These defensive AFVs included the half-track-based 75mm Gun Motor Carriage M3 and the full-tracked M10, M18, and M36. Later the concept of tank destroyers evolved to counter large scale German armored offensives. Initially the US Army doctrine saw tanks as primarily for the exploitation role. It was not until later in the war that the M26 Pershing heavy tank was built. The M4 series of medium tanks, best known as the Sherman, were the most numerous with some 50,000 in service with not only the American military but British and other Allied armies. There was also the failed M22 Locust light tank intended for airborne operations. The Stuart series was supplemented by almost 5,000 units of the M24 Chaffee light tank. The first big order in May 1940 was for 365 M2A4 light tanks, the initial iteration of the Stuart series, with almost 24,000 constructed. By the end of the War American industry had built nearly 90,000 tanks, more than Germany and Great Britain combined. Only after the Nazis invaded Poland and France did the United States Government authorize mass production of tanks. This comprehensive and superbly illustrated book describes in authoritative detail the characteristics and contribution to victory of these formidable American fighting vehicles. To learn more about how and for what purposes Amazon uses personal information (such as Amazon Store order history), please visit our Privacy Notice. You can change your choices at any time by visiting Cookie Preferences, as described in the Cookie Notice. Click ‘Customise Cookies’ to decline these cookies, make more detailed choices, or learn more. Third parties use cookies for their purposes of displaying and measuring personalised ads, generating audience insights, and developing and improving products. This includes using first- and third-party cookies, which store or access standard device information such as a unique identifier. If you agree, we’ll also use cookies to complement your shopping experience across the Amazon stores as described in our Cookie Notice.

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Modern day tank destroyers un military