FMC Lynx Reconnaissance Vehicle

     Notes: The Lynx was originally called the M113 ½ by FMC, and it competed against the General Motors M114 for US Army requirements in the early 1960s and lost to that vehicle for the US Army contract. (Quite simply, the M114 had a cheaper RL cost.) The US Army then released the vehicle for export sales, and when they sold the vehicles to Canada, Canada chose the name Lynx for the vehicle, and it stuck for further export sales. Though tangentially related to the M114, as both are based on the M113, it is not simply another variant of the M114. However, like the M114, the Lynx uses a shortened version of the M113’s suspension, and also uses the same General Motors 6V53 212 horsepower engine as the M113. It uses the same aluminum armor as the M113 and the same driver controls and transmission.  It is much lighter and therefore much more agile than the M113.  It is amphibious and uses the same preparation and flotation system as the M113l it also has the same poor freeboard as the M113.

     The Lynx has a crew of three, including a commander, driver, and RTO/observer.  The driver is on the front left.  On Dutch versions of the Lynx, the RTO is on the front right, and the commander is at the center of the vehicle in a cupola with a machinegun that can be aimed and fired (but not reloaded) from under armor.  (Dutch versions are known as the M113 C&V.) On Canadian Lynxes, the commander’s cupola in in the middle right, and the RTO is on the rear left; the cupola is otherwise the same as on Dutch M113 C&Vs.  In both cases, the RTO has a pintle-mounted MAG machinegun. Dutch M113 C&Vs later had their cupolas replaced with an Oerlikon GBD-ADA turret mounting a 25mm KBA autocannon. Dutch M113 C&Vs and Canadian Lynxes also have numerous small differences in internal arrangements, radios, etc.

     Canadian Lynxes were withdrawn from service in 1993, and Dutch Lynxes shortly thereafter.  Both countries passed their Lynxes on to further export customers, most notably Bahrain and Chile.  Other users of the Lynx include Iran.  The US tested both Canadian and Dutch 25mm-armed variants, and Britain also tested the Canadian variant. Canadian Lynxes are also liberally scattered around Canada in static displays or running examples, and in museums. They are also found in private collections in the US and Canada. By and large, however, most Lynxes were scrapped or became range targets. M113 C&Vs are largely still in service with export countries or in storage in the Netherlands, though some have also become range targets.

ACF Industries M3 Stuart

     Notes: The M3 was a design evolved from the earlier M2 light tank in the 1930s.  They were used by the Allies; after World War 2, many of them were bought by Latin American and other countries, some of which still use them to this day.  About 1500 of these vehicles were built with diesel instead of gasoline engines.  The M3 is generally inadequate for modern antitank use, and most of them are used as infantry support vehicles. 

     Most M3s were built powered by a Continental W-670 radial 240-horsepower gasoline engine, or with a Guiberson T-1020 250-horsepower diesel engine. Both of these were originally developed as aircraft engines.  These radial engines were at the rear of the vehicle, with the transmission at the front; the drive shaft went through the fighting compartment and took a lot of the crew’s space and it contributed to the M3’s relatively high profile (some 2.5 meters). When a revolving turret floor was introduced on the hybrid M3 and the M3A1, this problem got worse. Other differences in the M3A1 include a new turret and removal of the driver's machineguns for more ammunition space for the main gun. Extra fuel tanks may be added to improve the range. (Some M3s were fitted with the M3A1’s turret but not the turret basket.  These were referred to as M3 Hybrids.)

     The M3A3 introduced a transfer case that took up a lot less room in the fighting compartment and was quieter and cooler, but this arrangement had a lot more weight. The M3A3 used the Continental W-670 exclusively. It has a new turret, and the hull is stretched to allow for more ammunition carriage, more internal fuel, and better suspension.  These vehicles were not built with diesel engines. 

     The M5 has twin Cadillac V8 gasoline automotive engines developing a total of 220 horsepower instead of the modified aircraft radial of the M3. This was done to relieve aircraft engine manufacturers of pressure. The M5 has the improved transfer case of the M3A3. It also has improved frontal turret armor.  The M5A1 has an improved ammunition storage layout and the turret of the M3A3. The automatic transmission introduced on the M5 eased crew training and fatigue. Though the main criticism of the M3 was its lack of firepower, the same 37mm gun was used, though the improved M6 gun supplanted the M5.

