A medium tank is a classification of tanks , particularly prevalent during World War II , which represented a compromise between the mobility oriented light tanks and the armour and armament oriented heavy tanks . A medium tank's classification is not actually based on weight, but off of tactical usage and intended purpose; for instance the German Panzerkampfwagen V Panther medium tank has a mass similar to contemporary Allied heavy tanks. The most widely produced, cost effective and successful tanks of World War II (the German Panzer IV , the Soviet T-34 , and the American M4 Sherman ) were all medium tank designs. Many of the medium tank lines became what are called main battle tanks in most countries.
31-560: The M47 Patton was an American medium tank , a development of the M46 Patton mounting an updated turret, and was in turn further developed as the M48 Patton . It was the second American tank to be named after General George S. Patton , commander of the U.S. Third Army during World War II and one of the earliest American advocates of tanks in battle. The M47 was the U.S. Army's and Marine Corps' primary tank, intended to replace
62-632: A bow-mounted machine gun in the hull. Although a new power plant corrected the mobility and reliability problems of the M26 Pershing , the subsequently renamed M46 was considered a stopgap solution that would be replaced later by the T42 medium tank . However, after fighting erupted in Korea , the Army decided that it needed the new tank earlier than planned. It was deemed that there was not enough time to finish
93-430: A limited post-war arms race of progressively more heavily armed and armoured designs. With the rise of more sophisticated anti-tank missile weapons, to which heavy tanks had demonstrated high vulnerability, these too were eventually phased out. With advances in technology, aspects such as mobility, armour and weaponry pushed the medium tank to form the core of a country's armoured fighting capability, eventually merging into
124-839: A successor to the BT tank series, they combined its excellent mobility with thick, sloped armour and the unprecedented firepower of a 76.2 mm high-velocity gun. The result was the T-34 medium tank , whose superb capabilities shocked the German Wehrmacht when it invaded the Soviet Union. The lessons of Blitzkrieg , first employed by the Germans and eventually adopted by other nations, found their best expression in formations of mutually-supporting medium tanks and motorised infantry . The traditional view of infantry and cavalry tank roles
155-460: The Cruiser tank class, while other tank doctrines formed around the medium tank making the main advance. In this later use, medium tanks represent the designer's intent of producing a successful balance of firepower, mobility, and protection. Medium tanks aim to be suitable to the widest variety of roles, with less reliance on other types of tank during normal operations. Background: History of
186-590: The Leopard 1 and T-72 each of which weigh around 40 short tons, while third and subsequent generations have increased markedly in weight and have included some of the heaviest main battle tanks such as the M1 Abrams which is over 60 short tons. In the 1990s the "medium" main battle tanks still proved useful, such as the Canadian Leopard 1 tanks deployed to Kosovo in 1999 which were much better suited to
217-642: The M41 Walker Bulldog , kept the tanks from Korea while engineers worked on a fix. Engineers improved production quality controls of the hydraulics by April 1952, and set about correcting M47s sidelined in storage. By then Army officials had scrapped plans to send the tanks to Korea, in favor of providing them to troops stationed in Europe and at home. The first M47s were not fielded to the 1st and 2nd Armored Divisions until summer 1952. Standardized in May 1952,
248-711: The Technical Cooperation Administration . Reorganization Plan No. 7 1953 (67 Stat. 641) abolished the Mutual Security Agency on August 1, 1953. The federal organization functions were transferred to the new Foreign Operations Administration . The Directorship of the Mutual Security Agency was a Presidential appointment, approved by the United States Senate . [REDACTED] This article incorporates public domain material from Directors of
279-769: The heavy tank and gradually transitioned into the main battle tank . Medium tanks of the interwar period included the British Vickers Medium Mark II and the Soviet multi-turreted T-28 . In the period leading up to World War II, the British stopped using the term Medium for their tanks as the new philosophy of ' Cruiser tank ' and ' Infantry tank ' which defined tanks by role rather than size came into use. There were medium tanks that focused on anti-infantry capabilities (such as in World War II:
