Carro Armato M15/42: Italian medium tank
The Carro Armato M15/42 was the last Italian medium tank produced during World War II. It was based on the earlier M13/40 and M14/41 medium tanks, and was built with the lessons from the North African Campaign in mind. The tank was meant to be a stopgap until the heavier P26/40 tank could be produced in numbers. It did not serve in North Africa, the theatre in which it was intended to operate, but served in Italy and in Yugoslavia with the German Wehrmacht.
After witnessing the inadequacies of their M13/40 and M14/41 medium tanks, the Italian Army decided that they needed a stopgap design until the heavier P26/40 was ready for production. The M13/40 and M14/41, although comparable to most of their early British and Allied contemporaries, had several severe drawbacks which made them very unsuited for the deserts of North Africa.
Moreover, their guns, although adequate against most medium tanks, could not penetrate the most heavily armoured British types being fielded in North Africa at the time.
