| Maletti Group | |
|---|---|
| Raggruppamento Maletti | |
 | |
| Active | June–December 1940 |
| Disbanded | December 1940 |
| Country | Italy |
| Branch | Army |
| Type | Mechanised |
| Size | 6 infantry battalions 2 tank battalions |
| Engagements | Italian invasion of Egypt Operation Compass |
| Commanders | |
| General | Pietro Maletti † |
The Maletti Group (Italian: Raggruppamento Maletti) was an ad hoc mechanised unit formed by the Italian Army (Regio Esercito) in Italian North Africa (Africa Settentrionale Italiana, ASI), early in the Western Desert Campaign of the Second World War. The Italian army had three armoured divisions in Europe but all were needed for the occupation of Albania and the forthcoming invasion of Greece, which began on 28 October 1940. The Raggruppamento Maletti was formed in June 1940, as part of the 10th Army (General Mario Berti) and contained all of the M11/39 medium tanks in Libya.
The medium tanks and tankettes already in the colony were to be combined with medium tanks sent from Italy, to form a new armoured division. A new headquarters, the Libyan Tank Command was established on 29 August as the Raggruppamento Maletti (Maletti Group). The group took part in Operazione E, the Italian invasion of Egypt in 1940 and reached Sidi Barrani on 16 September. The group was destroyed at the Nibeiwa camp on 9 December, during Operation Compass, a British raid against the 10th Army positions inside Egypt. The rest of the command and tank units arriving in Libya were combined in the Babini Group which was destroyed at the Battle of Beda Fomm (6–7 February 1941), the defeat of the 10th Army, which led to the British occupation of Cyrenaica.