Workhorse of the Italian Army

Stereotypically, Italian tank forces were filled with antiquated designs that broke down constantly. Reality is somewhat more complicated. It's true that Italy fell behind in the arms race, but this happened closer to 1942 or even 1943. In 1940-41 Italian tanks were on par with British tanks, or sometimes even surpassed them. The Carro Armato M 13-40 was comparable to British cruiser tanks that it shared the front line with.

The Tankette's Late Successor

Tank building worldwide made a radical jump forward in the second half of the 1930s and kept up the pace until the start of WWII. The stagnation of the early 30s led to many nations starting the modernization race on even footing. Some nations managed to create designs with great potential, others fell behind. Italy was among the latter. One of the characteristic designs of this era was the L6-40 light tank, which combined progressive design elements with downright archaic solutions.

The Best Renault FT Clone

Italian tank building is usually treated with a large dose of derision. However, Italy managed to create a number of vehicles that were quite good for their time. This mostly applies to armoured cars, but there were some good tanks under their belt as well. The FIAT 3000 light infantry tank was one of them. The tank was based on the Renault FT, but it surpassed its predecessor significantly.