     All told, the M3 and M5 took part in some 15 conflicts from World War 2 to the War in Angola, and served with 33 countries. The M3 is still on the active vehicles list of Paraguay in 2024, used in a training role. The M5 probably should have been the M4, but this designation was skipped on the Stuart in order to avoid confusion with the M4 Sherman tank.

Other Variants

     All variants of the M3 and M5 themselves had subvariants which were developed as command vehicles.  These had hulls with an upgraded electrical bus to allow for the installation of several radios (usually two long-range and a short-range radios).  The turret was deleted and the space used to install the radios.  The turret is replaced by s small superstructure, topped with an M2HB machinegun on a pintle. Diesel versions of these Stuarts were not produced. The M5 and M5A1 Command Tanks are identical for game purposes.

     In 1943, the US Navy Seabees converted 24 M3A1s for the US Marines for use in the Pacific campaigns.  The 37mm cannon was mostly removed, with the entire action removed and all but about one-quarter of the gun barrel chopped off.  Into this was fitted a Ronson flame gun, and a shroud was built around the barrel of the Ronson, which looked like a severely shortened 75mm gun. The coaxial M1919A4 was retained.  This was hooked up to a 644-liter fuel tank, which produced about two minutes of flame-on time total. The turret in which the Ronson gun was mounted could be traversed up to 10 degrees left and 80 degrees right of center, and at an elevation range from +18 to -15 degrees. Armor could not be rigged up for the flame gun mount and this provides a small weak point in the front of the turret, though an enemy soldier would have to use an aimed shot to have a chance to hit it.  The crew was reduced to two: the commander/gunner and the driver – there was simply no room for anyone else with the large fuel tank. The modified Stuarts were christened “Satans” by their crews, though this was an unofficial name.

     The reasonable success and continued lack of availability of M4 Shermans for conversion to flame tanks led to the conversion of the M5A1 to a flame tank, using lessons learned from the Satans.  This led to the E7-7 Mechanized Flamethrower. This designation came from its flamethrower gun, the E7-7.  The E7-7’s unofficial nickname weas the Quickie, due to the haste in which it was designed. It was designed in a similar manner to the Satan, but with improvements, most notably in the turret, which could rotate a full 360 degrees. This was partially accomplished by moving the power traverse controls to the turret bustle; because of this placement, the radio was moved to the right sponson, replacing the hull machinegun.  The turret basket was made cylindrical instead of the standard conical bosket; this allowed the placement of some of the flamethrower fuel tanks. This meant that the internal equipment and ammunition storage had to be rearranged. The armor weak point at the flame gun was eliminated. Crew was reduced to three – the driver, the assistant driver/bow gunner, who would also operate the radio, and the commander/gunner. Only four E7-7’s would be produced and sent to battle; more heavily armed Japanese tanks had made the M3 light tanks obsolete by this time.

     Other experiments and jury-rigged flamethrower tanks were developed from the Stuart. The ESR1-M3 series was developed from M3A1s and M5A1s by replacing the bow machinegun with a modified M1A1 portable flamethrower and a pair of five-gallon fuel tanks installed on the floor of the fighting compartment.  Early attempts had problems with the components coming apart due to the vibrations of the vehicle, and initial offerings were steadily improved upon, though these improvised flame guns never had rock steady reliability.  They also suffered from the short range of their personnel flamethrower roots, but they achieved their purpose of shielding the gunners from small arms fire long enough to apply the flamethrower stream and burn out the enemy. However, they were never an official issue and were only field improvisations, a sort of substitute standard at best.

Cadillac M24 Chaffee

     Notes: After experience in North Africa and the Pacific Islands in World War 2, it was discovered that the M3 and M5 Stuart, designed before the War, were obsolete, especially in the M3 and M5’s main armament, the 37mm M6. Design work began on a more heavily armed light tank; the design process was hampered by the fact that the desired armament, a 75mm gun, was too heavy to mount in a vehicle that was to weigh no more than 18 tons.  After some experimentation, a compatible (with work) gun was found in the 75mm M6 gun, which began life as a gun in a B-25H gunship variant.  The resulting gun was light in weight and had heavily buffered recoil. The gun was also stabilized in the elevation plane. The Chaffee was noted by its crews to be roomy, especially in the turret. The gun had both direct and indirect fire sights, with the direct fire sight being telescopic.

