"Dachshund" for Assault Artillery

The success of the Semovente M40 da 75/18 caused Italian command to order "the same one, but bigger". The result of that request was the Semovente da 105/25, which was nicknamed Basotto (Dachshund).

In April of 1942, soon after the combat debut of the Semovente M40 da 75/18 in North Africa, the Inspectorate of Artillery of the Royal Italian Army ordered the creation of a more powerful SPG, armed with a 105 mm gun. In response, the Odero-Terni-Orlando conglomerate (commonly known as OTO) proposed the creation of an SPG on the P26/40 tank platform. This vehicle was classified as a heavy tank in Italy, but was in reality a medium tank, as it weighed 26 tons. The chassis could allow for a well protected and mobile SPG, but there was an issue: the P26/40 was still in the prototype stage, and there was no concrete timeline for when it would go into production. Using the chassis of the best Italian tank to build secondary vehicles was also considered a waste.

Semovente da 75/18: Apennine StuG

The first months of Italy's participation in WWII showed the weakness of its armour. The 47 mm gun on its M13/40 medium tank was insufficient against the thick armour of the British Matilda tank, and the P40 tank with a 75 mm gun was just being designed. The Italians turned to the experience of their main ally to quickly reinforce their armoured forces.

Semovente L40 da 47/32: Italy's Smallest SPG

Italian armoured vehicles of WWII pale in comparison to those of either their allies or their opponents. However, even though their tankettes, light, and medium tanks were not quite world class, the SPGs built on their chassis were not that bad.

The light L6/40 tank was accepted into service in the Italian land forces in 1941. This vehicle was  already obsolete: the 20 mm autocannon was not enough to fight British infantry tanks, and the armour was clearly insufficient. Nevertheless, the army needed a replacement for tankettes, and Italian industry produced about 440 of these vehicles by the summer of 1943, which were adopted by reconnaissance units.