310-460: The main battle tank . Simpler and more economical self-propelled guns , and later anti-tank guided missiles , came to fulfil some fire-support and anti-tank roles, thus shifting the tactical approach how tanks were used. Although the term "medium tank" classification has largely fallen out of use after World War II, the term is informally used to describe some first and second-generation main battle tanks which fall between 20 and 50 tons, such as
341-550: The Army awarded a $ 100 million contract to the American Locomotive Company for the production of 500 tanks. It entered production in 1951. Its main gun was the M36 (T119E1) 90 mm gun with an M12 optical rangefinder fitted, which was developed as a more powerful version of the earlier 90 mm guns and were backwards-compatible with their ammunition (but not vice versa, the new cartridge case does not chamber in
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#1732772628791372-774: The British Centurion main battle tank and the M47 as standard. By October the at Camp Drum in July, the New Jersey Army National Guard was the first reserve force to train with the tank. The Marine Corps also fielded M47s starting in late 1952; after the Korean War, all seven Marine tank battalions, three divisional, two reserve training, and two force level, each fielded M47s. But these were soon replaced with M48A1 Pattons and M103 heavy tanks , with
403-527: The M26 Pershing and M46 Patton medium tanks. The M47 was widely used by U.S. Cold War allies, both SEATO and NATO countries, and was the only Patton series tank that never saw combat while in US service. Although the later M48s and M60s were similar in appearance, those were completely new tank designs. Many different M47 Patton models remain in service internationally. The M47 was the last US tank to have
434-614: The M47 Patton's production ran until November 1953; Detroit built 5,481 tanks, and American Locomotive Company (Alco) produced 3,095, for a total production run of 8,576 M47 Pattons. After the U.S. Army in Germany was equipped with the M47, the first M47s delivered under the Mutual Security Agency program were delivered to Portugal in 1952. In October the agency announced that NATO member nations had agreed to adopt
465-824: The M47s were exported in the late 1950s. Out of the 8,576 M47s built, 8,552 (99.7 percent) were transferred to other countries through the Major Defense Acquisition Program (MDAP) during the 1950s, forming the backbone of the NATO tank force for nearly 15 years. The M47 was widely used by many countries, especially NATO and SEATO allies, including Austria (147), Belgium (784), Ethiopia (30), France (856), Greece (396), Portugal (161), from USA and West Germany), Iran (around 400), Italy (2,480), Japan (1 for evaluation only), Jordan (49), Pakistan (100), Portugal (161), Saudi Arabia (23 from
496-586: The M48 series before long. After being declared obsolete in 1957, M46s and M47s were retained in active duty infantry division battlegroup assault gun platoons (four tanks each, one platoon per battlegroup, for a total of 20 tanks per division) until replaced with the light truck-mounted SS-10 anti-tank guided missile in the early 1960s. M47s were used by the Reserves for a relatively short time, soon being replaced by early production M48 Patton series tanks; thus, most of
527-743: The US, 108 on the international market), Somalia (25 from Saudi Arabia), South Korea (531), Sudan (17 from Saudi Arabia), Spain (389), Switzerland (2 for evaluation), Turkey (1,347 from the US and West Germany), West Germany (1,120), and Yugoslavia (319). Like the US Army of the time, the West German Bundeswehr also used the M47 in a tank destroyer role until replacing them with the Kanonenjagdpanzer in 1966. U.S. Army M47s remaining in storage were expended as targets. Additional equipment Background: History of
558-565: The development of the T42. The final decision was to produce another interim solution, with the turret of the T42 mounted on the existing M46 hull. Although this interim tank was itself technically immature, Army officials felt the improvements over the M46 in firepower and armor were worth the risk. The composite tank, developed by the Detroit Arsenal , was named the M47 Patton. In December 1950
589-497: The initial short-barrel gun Panzer IV , and the initial 75 mm gun M4 Sherman ), and medium tanks which were more focused on the anti-tank role, mounting high-velocity tank guns . The French cavalry tanks ( Chars de Cavalerie ) such as the SOMUA S35 focused on speed in addition to power and protection of the other designs. They were similar to what other countries called medium tanks. When Soviet tank designers were preparing
620-579: The issue arose from their own expedient decision to use lower grades of steel to circumvent wartime shortages. Chrysler laid off about 1000 workers at Detroit Tank Arsenal when it wrapped up production in November. American Locomotive resumed production in November. The company closed its tank division in June 1954. With the arrival of the improved M48 Patton in 1953, the M47 was declared "limited standard" in 1955, and examples in tank units were replaced with
