M103 (Tank, Combat, Full Tracked, 120-mm, M103)

History of the M103 (tank, combat, full track, 120mm, M103)

The M103 (officially named "Tank, Combat, Full Track, 120mm, M103") is a heavy tank design of American origin, designed to deal with the growing number of Soviet systems deployed at an early stage. threat posed. cold war. Development began during World War II, but the project did not materialize until the end of the Korean War.

The M103 had a relatively short lifespan and was primarily used by members of the U.S. Marine Corps, although the U.S. Army proved another notable operator in smaller numbers.

With no more than 300 completed, the rise of the main battle tank ended the reign of dedicated heavy tanks for the foreseeable future. Designs like the M103 certainly paved the way for the MBT and proved to be a necessary stepping stone to the emergence of the modern main battle tank we know today.

There are many examples in the US today as showcases. A foreign example has survived in Britain's famous Bovington Tank Museum.

The massive tank battles that pervaded the battlefields of WWII took on a whole new dimension during the conflict. For the Americans, its protagonist became the ubiquitous M4 Sherman, armed with a 75mm main gun, and its armament was less than, but still sufficient, compared to British, German and Soviet contemporaries. While Sherman eventually got an upgraded 76mm gun, the M36 used an increasingly powerful 90mm gun in its open-top turret and was designed only as a tank destroyer. This proved timely as heavier, stronger and more powerful German tanks appeared in the Panzer V "Panther", Tiger I and Tiger II series - the latter two were classified as heavy tanks.

As a result, the Americans were forced to develop their own heavy tanks to counter the enemy's improved armor. In addition, advancing into German-controlled areas would also serve as a fortress, which was also considered by the Allies at every level.

By the end of the war, the pinnacle of American armor produced the M26 Pershing heavy tank with a 90mm gun and thick armora huge improvement over the wartime Sherman. However, these played only a minor role in Europe in the final weeks of World War II, and not in the Pacific before the fall of Japan.

Other impressive heavy tank projects such as the T29 and T30 ended up in the annals of history, making the M26 and various M4 Sherman variants the main spearheads of the U.S. military. After the war, the M26, originally classified as a heavy tank, was relegated to a medium tank due to the weight reorganization of the U.S. military.

Many of the early M4 Sherman brands were also considered obsolete as early as 1946, with only the 76mm armed variant remaining in service and greatly reducing the capabilities of US armored forces. In any case, with the world locked in a cold war with the mighty Soviet Union and its vast number of tracked armored vehicles, the US has a woefully insufficient tank stockpile to fight beasts like the Red Army's 122mm "Joseph Stalin" tanks - the IS-3 alone has about 20 cm armor.

The challenge now for American vehicle designers is to develop a perfect track system with two rollers capable of attacking enemy armor from a distance while defeating solid structures. During World War II, it was mainly down to two different vehicle types, which proved to be logistically unreliable in the long run. With the U.S. Army and Marine Corps now in desperate need of multi-role firing platforms with inherent mobility and robust armor protection, engineers certainly have their jobs. All of these issues led to the "T34" proposal, which was designed to meet all the listed requirements in a relatively affordable single package.

Design work on the new plan began in 1948.

The T34 plan was subsequently revised to reduce the standard operating staff by 1 to 5 people. The working weight of the proposed vehicle has been reduced to 58 tonnes, which could theoretically provide the required mobility. Armor protection will extend to 5 inches on the critical front panel, and the main gun of choice becomes a 120mm system, named after the T122. The weapon was based on the wartime anti-aircraft gun and was modified to the newly designed T53E1. This long barrel arrangement would be mounted on a heavily sloping, heavily armored turret that would rotate 360 ??degrees.

The chassis is conventional with wide track links, seven twin-tire wheels on one side, and a rear drive sprocket with a front track idler. No less than six track idlers are used. The engine was mounted in the rear compartment, while the front of the hull was well raked and had a thick layer of cast armor.

A massive T-shaped muzzle brake will cover the gun. Power will be provided by a Continental AV-1790 12-cylinder gasoline engine rated at 750 hp. By December 1948, the T34 proposal was further developed into "T43". A formal application for development and subsequent production was signed in May 1949.

For evaluation purposes, pilot vehicles (prototypes) will take precedence over U.S. Army and Marine Corps production models, and these will be guided by extensively researched wooden models.

Some 276 T43 heavy tanks were earmarked for procurement, although this would ultimately be subject to external changes influenced by the political and budgetary environment.

By this time, the T43 program had begun to downsize itself to simplify production. Many high-tech aspects of the original design were abandoned, including remote-controlled external machine guns, computerized fire control, and an autoloader (increasing the operator's crew to five).

In June 1950, North Korean communist forces invaded the democratic south, triggering the world's next great war, the Korean War (1950-1953). This brought the outdated M4 Sherman markings and the outdated M26 Pershing markings back into trouble, while threatening the future of the now expensive T43.

