M41 Walker Bulldog Light Tank Tracked Combat Vehicle скачать в хорошем качестве

M41 Walker Bulldog Light Tank Tracked Combat Vehicle

The best tactical clothing store https://bit.ly/3T6mhfU M41 Walker Bulldog Light Tank Tracked Combat Vehicle The M41 was designed and developed as the direct successor to the World War 2-era M24 Chaffee light tank. The M24 served a valuable purpose in the war but its main gun armament was soon found to be rather ineffective against the stouter late-war German tank designs and, thusly, its tactical reach became inherently limited. After the war, a main US Army adversary would become the fabled T34 medium tank of the Soviets, by which time the type had now been upgunned with an 85mm main gun. As such, design work on a new air-transportable light tank featuring better armament began in 1949 and resulted in the "T37" pilot vehicle of conventional layout and arrangement. Like the M24 before it, the T37 was designed to be as light as possible for its particular tank classification, resulting in the reduction of critical armor protection for the crew and systems alike. Experience with the proven American 76mm main gun saw this armament as the focus of the T37 prototype. Interestingly, the T37 showcased a new-fangled rangefinder for the main gun but this proved too complicated for the design and was simplified to create the "T41" pilot vehicle. After completing the requisite evaluations, the T41 was formally accepted into service as the "M41 Little Bulldog" with production ramping up at the Cadillac Cleveland Tank Plant in 1951. It was only after the death of US 8th Army General Walton W. Walker, lost to a jeep accident during the Korean War on December 23rd, 1950, that the "Little Bulldog" was renamed in his honor to "Walker Bulldog". By 1953, the M41 Walker Bulldog was available in enough numbers to officially replace the outgoing M24 series in the US Army inventory. The M41 was fielded (as the T41) on a limited basis in the Korea War.