The gun had the same ballistics as the 75 mm M3 in use by American tanks but used a thinly walled barrel and different recoil mechanism. Ī new lightweight 75 mm gun was developed, a derivative of the gun used in the B-25H Mitchell bomber. Side hull armor thickness varied: the frontal section was 25 mm thick but the rear third of the armor (which covered the engine compartment) was only 19 mm. The turret armor was 25 mm thick with a 38 mm thick gun mantlet. The armor was extremely light and was sloped to maximize effectiveness. Efforts were made to keep the weight of the vehicle under 20 tons. The powerplant and transmission of the M5 were used together with some aspects of the T7. In April 1943, the Ordnance Corps, together with Cadillac (who manufactured the M5), started work on the new project, designated Light Tank T24. This prompted the Ordnance Committee to issue a specification for a new light tank, with the same powertrain as the M5A1 but armed with a 75 mm gun. The weight increase without increased power gave it unsatisfactory performance the program was stopped in March 1943 to allow standardization on a single medium tank – the M4 medium. The T7 light tank design, which was initially seen as a replacement, grew in weight to more than 25 short tons taking it out of the light tank classification, and so was designated as the Medium Tank M7. The M3/M5 design was dated though, and the 75 mm gun reduced storage space. A 75 mm gun was experimentally fitted to a Howitzer Motor Carriage M8 – an M3 tank with a larger turret – and trials indicated that a 75 mm gun on the M5 light tank development of the M3 was possible. and NATO armies until the 1960s and remained in service with some Third World countries.ĭevelopment and production history īritish combat experience in the North African campaign identified several shortcomings of the M3 Stuart light tank, especially the performance of its 37 mm cannon. Although the M41 Walker Bulldog was developed as a replacement, M24s were not mostly removed from U.S. Chaffee Jr., who helped develop the use of tanks in the United States armed forces. In British service it was given the service name Chaffee after the United States Army General Adna R. The M24 Chaffee (officially Light Tank, M24) was an American light tank used during the later part of World War II it was also used in post–World War II conflicts including the Korean War, and by the French in the War in Algeria and the First Indochina War.
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