The engineers responded by simultaneously offering the M46 medium tank series in relation to the M26, while the T43 program managed to survive the constant threat of its existence.

In December 1950, the US Army's official order for 80 tanks drove the development of the T43, not the inevitable death. The U.S. Marine Corps is looking for a long-term replacement and has committed to order 195. In 1951, total demand grew to 220 vehicles.

In June 1951, Chrysler's first T43 test car was completed at its plant in Newark, Delaware, and was ready for formal evaluation at the famous Aberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland.

The new design soon revealed various technical and mechanical issues that required serious attention. Changes were required, including increased armor protection, which in turn increased operational weight and resulted in reduced speed. The main gun was upgraded to 120mm T123E1, and more subtle changes ushered in the internal fighting compartment.

The tests were carried out hastily, ignoring existing problems that had not been fully resolved to get the tank into service in the Korean War. After passing the required army tests, the vehicle was officially approved for series production under the designation "T43E1".

The T123E1 main gun provided considerable firepower at longer ranges than the executive M4 Sherman, M26 Pershing and M46 Patton. It is designed to carry 32-pound high-velocity armor-piercing projectiles (HVAP), 23-pound armor-piercing shells (APDS), and 50-pound armor-piercing projectiles (APC) with a muzzle velocity of 3,300 to 4,200 feet per second, depending on the projectile in question . This allows penetration of 13.5 inches or less of armor at a range of 1,000 yards. Of course, the size of the 120mm projectiles in the tank turret and hull limits the total usable projectiles that can be carried. Although lacking in maneuverability, the design was undoubtedly capable of challenging Soviet offerings in the areas expected in Korea and Europe.

The original M103 model was equipped with 2 x 7.62mm coaxial machine guns, while the later M103A1 introduced only one turret. A 12.7mm Browning M2 anti-aircraft gun can be mounted on the turret for close range defense.

The M103 contains 38 ready-to-fire 120mm rounds, 5,250 7.62mm rounds and 1,000 12.7mm rounds.

Production of the T43E1 began in December 1942 and continued until June 1954, when the Korean War ended with an uneasy armistice. The T43E1 entered US military inventory as "M103" but was never assigned a nickname. Total production at the Chrysler Newark plant is 300.

The hasty arrival of the M103 required additional modifications by 1956, using a pair of T43A2 pilot vehicles as the test bed needed for evaluation. The M103 was shipped to Europe to address the strategic bottleneck of an impending Soviet ground invasion. The U.S. Army charged 74 for the upgrades, which were then put back into service. However, the U.S.

Marine Corps needed to make more in-depth modifications to their M103 before it could be put into service with computerized fire control and a modified turret. Based on the T43A2 prototype, the U.S. Marine Corps eventually received 220 U.S. Marine Corps M103s under the new designation "M103A1", which were delivered in January 1959.

219 M103s were either rebuilt or rebuilt to this new standard. The US Army M103 joined the 899th Heavy Tank Battalion of the European 7th Army, replacing the M48 in service at the time.

Ironically, the US Army subsequently requested and received approval to receive 72 M103A1 units from USMC inventory. The tanks joined their fraternity in May 1959 and held their positions until 1963 when they returned to the USMC.

Although the U.S. Army has all but abandoned the M103 at this time, the U.S. Marine Corps will continue to use the M103 as a heavy tank for the foreseeable future. The United States and Germany's joint tank program "MBT-70" should herald the next generation of American main battle tanks.

Before it arrives, however, it will be a while before a cheap, interim solution can be found. Instead of purchasing the U.S. Army's newest main battle tank, the M60 Patton, USMC has opted to integrate M60 components into its existing M103 lineup. This involved using the same Continental AVDS-1790-2A diesel engine and a brand new internal fuel storage unit. The modernization program began in August 1963, and the new system was delivered in May 1964.

The M103A2 proved to be a significant improvement over the entire M103 line, both in operating speed (21 mph at 23 mph) and range (300 miles at 80 miles). ) are increased. The M103A2 shares many of the same automotive parts and rangefinders as the M60 MBT, and 153 examples have been rebuilt or rebuilt to meet demand.

The production line for the M103 ended in 1972 when all existing units were decommissioned from USMC service. The genre was completely phased out in 1974.

With no viable tank options (the MBT-70 program dropped to zero, the M48 was severely obsolete with no modernization prospects), the USMC was forced to procure the US Army's M60 MBT designation. Since then, the M60 has replaced all existing USMC mounts and served as the standard USMC main battle tank for decades before the arrival of the M1 Abrams.

Specification

Basic

Roles

Dimensions

Performance

Performance

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Armor

38 x 120mm bullet

5,250x7.62mm ammo