The evolution of armored vehicles, cars, and personnel carriers has paralleled the development of the tank. In World War I, to overcome the stalemate of the western front, and break through the mud, barbed wire, and machine guns, the British and French developed a fully tracked, armored, heavily armed vehicle—the tank—in 1916. This was followed closely by the armored car and other hybrid car/track combinations. Though the tank might provide shock value, it lacked the speed and mobility for reconnaissance and patrol; other armored vehicles would take over these traditional roles of cavalry. Lightly armored cars equipped with machine guns were used successfully by the British in Mesopotamia.
Between the wars, the U.S. Army began to develop armored vehicles. Brig. Gen. Adna Chaffee in particular saw armored cars as part of a greater effort to mechanize cavalry functions. Some results of this experimentation were the M8 Scout Car and the M3 Armored Half‐Track that the U.S. Army would use in World War II in cavalry, tank, infantry, and artillery units. The M8 (wt: 7,485 kg [16,500 lbs]; spd: 90 kmh [55 mph]; arm: 37mm gun/2x mgs, 7.62 and 12.7 mm), manufactured by Ford, was a wheeled, lightly armored reconnaissance vehicle that was one of the first effective replacements of light horse cavalry. It was adopted in 1943. The M3 Armored Half‐Track (wt: 8,872 kg [19,558 lbs]; spd: 70 kmh [45 mph]; arm: 2x mgs, 12.7 and 7.62mm), manufactured by Autocom, Diamond T, International Harvester, and White, was a revolutionary vehicle in that it represented an early armored personnel carrier for U.S. infantry. An all‐purpose weapons carrier, the M3 would carry a variety of weapons and was adopted by the U.S. Army in 1940. Mechanically as well, the M3 was novel in that it had wheels mounted in front used to guide the vehicle while rear‐mounted tracks provided propulsion.
Since the end of World War II the U.S. military has been at the forefront in armored vehicle development, which centers on two areas: cavalry and infantry. These vehicles are lighter than tanks, speedy, lightly armed and armored, and less expensive to purchase and maintain. Two vehicles in particular have been revolutionary in their impact on armored warfare in the late twentieth century. The M113 Armored Personnel Carrier and the M2/3 Cavalry/Infantry Fighting Vehicle (Bradley). The M113, currently manufactured by United Defense, was a product of the 1950s, one of the first successful fully armored infantry vehicles; over 74,000 were produced worldwide. The Bradley M2/3 (wt: 29,940 kg [65,868 lbs]; spd: 61 kmh [38 mph]; arm: 25mm gun, 7.62mm mg, tube‐launched, optically‐tracked, wire‐guided weapon system), manufactured by FMC Corporation, holds nine infantry or five cavalrymen and was adopted by the U.S. Army in 1981, replacing the M113 series. Despite early fears of compatibility and problems with transmissions and weight, the Bradley proved its worth in the Persian Gulf War.
[See also Tank Destroyers; Tanks.]
Bibliography
- A. J. Barker, The Bastard War, The Mesopotamian Campaign of 1914–1915, 1967.
- Christopher Foss, ed., Jane's Armour and Artillery, 1994, 1994