651-656: The last M47s being retired in 1959. American Locomotive production was halted in October when the company's ordnance and locomotive divisions went on strike. Production resumed in February when union leaders agreed to a pay raise. In December 1952 the Defense Department ordered cutbacks to M47 and M48 tank production. In November 1953 American Locomotive halted production of the M47 after operators found drive gear defects in Europe. Army officials quickly acknowledged
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#1732772628791682-627: The national interest of the United States and to facilitate the effective participation of those countries in the United Nations system for collective security". The agency superseded the Economic Cooperation Administration , which had only oversight over economic aid. The new agency was responsible for development and administration of those military and economic assistance programs not administered by
713-479: The onset of the Korean War. As a result, Detroit's newly unemployed automotive workers found little work, while tank manufacturers outside Michigan lacked skilled workers. Truman's policy also counted on civilian factories being able to quickly transition to war-time production. However, many factories lacked needed tank production machinery, done away with during World War II demobilization. A faulty Ordnance Corps -designed hydraulic turret-control mechanism, shared by
744-555: The poor roads and soft ground than the French armoured cars there, but were still able to move along narrow streets and over lighter bridge classifications than the much heavier M1 Abrams tanks used by the Americans. The role of medium tanks started with a prioritisation of speed. Medium tanks could travel faster, but needed help to cross trenches, where heavy tanks were large enough to cross unaided. In British use, this evolved into
775-638: The tank , Tank classification , Tanks in World War I Background: History of the tank , Tank classification , interwar period Background: History of the tank , Tank classification , Tanks in the Cold War Background: History of the tank , Tank classification Mutual Security Agency The Mutual Security Agency (1951–1953) was a US agency to strengthen European allies of World War II through military assistance and economic recovery. The Mutual Security Agency
806-680: The tank , Tank classification , Tanks in the Cold War Medium tank The first tanks to carry the name "Medium" appeared in the First World War with the British Medium Mark A Whippet . It was smaller, lighter and faster than the British heavy tanks of the time and only carried machine guns. The medium tank doctrine came into use in the interwar period . Its existence outlasted the super-heavy tank and
837-455: The turret front, an elongated turret bustle and storage bin which protruded halfway across the engine deck, and sloped sides to further improve ballistic protection; this gave the turret a decidedly lozenge-shaped profile. It also featured the M12 stereoscopic rangefinder, which was designed to improve first-round hit probability but proved difficult to use; the rangefinder protruded from both sides of
868-501: The upper turret front, which would be a feature of American tanks until the advent of the M1 Abrams in 1980. Production at American Locomotive began in July 1951. Logistical and technical issues plagued production almost from the start. Truman administration policy sought to strengthen American arms makers' resilience to aerial attack by encouraging more decentralized weapons production – away from Detroit. The U.S. curtailed civilian automotive production to boost military production with
899-493: The weaker guns). The secondary armament consisted of two .30 cal Browning machine guns, one in the bow and one coaxial with the 90mm main gun in the turret, and a .50 caliber Browning M2 on a pintle mount on the turret roof. The M47 was the last American-designed tank to include a bow machine gun. The T42 turret had a larger turret ring than the M26/M46 turret, and featured a needle-nose design, which improved armor protection of
930-615: Was established by the passing of the Mutual Security Act by the United States Congress on October 10, 1951. The purpose of the agency was, in the words of the Act, to organize "military, economic, and technical assistance to friendly countries to strengthen the mutual security and individual and collective defenses of the free world, to develop their resources in the interest of their security and independence and
961-605: Was rendered obsolete. Both the Soviet Union and the United States benefited from their industrial capacity to manufacture a well-balanced medium tank in very large numbers — around 57,000 T-34 and 49,234 M4 Sherman tanks were built during the war. During and after World War II, the roles of light tanks were gradually taken over by less-expensive armoured cars and specialised reconnaissance vehicles. Heavy tanks, having shown their limitations in combat, experienced