Америкалық жеңіл танк: M24 "Чаффи" тарихы

American light tank

The M24 Chaffee (officially Light Tank, M24) was an American light tank used during the later part of World War II; it was also used in post–World War II conflicts including the Korean War, and by the French in the War in Algeria and the First Indochina War. In British service it was given the service name Chaffee after the United States Army General Adna R. Chaffee Jr., who helped develop the use of tanks in the United States armed forces. Although the M41 Walker Bulldog was developed as a replacement, M24s were not mostly removed from U. S. and NATO armies until the 1960s and remained in service with some Third World countries.

British combat experience in the North African campaign identified several shortcomings of the M3 Stuart light tank, especially the performance of its 37 mm cannon. A 75 mm gun was experimentally fitted to a Howitzer Motor Carriage M8 – an M3 tank with a larger turret – and trials indicated that a 75 mm gun on the M5 light tank development of the M3 was possible. The M3/M5 design was dated though, and the 75 mm gun reduced storage space. The T7 light tank design, which was initially seen as a replacement, grew in weight to more than 25 short tons, taking it out of the light tank classification, and so was designated as the Medium Tank M7. The weight increase without increased power gave it unsatisfactory performance; the program was stopped in March 1943 to allow standardization on a single medium tank – the M4 medium. This prompted the Ordnance Committee to issue a specification for a new light tank, with the same powertrain as the M5A1 but armed with a 75 mm gun. In April 1943, the Ordnance Corps, together with Cadillac (who manufactured the M5), started work on the new project, designated Light Tank T24. The powerplant and transmission of the M5 were used together with some aspects of the T7. Efforts were made to keep the weight of the vehicle under 20 tons. The armor was extremely light and was sloped to maximize effectiveness. The turret armor was 25 mm thick with a 38 mm thick gun mantlet. The glacis plate was 25 mm thick. Side hull armor thickness varied: the frontal section was 25 mm thick but the rear third of the armor (which covered the engine compartment) was only 19 mm. A new lightweight 75 mm gun was developed, a derivative of the gun used in the B 25H Mitchell bomber. The gun had the same ballistics as the 75 mm M3 in use by American tanks but used a thinly walled barrel and different recoil mechanism. The design featured tracks and torsion bar suspension, similar to the slightly earlier M18 Hellcat tank destroyer, which itself started in production in July 1943. The torsion bar system was to give a smoother ride than the vertical volute suspension used on most US armored vehicles. At the same time, the chassis was expected to be a standard used for other vehicles, such as self propelled guns, and specialist vehicles; known together as the "Light Combat Team". It had a relatively low silhouette and a three man turret. On October 15, 1943, the first pilot vehicle was delivered. The design was judged a success and a contract for 1,000 was immediately raised by the Ordnance Department. This was subsequently increased to 5,000. Production began in 1944 under the designation Light Tank M24. It was produced at two sites; from April at Cadillac and from July at Massey Harris. By the time production was stopped in August 1945, 4,731 M24s had been produced. and Troop F, 42nd Cavalry Reconnaissance Squadron, which each received seventeen M24s. During the Battle of the Bulge in December 1944, these units and their new tanks were rushed to the southern sector; two of the M24s were detached to serve with the 740th Tank Battalion of the U. S. First Army. The M24 started to enter widespread use in December 1944, but they were slow in reaching the front line combat units. By the end of the war, the light tank companies of many armored divisions were still mainly equipped with the M3/M5 Stuart. Some armored divisions did not receive their first M24s until the war was over. Aside from the US Army, the British Army was another main user of the Chaffee during the war, with at least several hundred obtained through the US Lend Lease program. These saw action mainly in northwestern Europe and the North German Plain where British forces saw action against German troops. Reports from the armored divisions that received them prior to the end of hostilities were generally positive. Crews liked the improved off road performance and reliability, but were most appreciative of the 75 mm main gun, which was a vast improvement over the 37 mm. The M24 was inferior in armor to German tanks, but the bigger gun at least gave its crews a much better chance to fight back when it was required, especially in infantry support. The M24's light armor made it vulnerable to virtually all German tanks, anti tank guns, and hand held anti tank weapons. The contribution of the M24 to winning the war in Europe was minor, as too few arrived too late to replace the worn out M5s of the armored divisions. The M24's 75 mm main gun lacked penetration power against the frontal armor of the T 34 85. In addition, the armor of the M24 could be penetrated by the main guns of enemy tanks, artillery, and even anti tank rifles used by the North Korean military. Moreover, most of the tanks dispatched from Japan had not been repaired for a long time, so turrets and main guns frequently broke down during battles. A Company of the 78th Tank Battalion, who first arrived on the Korean Peninsula, suffered heavy damage, with only two of the 14 tanks remaining in about a month. This unfavorable situation was resolved in August of the same year when U. S. medium tanks were finally deployed on the Korean Peninsula. All of the tanks units that operated the M24s were replaced with the M4A3E8. Afterward, the M24 was given to the reconnaissance squadron under the tank battalion or the infantry division for most of the period and was used for scouting purposes as it should have been. The rest are abandoned in or outside military camps and one M24 is preserved in the Greek Army Tank Museum. One is on display outside the village of Metsovo (Μέτσοβο).

The Chilean Army up gunned their M24s in the mid 1980s to the IMI OTO 60 mm Hyper Velocity Medium Support (HVMS) gun, with roughly comparable performance to a standard 90 mm gun. Chile operated this version until 1999. Uruguay continues to use the M24, modernized with new engines and 76 mm guns which can fire armor piercing, fin stabilized, discarding sabot (APFSDS) rounds. In the mid 1950s, in an attempt to improve the anti tank performance of the vehicle, some French M24s had their turrets replaced with those of the AMX 13 light tank. AMX 13 variants with Chaffee turret also existed. In the late 1960s, the JSDF modified a single M24 with four Type 64 ATGMs in order to improve its anti tank capabilities.