M16 Multiple Gun Motor Carriage (MGMC)

History of the M16 Multiple Gun Motor Carrier (MGMC)

"Carrying people, the personnel half-tracked M3" was the main Allied passenger vehicle during World War II (1939-1945), and on many levels it proved as important as any individual tank, plane or battleship. A fairly traditional design at the time, its prolific career was achieved by tens of thousands of examples produced during the war, with countless derivatives added based on sheer battlefield needs.

A branch of the M3 series became the "M16 Multiple Gun Motor Carriage" (MGMC) from 1944.

The M16 grew out of the need for a new, more efficient self-propelled anti-aircraft vehicle capable of keeping pace with the armoured columns extending from various beachheads and flowing to Paris, Rome and Berlin. The early M13 was a solid vehicle, but it had its inherent limitations. The M13 originated in 1943, with 1,103 built with 2 x .50 caliber gun assemblies (M33 "Maxson" mounts).

The M13 itself was built on the chassis of the M3 half-track.

Of course, the ubiquitous M3 again seemed like the perfect start to the next evolution of SPAA vehicles, and so the M16 was born. The M33 Maxson mount has been redesigned to accommodate four machine guns, and the rotatable armored side panels are cut to accommodate the ammunition drum as the turret rotates.

In addition, the gun mounts were raised a full 15 cm above the cabin floor, allowing fire on vehicles and enemy forces from the ground and out of sight.

The M16's chassis remains largely faithful to the original M3 offering and continues to be based on the "T1E2" development. As a 'half-track', the M16's rear drive components are 'tank-like' and the bonded tread arrangement provides excellent grip on off-road touring. The forward-drive part remains a simple utility vehicletwo large, steerable wheels are fitted. The engine remains at the front of the vehicle, with the cab directly behind. The remaining space at the rear of the chassis is an open-air compartment with a box-like armored hull surrounding a quad-gun system.

The artillery system consisted of 4 x .50 caliber Browning M2 Heavy Machine Guns (HMG) - the system was often referred to as the M45 "quad pack" - designed to provide the attack aircraft with a concentrated beam of large caliber fire. Furthermore, it can be easily trained by ground troops and lightly armored vehicles, making it a formidable multi-purpose machine.

Armor protection only reaches 12mm along the front and side panels, and the typical occupant strength is 3 people, including the driver.

Power comes from a 128 hp white 160AX petrol engine. The suspension system consists of a VVS (vertical volute spring) system for the rear track components and leaf springs for the front axle. Road speeds can reach 42 miles per hour, and the operating range is up to 175 miles.

The M16 entered service with the U.S. Army in 1944 and quickly replaced the stock M13 halftrack for the same battlefield role. White Motor Company produced M16s from 1942 to 1944, 2,877 of which were new builds.

Another 677 were converted from M13 and T10 half-tracks (568 and 109, respectively) to M16 standard, for a total of 3,554 M16 vehicles.

In practice, the M16 performed extremely well in a variety of battlefield conditions. Its combined firepower provided a much-needed defense against low-flying threats, and enemy pilots quickly became aware of its presence on the battlefield as they attempted to engage seemingly unprotected convoys and swarms of "soft" vehicles.

Such was his success that his rifle team nicknamed the machine the "meat grinder" because anything he aimed at would surely turn into wire.

From its introduction in early 1944 until the end of hostilities in 1945, the M16 was used by American, British and Commonwealth troops. Other figures were leased to the Soviet Union - these were similar M17s based on the M5 half-track chassis. Due to extensive wartime use, some M16s fell into the German army and served with the Wehrmacht immediately until their usefulness was exhausted. During the postwar period, the U.S.

Army supplied its M16 vehicles to the newly formed Japan Self-Defense Forces (JSDF).

The story of the M16 did not end with the death of Adolf Hitler, and the collapse of the Japanese Empire in the Korean War (1950-1953) kept many WWII-era weapons in use - the M16 being one of them. The car was loaned to the South Korean government during the battle with North Korea and remained in the U.S. military for some time. With the increasing use of jet fighter types in conflict - especially the arrival of the Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15 - the M16's surface-to-air capability was reduced due to its manual tracking scheme and limited caliber.

Nonetheless, the M16's four-gun configuration proved to be a powerful anti-infantry measure, and as such they were used in conflict - often with disastrous consequences for an unprotected enemy. By 1951, the U.S.

Army began moving away from the M16 and its ilk, reducing their numbers in various ways. Despite this move, the vehicles fought well in the final days of the war, which ended in an uneasy armistice in 1953.

Throughout its career, the M16 was represented in a limited number of variants. The M16 designation refers to the original WWII-era vehicle based on the T1E2 chassis and equipped with an M45D gun mount. The M16A1 is a direct conversion of the production M3A1 half-track and now fits the M45F mount.

The M16A2 was the final form of the series and represented the original M16 vehicle upgraded to the M16A1 standard with its M45F mount. The M17 mentioned above was nothing more than an M5 half-track with an M45F mount - most of which were supplied to the Soviet Union under Lend-Lease.

Specification

Basic

Roles

Dimensions

Performance

Performance

for everyone else in our database)

Armor

Not available.

Changes