L3/33

Carro Armato L3/33
Flamethrower variant of L3/33 (CV-33) at The Tank Museum, Bovington
Type	Tankette
Place of origin	Italy
Service history
In service	1933–1945
Used by	Italy and others
Wars	Austrian Civil War Second Italo-Abyssinian War Spanish Civil War Second Sino-Japanese War Slovak–Hungarian War Invasion of Albania Second World War Anglo-Iraqi War Chinese Civil War
Production history
Designer	Ansaldo
Unit cost	89,890 lires in 1933
Produced	1933–1935
No. built	1,200 L3/33; 1,300 L3/35
Variants	L3/35, L3 cc, L3 Lf,
Specifications
Mass	2.7 t (2.7 long tons; 3.0 short tons)
Length	3.03 m (9 ft 11 in)
Width	1.4 m (4 ft 7 in)
Height	1.2 m (3 ft 11 in)
Crew	2 (commander and driver)
Armour	6–12 mm (0.24–0.47 in)
Main armament	1 × 6.5mm machine gun
Engine	FIAT-SPA CV3 water-cooled 43 hp (32 kW)
Suspension	bogie
Operational range	110 km (68 mi)
Maximum speed	42 km/h (26 mph)

The Carro Veloce 33 (CV 33) or L3/33 was a tankette originally built in 1933 and used by the Italian Army before and during World War II. It was based on the imported British Carden Loyd tankette (license-built by Italy as the CV 29). Many CV 33s were retrofitted to meet the specifications of the CV 35 in 1935. In 1938, the CV 33 was renamed the "L3/33" while the CV 35 became the "L3/35s."

The original CV 33 carried a two-man crew protected by 12 mm of welded armour and was armed with a single 6.5 mm machine gun.

The L3/33 saw action in China, Spain, France, the Balkans, North Africa, Italian East Africa, Italy, and Russia.