The Ansaldo MIAS/MORAS 35,An Italian creation by the Ansaldo corporation in 1935, the Motomitraglia
The Ansaldo MIAS/MORAS 35,An Italian creation by the Ansaldo corporation in 1935, the Motomitragliatrice blindata d’assaulto (MIAS) was a one man tracked vehicle intended to give infantry a little bit of extra armor and firepower. The MIAS featured a 250cc (5 horsepower) engine which could propel the vehicle at 5 kilometers an hour forward, and 2 kph in reverse. Incredibly, the MIAS lacked at seat for it’s one man crew, thus the crewman had to scooch around in a squatting position with the vehicle as it moved. It had armor that was rated to deflect 7.92x57mm Mauser rounds at the front, and 6.5x52mm Carcano rounds at the sides. However these ratings only counted for standard ball ammunition, any kind of armor piercing ammunition would easily pierce the vehicle’s armor at any point. The MIAS was armed with a 6.5mm machine gun with 1,000 rounds. As counterpart to the MIAS, Ansaldo also created the Moto-mortaio blindato d’assaulto (MORAS), which utilized the exact same vehicle, only with the machine gun replaced with a Brixia Model 35 mortar which fired high explosive .5kg shells with fifty rounds of ammunition. Neither the MIAS or the MORA made it beyond prototype stage, the Italian Army deeming it impractical for modern warfare. -- source link
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