The M103 is the symbol of America’s effort to nullify the heavy armor of the Soviets during the Cold War.
Developed in the 1950s, it was a particularly designed version of the armor to nullify the perceived Soviet tanks like IS-3 and IS-4, branded with massive armor and firepower.
It was a tank titan, rather heavy, to be sure, but well-armored with an excellent 120mm main gun.
“It was as well armored as it was armed, with upwards of five inches of hull armor at the front,” defense writer Peter Suciu observed.
62 tons, crew of five, the M103 was a hard hitter and built to take a lot of punishment.
However, the tank was huge with very high power, which had lots of disadvantages with it.
The top speed of the M103 was only 21 miles per hour with a range of only 80 miles,
and that made the vehicle far from ideal for rapid movement or long-distance travel.
Also, the tank was rushed to service and, when delivered, had several deficiencies.
Even with such promising parameters, the M103 was never used in a combat situation.
It was eventually replaced by the M60 Patton, which gave much better versatility and was a much greater success, it was served also by the U.S.
Army for four decades and finds its use by other military forces, even to this day.
Reflective of the far larger tank design problems-the sizing of all three dimensions-first-rate firepower, acceptable mobility -it is a part of that rather sad story: the tale of the M103.
Nowhere would the story be better filled out than for the American-built M103 tank, one that never was allowed to take a peek outside the nation’s confines.
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