia (modern Ethiopia) and Albania, as well as Lithuania.

In 1935, the Fiat 3000 was used again, this time for a counterinsurgency role in Ethiopia.

It quickly became apparent that the Type 21 machine gun weapon was of little value on the modern battlefield, so consider upgrading the type with a more powerful 37mm gun. A 37/40 gun was selected, mounted in the turret (moved to the right) and tested sometime in 1929.

By 1930, an improved Fiat 3000B (Carro d'assaulto Fiat 3000 Model 30) was available for service.

In addition to being fitted with a 37mm main gun, the Type 30 also features a new and more powerful Fiat 4-cylinder petrol engine producing 65 hp at 1,700 rpm. The new engine is housed under a revised engine compartment that slightly changes the fuel tank profile. The suspension system has been improved and the external storage facilities have been rearranged.

The working weight of the tank was increased to a manageable 6 tons. While the 37mm main gun represented a significant change from the earlier Fiat 3000 production series, it was not uncommon for the Fiat 3000B to also be produced with a pair of 6.5mm machine guns in place of the 37mm cannon.

There are conflicting sources as to whether the Fiat 3000 was in service with the Italian Expeditionary Force in the 1936 Spanish Civil War. Fiat 3000s were limited at the start of World War II and Italy officially entered the war in June 1940.

At this time the Italian army had introduced a new naming system, so the name of the Fiat 3000 and Fiat 3000B was changed to L. 5/21 or L. 5/30 change.

Some Fiat 3000s are known to have been stationed in Greece in 1940 and may have also been used in the 1941 East African campaign after the Italian surrender. Of the two Fiat 3000 companies encountered there, one was used as a fixed defensive position to stop, harass and slow the Allied advance.

Another company plays a more traditional battlefield role.

Despite being used in WW2, the Fiat 3000 series was widely considered obsolete in the early 1930s. Beginning with the Carro Veloce CV, a new generation of British-designed Italian armoured vehicles was soon developed to take its place.

33 series of fast tanks, which led to the Fiat 3000 taking on auxiliary roles, such as training future tank crews.

Specification

Basic

Roles

Dimensions

Performance

Performance

for everyone else in our database)

Armor

Not available.

Changes