Carro Armato P26/40

The Carro Armato P26/40 was an Italian heavy tank of the Second World War, although its weight and performance resembled the medium tanks of other nations. The P stands for pesante, heavy, with 26 tonnes as the weight and 1940 as the year of adoption. Development began in 1940 on the specific orders of Benito Mussolini and was held back by the lack of a suitable engine. It was armed with a 75 mm gun and an 8 mm Breda machine gun, with another machine gun optional for anti-aircraft use. Only a few pre-production tanks existed when Italy signed the armistice in September 1943, and the Germans ordered production to continue, so about a hundred and twenty were built by Ansaldo before the war ended, most of them not entirely completed for lack of engines.