     The commander had six all-around vision blocks in a manually rotating cupola, with an M2HB on a pintle mount. The driver had three vision blocks to the front and left, while the assistant driver had three to the front and right. The gunner also had a vision block to the front, while the loader has a pistol port and vision block on the right side of the turret. The M24 is not NBC sealed and does not have a collective NBC system, with the crew being dependent on their own protective masks and suits. The radio is mounted in the rear of the turret; on command tanks, another radio was mounted in front of the assistant driver.  In both cases, the assistant driver operated the radio or radios. Though it is not included in the stats below, the Chaffee has brackets in the turret and hull for four M1 or M3 submachineguns, each next to the crewmembers’ positions, along with 720 rounds of .45 ACP ammunition.  There are also brackets for eight hand grenades.  Also mounted in the turret is a M3 two-inch smoke mortar, with space for 14 rounds of ammunition.  (The smoke mortar was deleted after World War 2, replaced by smoke grenade launchers.) There are also brackets for signal flags.

     The engine is the same as on the M5 Stuart – a twin Cadillac 16-culinder (double V8) 220-horsepower gasoline engine. This is coupled to a hydromatic synchromesh automatic transmission.  Steering is by controlled differential. The Chaffee is capable of excellent speed in reverse, able to back up at half the maximum speed forward. The tracks are wide and the Chaffee’s ground pressure is remarkably low. It can be further lowered by adding grousers to the tracks. The turret itself has no basket; the seats for the commander, gunner and loader are attached to the turret.

     In addition to the US, the M24 was supplied to Britain during World War 2.  After the war, it was distributed to a wide number of users. The Chaffee, however, is out of service in all countries, with Uruguay being the last country to retire their Chaffees in 2019.

    Taiwanese Chaffees have their 75mm guns replaced by French 90mm guns, their M1919A4s replaced by MAG machineguns, and plug-ins for the crewmembers’ protective masks.  Some of these vehicles have had their bow machineguns replaced by flamethrowers.  Various countries have replaced their M24’s engines with more up to date or more powerful engines; these replacements are too numerous to mention or stat out, and I do not have enough information about all of these engine changes.  The French and other countries replaced some of their Chaffee’s turrets with AMX-13 turrets. (AMX-13s with Chaffee turrets were also made, in small numbers; this will not be covered here.) Uruguayan M24s have had their engines replaced by 230-horsepower Saab-Scania DN11 diesel engines, and their transmissions replaced with a more reliable GAV 762 automatic transmission., In some cases their main guns were replaced with 76mm high-velocity guns able to fire APFSDS rounds. (This gun swap was also a common upgrade in some other countries.) The Uruguayan M24s were kept in service until 2019, for an incredible nearly 80 years of service. The Chileans upgraded the guns on their M24s in the 1980s, replacing them with the Israeli 60mm HVMS autocannon, a gun which nearly has the effectiveness of a 90mm gun. The Chileans operated this version until 1999.

Cadillac M41 Walker Bulldog

     Notes: This is a US-built light tank of 1950s vintage, though it missed the Korean War by about a month, and it is possible that M41s reached the Korean Peninsula just as hostilities ceased.  The M41 would later see extensive combat use in Vietnam, the Sino-Vietnamese War, and the Guatemalan Civil War, among several other wars; some unusual actions included the Bay of Pigs Invasion and the 2005 Thai coup d’état. Most were later heavily modified with external stowage, range finders, or even lugs for reactive armor. There are now few countries using the Walker Bulldog, though more keep them in Reserve status.

     The M41 is the basic version, being a standard sort of light tank, with thin armor and a reasonably effective main gun, designed for the reconnaissance and scouting role rather than to engage in direct combat. It is equipped with the M32 76mm gun, a gun designed to be heavily buffered and not stress the light chassis too much, allowing for the crew to better take follow-up shots. The gun mount also incorporates a coaxial machinegun.  The turret has a built-in coincidence rangefinder, with heads on each side of the turret sides, towards the front. The gun is stabilized in the vertical plane. The assistant driver/radio operator position has been deleted, with ammunition stowage taking his place along with a more easily used radio. The turret has an electrical drive to power the traverse, eliminating the hand cranking of earlier light tanks. The M41 is powered by a 500-horsepower AOS-895-3 gasoline engine, and coupled to an automatic transmission. Armor is of all-welded steel, and as stated, deliberately not especially heavy, though it is better armor than the Chaffee it replaced.

