[citation needed] The project was cancelled following the expulsion of Axis forces from North Africa in May 1943.

Had it entered service, the tank's designation would likely have been M16/43: "M" for Medio, "16" representing the vehicle's weight in metric tons and "43" being the planned year of introduction.

There were plans to later fit a 75 mm gun on the production model of the Sahariano tank as well.

The Sahariano was the first Italian tank to feature a torsion bar suspension system a more robust and faster suspension system than the leaf spring bogies used on previous Italian tank designs.

[1] Ansaldo based the Sahariano's suspension on British tanks encountered in North Africa and a captured Soviet BT-5 from the Spanish Civil War.