T92 Light Tank

T92 Light Tank

T92 Light Tank was an innovative American light tank developed in 1950s by Aircraft Armaments. It was designed as an airborne/airdropped lightweight replacement for the M41 Walker Bulldog which was much heavier.

The main gun was a conventional 76mm canon with a very low profile turret. Little more was exposed than the main gun and two crew cupolas which allowed 50 caliber and 30 caliber machine guns to fire buttoned up. The engine is moved to the front, which increases protection, and a rear access door provided an escape hatch and protection while reloading. This layout was later used by the contemporary Israeli Merkava battle tank. It had a crew of four with a semi automatic loading system. It carried 60 main gun rounds, and automatically ejected spent shell casings.

Study of the Soviet PT-76 led to a new swimming requirement for light tanks, for which the design could not be modified. The T-92 would be passed over and the M551 Sheridan was eventually adopted instead. It fielded an unconventional 152mm gun-missile system which would suffer many technical problems, and its swimming system would be rarely used in combat. The French AMX-13 tank was a somewhat similar design that was successfully fielded.

External links

* [http://www.eaglehorse.org/4_ftx_gunnery/equipment/m551_sheridan/sheridan2.htm Eaglehorse.org Details of development and photos as predeccesor to Sheridan]


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем написать реферат

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Tank — For other uses, see Tank (disambiguation). Tank A former British Arm …   Wikipedia

  • Tank Mark VIII — Mark VIII Liberty Place of origin …   Wikipedia

  • T92 (танк) — Первый прототип T92 на Абердинском испытательном полигоне …   Википедия

  • Centurion tank — Centurion Centurion Mk3 Type Main battle tank Place of origin …   Wikipedia

  • Chieftain tank — Chieftain (FV4201) Chieftain Mk 10 or Mk 11 with Stillbrew Crew Protection Package. Type Main battle tank …   Wikipedia

  • Conqueror tank — FV 214 Conqueror Conqueror Mk I at the Bovington Tank Museum …   Wikipedia

  • M551 Sheridan — Type Light tank[1] …   Wikipedia

  • MBT-70 — A model of the United States MBT 70 design Type Main battle tank Place …   Wikipedia

  • M4 Sherman — Medium Tank M4 An M4A3E8 76 mm armed Sherman tank made during the Second World War Type …   Wikipedia

  • T-34 — This article is about the Soviet medium tank. For other uses, see T34 (disambiguation). T 34 T 34 85 at Musée des Blindés Type Medium tank …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”