     The M41A1 version corrects the over 4000 technical and engineering issues that the US Army identified during testing of the M41.  Most notable among these changes is rearranged ammunition storage, greatly increasing the ammunition load carried.  Though not quantifiable in game terms, the main gun is upgraded to an M32A1, which can be reloaded slightly faster than the M32 of the M41, and be laid on target slightly faster (the GM may want to take this into account in tight situations).  The M41A2 is equipped with a much less fuel-hungry AOS-895-5 fuel injection version of the M41’s engine, power traverse for the commander’s cupola, and the main gun has a pinion-gear elevation system, again increasing the speed with which the gun may be laid on target. The M41A3 upgrades M41A1s to the AOS-895-5 engine, and adds one of the first night vision systems fitted to an armored vehicle. These were the variants in service with the US and most export customers.

     The M41 105, also known as the Bulldog/Stingray, is an M41 chassis topped with the complete turret of a Stingray medium tank. It was marketed by Cadillac Gage as an inexpensive upgrade to the M41, an upgrade with great bang for the buck, but it was not picked up by any user of the M41. This upgrade brings the M41 a 105mm L7 Low-Recoil Force gun able to fire all types of NATO 105mm ammunition and modern fire control systems as well as up to date gun stabilization.

     The T49 is an M41 with a modified turret housing a 90mm T132E3 semi-smoothbore main gun.  This is a medium recoil force gun with a fume extractor and a T-shaped muzzle brake. The T132E3 has the same space and weight profile as the M32 76mm gun. Military authorities proved to be uninterested in the design and it was not proceeded with into production.

*The turret is Shielded.

FMC M114 C&R

     Notes: The M114 was based (somewhat loosely) on its larger brother, the M113 APC, but is a much smaller vehicle.  The vehicle is sometimes called the M113 ½ or the Lynx, though the latter title more properly belongs to the M114 variant used by Canada and the Netherlands after the M114 ceased production. The M114 C&R (Command & Reconnaissance) was designed in 1960 as a scout and leader’s reconnaissance vehicle, to serve as an armored alternative to the Jeeps typically used by scout units at the time.  It looks very much like a shrunken M113, but is actually very different than the M113.  The M114 is not an APC, and has no provision for troops other than its crew.  It is about two-thirds the size of the M113, and only just over half its weight.  The suspension components are perhaps the most like the M113, but the M114 has only four roadwheels instead of the M113’s five. The engine is also smaller, a Chevrolet 283-V8 gasoline engine developing 160 horsepower. This engine is in the rear instead of the front. The rear door is round, and there is no ramp.

     The standard M114 had the M2HB on a pintle on a cupola, and required the commander manning the machinegun to expose himself to possible enemy fire when using the M2HB.  At the rear the one passenger had an M60 machinegun on a pedestal mount.  The M114A1 changed the commander’s machinegun mount to one that allowed him to aim and fire the M2HB from under armor, with the hatch closed. (He could not reload the machinegun from under armor.) The M114A2 had a hydraulically-powered cupola with an external mount for the M139 20mm autocannon, which was aimed and fired from within the vehicle, and contained all of its ammunition within the external mount. All M114s had a rack on the rear door for 3 M72 LAWs (not included below).

     The M114 had a short service life with the US Army, ending service in 1979, branded as a failure, as it proved unsuited to US Army tactics and the conditions present in Vietnam. Some ended up as range targets (there was one on the LAW range at Ft Benning in 1984 when I went to Basic). Others were sold off, most notably to El Salvador, where they were eventually modified almost beyond recognition.  Some were also sold or donated to various police departments in the US, Mexico, and Canada; some are still in police service, and one can be seen in the movie Die Hard.

