Decades after World War II, why didn't the United States develop powerful tanks?

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Author: Monsoon

Unlike the explosive development of aviation equipment, the equipment of the US Army during World War II rarely shines. The M1903 Springfield (also translated as Springfield) is actually an improved version of the German Mauser M1898 rifle, which is equivalent to the technical level of the Chinese formal rifle equipped by the Chinese army, so the Chinese military at that time jokingly called it Citi Zhongzheng.

The M1 Garand semi-automatic rifle is also not a rare thing, and there is nothing outstanding in comparison with the Soviet SVT series, the German G43 ... Perhaps the only real originality is the Bazooka series, which for the first time gave infantry an effective weapon that could deal with tanks at long distances. However, this advantage did not last long, and the Germans introduced the Iron Fist series through the captured Bazooka reverse study.

Bazooka

In terms of these land combat equipment, the US military did not form an absolute generation gap with its opponents, and there was also the strength of World War I. In the most dazzling army equipment tank of World War II, the gap between the United States and the European powers is very obvious. Not only can it not be compared with the two super players of the USSR and Germany, but it is even inferior to the United Kingdom.

Throughout the war period, the American M2/3 series of light tanks, the M3 Lee / M4 Sherman series medium tanks only had a unilaterally crushed end when facing the Fuhrer's zoo. Sherman even earned the not-so-good nickname "Ronson Lighter."

By the time the M26 Pershing, which was technically capable of rivaling German tanks, entered service, World War II was already in its final moments. This heavy tank, which the US military has high hopes for, has a limited role in the anti-fascist war. However, fortunately, the air superiority of the US military largely compensates for the lack of armored vehicles.

Sherman tanks

After the end of World War II, with the technological superiority of monopoly nuclear weapons, the development of American tanks was once again shelved. However, this did not last long, and in 1949, with the explosion of the "pumpkin" in Semipalatinsk, the US nuclear monopoly was broken. Even worse, with the outbreak of the Cold War, the United States and its allies had to face enormous pressure from armored forces. The outbreak of the Korean War in June 1950 heightened Americans' fears.

The Korean People's Army tank units, equipped by the Soviets and trained by China, were almost invincible for the first two months of the war. The American-made M24 Xiafei light tank was fully suppressed by the World War II star equipment T34/85, even if the user was the serious US imperialist 24th Division. It was not until five armored battalions equipped with M4 Sherman and M26 Pershing rushed to North Korea from the mainland, coupled with the continuous combat of the Korean People's Army and the lack of replenishment of equipment, that the superiority of the armored forces, especially the tank strength, of the two sides really fell to the US-led side.

M26 Pershing tank

After this battle, the US military recognized the shortcomings in tank research and development and began to increase investment. However, before the new tank comes out, it is necessary to come up with a tank for emergency first. Pushed out for emergency was the M46 Patton tank, developed the previous year. Look at the number is a new tank, in fact, the "Pershing" tank with a new engine, transmission system and some subsystems.

According to the scheme of the US army in the initial post-war period, it was necessary to develop new tanks of three classes: light, medium and heavy. However, after the war, the US military was obsessed with the production of nuclear weapons and the development of delivery tools, and the gold-swallowing behemoths in the Navy left very little money for the Army.

No way, the U.S. Army's research team can only start with subsystems that are easy to produce results, and then use these subsystems to modify existing equipment. What was improved was that the combat strength of the US tank unit at that time was responsible for the M26 Pershing, so the "black old man Jack" became the "iron-blooded general" Patton in a blink of an eye. In 1949, mass deliveries of the M46 to the troops began. Due to the limited number of M26s available for modification, the US military also built some new M46s.

M46 Patton

It turned out that the M26 could deal with the T34/85 of the KPA, but the Soviet Union, as a hypothetical enemy, had more than medium tanks T34/85, and the more powerful Stalin series of heavy tanks had not yet been put on the field. And with the Korean War situation glued, the US military is likely to face the warm greeting of the "Father of Steel", which requires new and more modern tanks.

At this time, the embarrassing thing happened, the accelerated T42 medium tank was still unable to be finalized and put into production in 1950, in order to cope with the possible IS series of heavy tanks, the United States chose an opportunistic method. That is, the new turret of the T42 was installed on the already mature M46 chassis, and the M47 tank was born, still codenamed Patton. In 1951, the M47 went into production and was sent to war.

IS-2 tank

Compared with the previous M46, the shape of the M47 has not changed much, but it has been replaced with a new 90mm tank gun and has more powerful firepower. In addition to this, it is equipped with an optical (stereo) rangefinder, and the hit rate has been greatly improved. On the powertrain, the M47's 810-horsepower V12 petrol engine is also slightly stronger. But the M47's combat weight is 2 tons more than the M46, so their top road speed is the same, both 48.3km/h.

Progress is evident, but so are the problems: the M47 has a road range of only 112.7 kilometers, and the optical rangefinder is difficult to use. However, due to the impact of the Korean War, the total production of the M47 reached 8576 units in 1953. It is enough to be proud of most tank series except for the Soviet series.

After the Korean Armistice of 1953, the U.S. military quickly phased out the M47 and handed it over to allies in large numbers. The previously anticipated medium tank replaced the M47 as the main equipment of the US tank unit. The new tank was the M48, still codenamed Patton, which went into production in 1952.

