Fiat 2000

The Fiat 2000 was an Italian heavy tank designed and produced by Fiat during World War I. Only two were built as it never entered serial production. It was one of the largest designs of its time.

This tank was often called ‘the heaviest World War I tank’ but this is not strictly accurate, since the FIAT 2000 never actually saw combat in World War I. Also, the modest order for 50 tanks was never completed, the only tanks produced being two prototypes.

After the war the FIAT 2000 was displayed as one of the weapons used ‘to defeat the enemy’ and the two prototypes completed were sent to Libya to fight guerrilla forces, together with other tanks bought from France, in a special unit, the Tank battery (1° Batteria autonoma carri d’assalto).

In Libya, the FIAT tank proved capable of an average speed of 4 km/h, and so, after two months its career ended, being unable to keep up with rapid movement of the enemy. One remained in Tripoli and the other was sent to Italy in the spring of 1919, where it performed before the King at Rome Stadium. The tank put on a convincing display: it climbed a 1.1 m wall, then faced another 3.5 m wall, which it knocked down with its weight. Then a trench of 3 m width was successfully crossed and several trees were knocked down. This impressive performance failed to revive interest in the heavy tank and so it was abandoned.