The M1 Abrams is a third-generation American main battle tank designed by Chrysler Defense and named for General Creighton Abrams. Conceived for modern armored ground warfare, it is one of the heaviest tanks in service at nearly 73.6 short tons. It introduced several modern technologies to United States armored forces, including a multifuel turbine engine, sophisticated Chobham composite armor, a computer fire control system, separate ammunition storage in a blowout compartment, and NBC protection for crew safety. Initial models of the M1 were armed with a 105 mm M68 gun, while later variants feature a license-produced Rheinmetall 120 mm L/44 designated M256.
The M551 "Sheridan" AR/AAV was a light tank developed by the United States and named after General Philip Sheridan, of American Civil War fame. It was designed to be landed by parachute and to swim across rivers. It was armed with the technically advanced but troublesome M81/M81 Modified/M81E1 152 mm gun/launcher, which fired both conventional ammunition and the MGM-51 Shillelagh guided anti-tank missile.
The M26 Pershing is a heavy tank, later designated as a medium tank, formerly used by the United States Army. It was used in the last months of World War II during the Invasion of Germany and extensively during the Korean War. The tank was named after General of the Armies John J. Pershing, who led the American Expeditionary Force in Europe in World War I.
The M48 Patton is an American first-generation main battle tank (MBT) introduced in February 1952, being designated as the 90mm Gun Tank: M48. It was designed as a replacement for the M26 Pershing, M4 Sherman, M46 and M47 Patton tanks, and was the main battle tank of the U.S. Army and U.S. Marine Corps in the Vietnam War. Nearly 12,000 M48s were built, mainly by Chrysler and American Locomotive Company, from 1952 to 1961. The M48 Patton was the first U.S. medium gun tank with a four-man crew, featuring a centerline driver's compartment and no bow machine gunner. As with nearly all new armored vehicles it had a wide variety of suspension systems, cupola styles, power packs, fenders and other details among individual tanks.
The M47 Patton was an American Medium tank, a development of the M46 Patton mounting an updated turret, and was in turn further developed as the M48 Patton. It was the second American tank to be named after General George S. Patton, commander of the U.S. Third Army during World War II and one of the earliest American advocates of tanks in battle.
The M60 is an American second-generation main battle tank (MBT). It was officially standardized as the Tank, Combat, Full Tracked: 105-mm Gun, M60 in March 1959. Although developed from the M48 Patton, the M60 tank series was never officially christened as a Patton tank. It has been called a "product-improved descendant" of the Patton tank's design. The design similarities are evident comparing the original version of the M60 and the M48A2. The United States fully committed to the MBT doctrine in 1963, when the Marine Corps retired the last (M103) heavy tank battalion. The M60 tank series became America's primary main battle tank during the Cold War, reaching a production total of 15,000 M60s. Hull production ended in 1983, but 5,400 older models were converted to the M60A3 variant ending in 1990.
The Royal Ordnance L7, officially designated Gun, 105 mm, Tank, L7, is the basic model of the United Kingdom's most successful tank gun. It is a 105 mm L/52 rifled design by the Royal Ordnance Factories, intended for use in armoured fighting vehicles, replacing the older QF 20-pounder (84 mm) gun mounted on the British Centurion tank. The successful L7 gun has been fitted on many armoured vehicles, including the Centurion, the German Leopard 1 and, in an altered design, as the M68 gun in several variants of the US M48 Patton and M60.
The T95 was an American prototype medium tank developed from 1955 to 1959. These tanks used many advanced or unusual features, such as siliceous-cored armor, new transmissions, and OPTAR fire-control systems. The OPTAR incorporated an electro-optical rangefinder and was mounted on the right side of the turret, and was used in conjunction with the APFSDS-firing 90 mm T208 smoothbore gun, which had a rigid mount without a recoil system. In addition, although the tanks were designed with a torsion beam suspension, a hydropneumatic suspension was fitted, and one of the tanks was fitted with a Solar Saturn gas turbine for demonstration purposes.
The Heavy Tank T30 was a World War II American tank project developed to counter new German tanks, such as Tiger I, Tiger II, and tank destroyers, such as the Jagdtiger, or Soviet heavy tanks, such as IS-2 or IS-3. The T30 was designed at the same time as the T29 Heavy Tank.
The 37 mm gun M3 is the first dedicated anti-tank gun fielded by United States forces in numbers. Introduced in 1940, it became the standard anti-tank gun of the U.S. infantry with its size enabling it to be pulled by a jeep. However, the continuing improvement of German tanks quickly rendered the 37 mm ineffective and, by 1943, it was being gradually replaced in the European and Mediterranean theaters by the more powerful British-developed 57 mm gun M1. In the Pacific, where the Japanese tank threat was less significant, the M3 remained in service until the end of the war, but some 57mm guns were issued.
Tank development both evolved considerably from World War II and played a key role during the Cold War (1945–1990). The period pitted the nations of the Eastern Bloc and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) against each other.
The 120 mm gun M1 was the United States Army's standard super-heavy anti-aircraft gun during World War II and the Korean War, complementing the smaller and more mobile M2 90 mm gun in service. Its maximum altitude was about 60,000 ft (18,000 m), which earned it the nickname stratosphere gun.
The 76 mm gun M1 was an American World War II–era tank gun developed by the U.S United States Ordnance Department in 1942 to supplement the 75 mm gun on the basic Medium tank M4. It was also used to arm the M18 Hellcat tank destroyer.
The M1 Abrams main battle tank has been in service since 1980. Since then, it has gone through dozens of upgrades and been the baseline variant of several vehicles.
The United States has produced tanks since their inception in World War I, up until the present day. While there were several American experiments in tank design, the first American tanks to see service were copies of French light tanks and a joint heavy tank design with the United Kingdom.
This article deals with the history and development of American tanks from the end of World War II and during the Cold War.
The T57 heavy tank was an experimental heavy tank developed by the American military during the Cold War era as a further development of the M103 heavy tank. Featuring heavy armor and a long range 120 mm rifled gun, the T57 was supposed to serve as a replacement to the M103 in service with American heavy tank units in Europe. Armor on the hull front was to range between 5–8 in (130–200 mm) in thickness and the turret was to be 5.98 in (152 mm) at maximum on all sides. Like the French AMX 50 project, it was to feature an oscillating turret and was also to receive a 153 mm gun. Experiments were also conducted to investigate mounting a 203 mm gun, but this was soon found to be infeasible. When multiple problems were discovered in the turret oscillation system on account of the excess weight of the heavily armored turret and the gun, the project was dropped.
The 120 mm Gun Tank T110, known during early development as the TS-31, was a canceled heavy tank project which began in 1954. It was an attempt to replace the T43 heavy tank. The T110 tank was a proposal created by Detroit Arsenal, and was introduced in a Detroit conference held in 1954. It was further developed by Chrysler.
The T34 heavy tank was an American design for a heavy tank. It evolved from the T29 heavy tank and T30 heavy tank in 1945, using the same chassis, but sporting a 120 mm (4.72 in) modified 120 mm gun M1 anti-aircraft gun. Extra armor plating was applied to the rear of the turret bustle as a counterweight for the heavier 120 mm T53 main gun. No production orders were placed for the T34, which was felt to be too heavy.
The M68 is an American 105 mm tank gun. It uses British-designed L7 gun tube and cartridges with an American-designed mount, breech assembly and recoil mechanism.