Cadillac Gage M551 Sheridan AR/AAV

     Notes: This light tank was originally designed for scouting duties and to provide light firepower for airborne divisions in the US.  Most leadership in the US Army felt that the M41 Walker Bulldog was too heavy to truly be a light tank, and that a new light tank design could incorporate some new technology and gun designs, and yet be decently protected and still come in as a light tank. At the same time, a replacement for the M56 Scorpion assault gun was sought, and it was felt that the new design could fulfill both the assault gun and scout tank roles. In the summer of 1960, the Cadillac design became the XM551 Sheridan AR/AAV (Armored Reconnaissance/Airborne Assault Vehicle). The AR/AAV designation came from the Army switching to one MBT concept instead of previous roles as light, medium, and heavy tanks; the Army felt that Congress would not want to fund two tank development programs, so the Army simply designated the XM551 as something else other than a tank.  It was still a tank.

     The US Marines briefly considered procuring the M551 to replace the Ontos, but then decided that the M551 would be too expensive. The M551 equipped the armor battalion of the 82^nd Airborne Division, and some battalions of the 11^th ACR, and later partially equipped most Cavalry battalions deployed to Vietnam. The M551s fared sorely in Vietnam, losing several to mines and RPG fire; in addition, heavy machinegun rounds could often penetrate the sides and rear of the Sheridan. M551s did not get stuck in mid and soft ground as often as M48 tanks, and the M551 was faster and more agile than the M48.  Infantry appreciated the mobile firepower. The only combat parachute drops of the M551 occurred in 1989 in Panama; one burned in, but the shock value of the remaining three M551s upon the Panamanian forces was marked. Desert Storm in 1991 marked the only combat use of the Shillelagh missile, with six being fired and accounting for several antitank guns and a couple of T-55s. The M551s assigned to the 82^nd Airborne acquitted themselves well in Desert Storm. After Desert Storm, several attempts were made to replace the M551 with various vehicle programs, all of which were cancelled before achieving any concrete results.  The M551 was retired without a replacement in 1996 for frontline use, and their use at NTC was ended in 2003.

     The M551 is protected by some rather thin aluminum armor in the hull; it is especially lacking on the sides and rear. The turret is of steel. The main gun choice was controversial from the beginning – it was a heavy gun for such a lightweight chassis, and when fire with conventional rounds, the recoil was especially violent, with sometimes the first, second, and third roadwheels coming off the ground. Whenever a conventional round (but not a Shillelagh missile) is fired from the main gun, roll 1D10; on a 1-2, minor damage is inflicted on the rangefinder. In addition, the commander, when standing in his hatch when a conventional main gun was fired, would sometimes be slammed into the front of the hatchway, bruising, cracking or breaking ribs.  Whenever a conventional main gun round is fired, and the commander is standing in his hatch, roll 1D100; on 001-003, the commander sustains 1D6 damage to the chest. (Presumably, an M551 commander learns quickly not to stand in the hatchway when the gun is being fired.)  Due to the violent recoil, the M551’s gun should not be fired from the move, particularly at a fast pace, though it has enough stabilization to be fired accurately from a slow move. Despite its large faults, the M81 gun/missile launcher had one virtue -- it was much lighter than the 105mm M68 otherwise being considered for arming the M551.

     The M551 is amphibious; a large flotation screen must be erected and bilge pumps turned on. (The M551 was originally to have been powered in the water by waterjets, but this feature was eliminated early in testing.) The front of the floatation screen had a clear plastic window for the driver to see, but in practice, the driver had poor vision from this window and relied more on directions from the commander. The M551 is powered by a Detroit Diesel 6V53T turbocharged diesel developing 300 horsepower. The transmission is an XTG-250-1A automatic transmission. Suspension is by torsion bars, with five roadwheels and no return rollers, and the track is a flat design.

     The M551A1 added a laser rangefinder to the M551’s fire control system, and a TTS (Tank Thermal Sight) to the gunner’s night vision suite.

     Twilight 2000 Notes: The only users of the M551 at the time of the Twilight War were the OPFOR units stationed at Fort Irwin in southern California and Fort Polk in Louisiana.  These were largely restored to functional status at the time of the Mexican invasion, often still with the modifications used to make them look like enemy vehicles, and in this way were able to make many surprise attacks and accomplish infiltrations at night for reconnaissance.