MISSION STATEMENT

This website is to serve as a catalog of historical information for various tanks, across various stages of development, created for use by the United States from Pre-WWII through to the 1970s. However, the primary purpose for this website is to illustrate a proposal for what an "endgame" could look like for the US tech tree in the game, World Of Tanks, and to show that there's still plenty of life left to breathed into this game.

My aim is to see as many tanks in the game about tanks as possible, and I hope to show that in a way that respects both the historicity of the tanks shown and the balance of the game overall. As such, I will not be going into great detail on individual statistics. Rather, I will only be showing the possible modules for each tank, changes that could be made to make it more historically authentic, a historical overview, and how the tank's playstyle may be represented in-game. I will also attempt to future-proof this by including alternate hulls, half-tracks, and wheeled vehicles.

This is certainly not perfect and everything is subject to change. This is still a work in progress, and updates are frequent if not daily. This is a fan project and a labor of love. Do enjoy.

Tuesday, February 27, 2018

T43 Army Staff Proposal


During the development of the M103, numerous guns were proposed ranging from 90 mm to 120 mm in caliber. Eventually the Army Staff settled for a 120 mm selection. The decision to mount the 120 mm T123E1 caused a crisis of development for the ammunition, as the ammunition for the previously selected T122 was incompatible with this new gun. During this time, a strange proposal came out of Detroit Arsenal in September 1950 to study a complete redesign of the tank.

 The gun selected was a variant of the 90 mm T15, which had previously been experimented on as an upgrade for the M26 Pershing. The gun also lacked a conventional mantlet, with a gun shield positioned on the inside of the turret, reminiscent of some British designs. The turret itself was made far more elliptical and compact. While the hull retained its seven road wheels, additional rollers were added.

 These changes were aimed at reducing the overall weight of the vehicle to 45 tons, use already-made designs, and accelerate the development process. However, this proposal was clearly disregarded and the design never went past the mock-up stage. Clearly, the advocates for a 90 mm gun in the Army Staff had not quite yet conceded their positions.

This tank might be best compared to German VK 45.03. The T43 ASP would have better armor and a better gun, but it would be less mobile and possibly have worse DPM to compensate for its firepower.

Guns: 90 mm Gun T15E2

Engines: Continental AV-1790-5B (810 hp)

Turrets (Turret Armor (mm)): T43 ASP (??/??/??)

Suspensions/Alternate Hulls, Total Weight (metric tons): T43 ASP (40.82)

Hull Armor (mm): 127/51/38

Top Speed: 35 km/h

Crew: 5 (Driver; Gunner; Loader; Loader; Commander/Radio)




See Also: M103

Sources:
Hunnicutt, R. P. Firepower, 2017.
Estes, K. W. M103 Heavy Tank 1950-74, 2013.
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