M8 High-Speed Tractor | |
---|---|
Type | Artillery tractor |
Place of origin | United States |
Service history | |
Used by | US Army JGSDF |
Production history | |
Manufacturer | Allis-Chalmers |
Produced | 1950 to 1955 |
Specifications | |
Mass | 54,000 lb (24,000 kg) |
Length | 22 ft (6.731 m) |
Width | 10 ft 11 in (3.327 m) |
Height | 10 ft (3.048 m) |
Crew | 1 + 1 |
Armor | none |
Main armament | 1 x 0.5 inch (12.7 mm) anti-aircraft machine gun |
Engine | Continental AOS-895-3 six-cylinder air-cooled petrol engine 863 hp (644 kW) |
Power/weight | 34.60 hp/tonnes |
Operational range | 180 miles (290 km) |
Maximum speed | 40 mph (64 km/h) |
The M8 High-Speed Tractor was an artillery tractor used by the US Army and Marine Corps from 1950.
The M8 is a full-track tractor based on the chassis of the M41 Walker Bulldog light tank. It was used to tow cargo trailers and artillery such as the Skysweeper 75 mm anti-aircraft gun and the M59 Long Tom gun. The basic M8 variant could be quickly adapted for carrying projectiles and charges. Unusually for a tractor, the M8's engine was located at the front of the cab. Some M8s were equipped with a hydraulic M5 dozer blade.
The M8 was developed following the failure of the T33 cargo-carrier, which was based on the M24 Chaffee light tank chassis. The new, standardized M8 was produced between 1950 and 1955.
An armoured fighting vehicle or armored fighting vehicle (AFV) is an armed combat vehicle protected by armour, generally combining operational mobility with offensive and defensive capabilities. AFVs can be wheeled or tracked. Examples of AFVs are tanks, armoured cars, assault guns, self-propelled artilleries, infantry fighting vehicles (IFV), and armoured personnel carriers (APC).
An assault gun is a type of self-propelled artillery which uses an infantry support gun mounted on a motorized chassis, normally an armored fighting vehicle, which are designed to provide direct fire support for infantry attacks, especially against other infantry or fortified positions. Assault guns were pioneered by the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany during the 1930s, initially being self-propelled guns with direct fire in mind, with Germany introducing the first purpose-built assault gun, the Sturmgeschütz III, in 1940.
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This page details tank production by the United States of America during World War II.
An artillery tractor, also referred to as a gun tractor, is a specialized heavy-duty form of tractor unit used to tow artillery pieces of varying weights and calibres. It may be wheeled, tracked, or half-tracked.
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The 75 mm Howitzer Motor Carriage M8 was a self-propelled howitzer vehicle of the United States in use during World War II. It was developed on the chassis of the M5 Stuart tank and was equipped with a M116 howitzer in an M7 mount.
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Raupenschlepper Ost was a fully tracked, lightweight vehicle used by the Wehrmacht in World War II. It was conceived in response to the poor performance of wheeled and half-tracked vehicles in the mud and snow during the Wehrmacht's first autumn and winter on the Soviet Front.
The 4.5 inch gun M1 was a field gun developed in the United States in the beginning of World War II. It shared the same carriage with the 155mm Howitzer M1 and fired the same ammunition as the British BL 4.5 inch Medium Field Gun. Beginning in 1944, the weapon was used by the U.S. Army as corps-level artillery; with the end of hostilities, it was declared obsolete.
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