The AB 40 was modestly armed with 3 x 8mm Breda machine guns, two fitted to the turret and a third facing rear and set to fire over the engine compartment, offset to the right side of the hull.
The AB 40 was quickly put into service and it fulfilled its policing and reconnaissance roles faithfully across North Africa. By this time, it was seen that the machine gun-only armament of the AB 40 series was a limitation and an up-gunned variant was soon ordered as the "AB 41" of 1941.The AB 41 proved the most popular of the Autoblinda armored car line in all of World War 2 for its turret now incorporated a 20mm Breda 35 series autocannon in addition to a coaxial 8mm Breda 38 series machine gun. The rear-facing 8mm machine gun was retained. The cannon was typically fielded with 456 projectiles while ammunition stocks for the two Breda machine guns totaled 1,992 rounds. The engine was uprated to output at 120 horsepower. Maximum speed was 48 miles per hour while range remained a respectable 250 miles. The vehicle continued to be crewed by four personnel. The forward-reverse driving quality was retained. Production of AB 41s numbered 550 examples and spanned from 1941 into 1943. Every fourth AB 41 was completed with an anti-aircraft machine gun placed on the turret roof for self-defense against low-flying aircraft. Some former AB 40 marks were converted to the AB 41 standard when possible. September of 1942 saw a total of 298 AB 41 cars available and these serving Italian interests across North Africa, Greece and Yugoslavia.
AB 41 models were pressed into service along the East Front against the Soviet Union and alongside German and other Axis groups in the fighting that stemmed from the invasion of June 1941. The terrain played up to the strengths of the AB 41 as its 4x4, all-wheel nature took over. The value of AB 41 vehicles was such that several modifications were put in place to further their usefulness in the field and as protective components tied static fronts. One such modification was a railway conversion kit which allowed the AB 41 to operate on train tracks and patrol vital sections of line against possible enemy exposure. A spotlight and extra field lighting equipment were part of the conversion kit which created the Ab 41 "Ferroviaria" designation. Railway AB 41s proved particularly useful in the Balkans where partisans were actively engaged against Axis overseers. Some AB 41 vehicles had their turrets removed to be used as command cars or artillery spotters offering excellent viewing out of the hull.
Several final Autoblinda developments became the AS 42 and AB 43. The AS 42 was known as "Camionetta Sahariana" and developed primarily for hot and dry desert warfare (lacking turret and crewed by five) while the AB 43 was a proposed 47mm-armed armor car destined never to see production - the Italians formally surrendered to the Allies in September of 1943. After the surrender, the new Italian Army renamed their AB 40 and AB 41 cars to "Lince" ("Lynx"). The cars did manage to continue fighting under both Allied and Axis flags until the end of the war in Europe in May of 1945. Some 57 AB 41 models fell to the regrouping/retreating Germans (as the "Panzerspahwagen AB41 201(i)" - the lower-case "i" signifying their "Italian" origins) while enemy factories contributed a further 120 examples to the Axis cause before the end of the Italian Campaign.
The Autoblinda 40/41 series of armored cars was arguably one of the best and most important Italian-originated contributions in all of World War 2.
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