Italian Army equipment in World War II

This page lists equipment used by the Royal Italian Army (Regio Esercito), Regia Aeronautica and Royal Italian Navy (Regia Marina) during World War II.

Handguns

 * Beretta Modello 1934 .380 ACP semi-automatic pistol
 * Beretta Modello 1935 .32 ACP semi-automatic pistol
 * Glisenti Model 1910 9mm Glisenti semi-automatic pistol
 * Bodeo Model 1889 10.35mm revolver
 * Sosso Pistol

Submachine Guns

 * Beretta M1918 9mm Glisenti submachine gun
 * Beretta Model 38 9mm Parabellum submachine gun
 * FNAB-43 9mm Parabellum submachine gun
 * OVP 9mm Glisenti submachine gun
 * TZ-45 9mm Parabellum submachine gun

Grenades

 * Bomba a Mano Mod. 35 impact fuse hand grenade

Flamethrowers

 * Flamethrower Modello 35
 * Flamethrower Modello 40

Machine guns

 * Breda 30 6.5 mm light machine gun
 * Breda M31 (licensed copy of the 13.2 mm Hotchkiss machine gun)
 * Breda 37 8 mm heavy machine gun
 * Breda 38 8 mm tank machine gun
 * FM 24/29 (ex-French)
 * Fiat-Revelli Modello 1914 6.5 mm machine gun
 * Fiat-Revelli Modello 1935 8 mm Breda machine gun

Field Artillery
Italian artillery was usually designated using the calibre and length of the barrel in number of calibre lengths, so "90/53" would mean a weapon with a 90 mm diameter barrel where the length of the barrel was approximately 53 calibre lengths (i.e. 53x90 mm, that is 4.77 m).

See also:
 * Mortar da. 260/9 1916M (used in Spanish civil war)
 * 203 mm /53 Italian naval gun - main gun on Italian cruisers

Anti-tank guns
Before and during WWII, Italy designed most of their anti-aircraft guns and some its infantry guns to also serve in the anti-tank role. No dedicated anti-tank gun was produced. Listed below is just the guns used in anti-tank role most commonly.

Infantry anti-tank weapons

 * fucile controcarro 35(P) - Wz. 35 anti-tank rifle captured from Poland
 * Solothurn S-18/100 anti-tank rifle
 * Solothurn S-18/1000 anti-tank rifle
 * Solothurn S-18/1100 anti-tank rifle
 * Panzerfaust - one-shot disposable recoilless shaped charge launcher imported from Germany
 * Lanciabombe Controcarro 60 mm - HEAT rifle grenade capable of penetrating 70 mm RHA at 80 m

Anti-aircraft weapons
All calibers of AA guns were also mounted in portee trucks in dual roles (ground attack and AA).

Vehicles
The Italian designation system for tanks consisted of a letter (L, M or P; designating light, medium and heavy tanks respectively) followed by two numbers: one giving the approximate weight in tons, the other giving the year it was accepted for service. Thus "M11/39" means the 11 ton medium tank of 1939. The Italian definitions of light, medium and heavy tank differ from other nations at the time. For instance the Italian "medium" tanks are often described as "light" in other sources.

Tankettes
The L3 tankette was also a basis for several engineering vehicles.

Others
During World War II, Italy regularly mounted cannons on portee trucks. Also, permanent installation of guns on trucks and armored cars were done on ad-hoc basis, therefore many self-propelled guns had no official name besides descriptive type of truck plus type of cannon. Below is the grossly incomplete list of these self-propelled weapons.


 * Autocannone Sahariana Corta da 75/27 - cannon installed on truck TL 37
 * 102/35 on SPA 9000
 * 35 on Fiat 634N
 * Carro Commando Per Reparto Semovente da 75/18
 * Autocannoni da 75
 * Breda Dovunque 90/53
 * Breda Autocannone Blindato Tipo 102
 * Autocannone da 90 - Lancia 3 RO Chassis
 * Fiat 611 AT - SP ATG armed with 37mm cannon
 * L.3/Solothurn or L.3/cc (antitank) - changes made on several specimens directly from the operational departments in Italian North Africa in 1941. In place of the twin machine guns an S-18/1000 Solothurn 20 mm anti-tank rifle was mounted, which could penetrate the armor of British armored cars and light tanks.
 * Trubia - experimental version of the Spanish armed with a gun Breda 20/65 Mod 1935 20mm.
 * Chariot anti-tank gun or self-propelled L3 47/32 - prototype self-propelled gun armed with a 47/32 mm; trying "desperately" to adapt to the new demands of war the L3 Chariot had a very similar design to the Panzerjäger I (which was also derived from the most common light tank in the army of adoption, the Panzer I). The hull, superstructure private, had a front antitank gun 47/32 cowl, which was to protect the crew and the rest of the half was equal to the chassis of L .3, although the photo of the prototype seems that the suspensions were a mainspring. Probably would not be successful, since the recoil while content of 47/32 could, in the long run detrimental to the operation of the medium.

Engineering and command

 * L.3/r - command tank with radio inside, deployed in all tankette units
 * L.3 carro recupero - experimental version for the recovery of damaged vehicles.
 * L.3 da demolizione - radio-controlled prototype for the destruction of the minefields.
 * L6/40 ammunition carrier
 * L6/40 command tank

Light trucks

 * Breda-32
 * Breda-40
 * Breda-41
 * ОМ-32 Autocarretta da Montagna
 * ОМ-36DM
 * SPA TL.37
 * SPA CL39
 * SPA ТМ40

Medium trucks

 * Alfa Romeo 430RE
 * Alfa Romeo 800RE
 * Breda Dovunque-41
 * Bianchi Miles
 * Ceirano-50СМ
 * FIAT-626 NM
 * Isotta-Fraschini D65
 * Isotta-Fraschini D80
 * SPA Dovunque-35
 * SPA Dovunque-41
 * SPA AS.37
 * SPA-38R

Heavy Trucks

 * FIAT-633NM
 * FIAT-634N
 * FIAT-666
 * Fiat 661
 * Lancia Ro
 * Lancia 3 Ro
 * Lancia EsaRo
 * ОМ Taurus
 * ОМ Titano

Passenger cars

 * Alfa Romeo 6С2500 Coloniale
 * FIAT-508СМ
 * Balilla-1100 Coloniale
 * Lancia Aprilia Coloniale

Motorcycles

 * Moto Guzzi Alce

Tractors and prime movers

 * L.3 trattore leggero - hypothetical version for towing the gun da. 47/32
 * Pavesi Р4.31 (L140)
 * Fiat 727 - half-track artillery tractor
 * SPA TM40 - wheeled artillery tractor
 * Breda 61 - half-track artillery tractor, a licensed copy of the German Sd.Kfz. 7

Miscellaneous vehicles

 * Carro Veloce 29 (armored car) - may be misspelled or fictitious

Radars
The Italy was late on the radar development; At the date of the armistice in 1943, 84 of 85 radars in operation were German-built. Italian Army and Navy have deployed a network of radar detectors and jammers though.


 * ARGO - domestically developed air warning radar in Pratica di Mare Air Base
 * FREYA - sold by Germans 1st of July, 1942, later transported to Sicily
 * l'RTD Arghetto o Vespa - prototype of airborne 300 MHz radar

See also: Armi avanzate della Seconda Guerra Mondiale/Appendix 4 (wikibook)

Cartridges and shells

 * 6.5×52mm Mannlicher-Carcano
 * 7.35×51mm Carcano
 * 9mm Glisenti