Italian tanks presentation : Semovente da 75/46

While the Semovente M43 "Bassotto" was a capable and powerful self-propelled gun, its performance against enemy tanks relied on HESH and HEAT shells, so the Germans (by then occupying Northern Italy and controlling the Ansaldo-Fiat production) thought of making a variant of it armed with a gun with more pronounced anti-tank capability. The choice fell on the Cannone da 75/46 Mod. 1934, a sound and modern anti-aircraft gun, which had already proven its worth against armour; it was also decided to improve its protection, especially eschewing the hemispherical gun mantlet (which had proven somewhat vulnerable) in favor of a rectangular plate.

The result was a Semovente (designated M42T, with the "T" standing for "Tedesco", "German" in Italian) which packed good firepower (its 75 mm gun was nothing to sneeze at), decent protection (arriving at 100 mm for the mantlet) and good mobility. However, due to multiple reasons, only eleven were produced; and although they lived up to the hopes pinned on them, they remained only barely more than a promise. The promise of the best and most powerful SPG Italy had managed to produce during the war.