P40 Heavy Tank

SKU: BF-IT045(SO)
GTIN: 9420020222014
Category: Fully-tracked Vehicles

includes one P40 Heavy Tank

9,06 €

incl. 19% VAT , plus

Old price: 9,50 €

Item out of stock
Delivery time: 22 Workdays (Other countries)

Description

P40 Heavy Tank
(IT045)
includes one P40 Heavy Tank.

Even before they had entered the war in 1940, the Italian army recognised that it would need a new, heavier tank to keep up with foreign designs. At 26 tonnes, the new tank was planned to be twice as heavy as the M13/40 medium tank about to enter service. Faced with numerous specification changes and no suitable engine, Fiat Ansaldo, the company that designed all Italian tanks, took until late 1942 to complete the prototype.
The new P40 heavy tank matched any tank on the drawing boards in 1941 and was similar to the latest medium tanks in service in late 1942—the M4 Sherman, T-34 and Panzer IV tanks.
Still, with nothing better in sight, full-scale production began in early 1943.
Unfortunately the SPA engine factory in Turin had been bombed, and this combined with a shortage of electrical parts and optics, meant that although parts for more than 70 tanks were available when Italy surrendered in September 1943, only 22 tanks had been completed.
When Italy surrendered, the Germans seized the P40 heavy tanks and ordered another 75. Due to the engine shortage, half of the total were to be delivered without engines. These were mounted in the Gothic Line as bunkers in 1944. The rest were issued to the SS for anti-partisan work.

15mm, metal/resin
Battlefront Miniatures