The Ansaldo Magrini Mangiapan was designed in 1916 by major
Magrini as a "mobile fort" and was one of Italy's first tank designs.
It featured multiple sets of tracks to help it traverse the crater filled
battlefields of no-man's land. To power these tracks there were four 200hp
engines in the centre of the tank which then drove two electric motors at the
front and back, propelling this massive 70t vehicle to an estimated 20 km/h. It
also unusually for that era featured two rotating turrets equipped with 76mm
(some sources state 75mm or 105mm) cannons, as well as having multiple machine
guns fitted around the hull. The design was approved by the direzione generale
del regio esercito but was cancelled soon after because of the high cost and
feasibility of such a complex design. Instead interest moved to the Fiat 2000
and purchasing tanks from France and Britain.
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