M48 tank

Compared to the M47, the M48 does not seem to have changed much, the most obvious of which is the elimination of the hull machine gunner, thereby reducing the crew to 4 people. In addition, the hull of the M48 was also partially influenced by the Soviet tanks of the same period: the body chose an ellipsoidal body with better ballistic resistance, the turret was close to a hemispherical shape, and the hull profile was extremely low...

Because of the short time for design and experimentation, the early M48 exposed many problems in use, so much so that some tanks had to be returned to the factory for overhaul before they could be delivered to U.S. armored units. Fortunately, after solving these problems, the M48 was generally satisfactory, and it was basically comparable to the main tank of the Soviet Union, the T54/55, of the same period.

In terms of production, the 11,703 units of the M48 are amazing in the Western world, but it is still not enough to see the total production of about 50,000 T54/55.

T-55

In the 50s of the 20th century, the M48 and T54/55 on both sides of the Iron Curtain, as the main tanks of each other's camps, confronted, aimed, and fought over a wide area... Until replaced by newer tanks! The alternative on the Soviet side was the T62, a new tank and the world's first main battle tank equipped with a smoothbore tank gun.

Relatively speaking, the M48 is much luckier, and its replacement is still Patton (M60), which is actually its own facelift. The reason for this is still due to the poor army equipment development system of the Americans. Americans have always spent lavishly on airplanes and warships, but they have always been able to save money and pick at army equipment.

M60 tank

As mentioned earlier, the United States launched a three-class tank development program in the early post-war period: light, medium and heavy.

Although the heavy tank scheme was well demonstrated, only one M103 heavy tank was mass-produced, and only a measly 300 were produced, and it was also dispersed: the army acquired 80 units, 72 of which formed a heavy tank battalion stationed in West Germany. The rest were thrown to the Marines, and Marun, as a fourth-class man, was likely to be the first American troops to reinforce Europe after the start of a full-scale war, most likely to encounter IS/T series heavy tanks.

The end result of the light tank was the M41, nicknamed "Walker Dog" (Benzun Walker, Patton's old subordinate. He served as commander of the US Eighth Army and was killed in a car accident during the retreat). Many countries and regions are still equipped with this old guy until the beginning of the 21st century.

M41 tank

The first achievement of the medium tank was the M48. The ceasefire in the Korean battlefield gave the U.S. military enough time to toss the M48 and continuously improve it: replacing the original gasoline engine with a diesel engine, which effectively increased the trip; The complex stereoscopic rangefinder was replaced by the easy-to-operate composite rangefinder; The gun was also upgraded from 90mm to 105mm ... After a series of modifications, the combat full weight of the M48 also rose to 48 tons.

In parallel with the improvement of the M48, new medium tanks were being developed. But neither the 105mm T54 test vehicle nor the 120mm self-loading tank gun T77 was implemented. Then a test vehicle, codenamed T95, was put on the agenda. According to the original plan, the T95 will be equipped with a 90mm or 105mm smoothbore gun, replacing both medium and heavy tanks.

However, the test results showed that the performance progress of the T95 was limited, and instead of opening a new production line to produce a completely new tank, it would be more cost-effective to replace the technological breakthrough to improve the existing M48A2. More importantly, the T62 in the hands of the Soviet Union, as an opponent, is about to go into production.

T-62 tank

The T95 program was cancelled and a "transitional main battle tank" was introduced, codenamed M60. IN FACT, THE AVDS-1790 DIESEL ENGINE WAS REPLACED ON THE BASIS OF THE M48A2, plus the american copy M7 VERSION of the British L7 105MM RIFLED GUN.

Like its predecessor, the M60 has several modifications, equipped with the United States and many pro-American countries and regions in the world. From 1959 to 1987, 15,221 M60s rolled off the production line.

M60 tank

Interestingly, the M60 also set a record that no one has achieved so far: the largest main battle tank with the largest main gun caliber. THIS STEMMED FROM AN ATTEMPT BY THE AMERICANS TO INCREASE THEIR FIREPOWER, AND THEY LOADED THE 152MM SHORT-BARRELED GUN ORIGINALLY MOUNTED ON THE M551 SHRIEDAN LIGHT TANK INTO THE M60 TURRET, which gave birth to the M60A2. As a large-caliber tube, the 152 short-barreled tank gun is capable of firing not only conventional ammunition, but also oak stick cannons to fire anti-tank missiles.

The idea of the Americans is good, but the result is very slap in the face. The large tube did not bring the BUFF with increased firepower, but increased the height of the turret to increase the projection area on the front, but increased the risk of being hit, which was not worth the loss. So the M60A2 with large tubes was hastily discontinued after only 540 units were produced.

The result of a dead hand under a platform is that the kung fu is not less, the performance of the tank is limited, and it is gradually a little difficult in front of the old opponent. In 1963, the "Project 432 tank" of the Morozov Design Bureau began small production at the Kharkov Plant 75, and a year later received the official designation T-64, which is also considered the world's first third-generation tank.

T-64 tank

The United States is under great pressure, and it is impossible to continue to improve the M60 against the T-64, and it is necessary to come up with a completely new tank! But the level of domestic designers is really not good, and if they want to deal with the red iron stream, perhaps only their sworn enemies in World War II, the Germans. So a joint development plan aimed at a set of technologies was launched, which is the MBT70 plan. And so a whole new story began.

The era of Ironclad Patton slowly came to an end, and he, like the Buddha-figure, was always used as a firefighter. Once found to be worthless, it will be abandoned and fade out of the historical stage.