Gaijin Pls: The T37 Phase I Light Tank; A Baby Bulldog

From R.P Hunnicutt's "Sheridan: A History of the American Light Tank Volume 2":

At the end of World War II, all tank production in the United States was terminated. The only exceptions were a few experimental vehicles. The production run of the light tank M24 had ended in August 1945 after the completion of 4731 vehicles. They were destined to serve in the United States Army until after the Korean War. However, prior to the end of World War II, consideration was given to the future requirements of the Army. On 2 January 1945, the Army Ground Forces Equipment Review Board met in Washington, D.C. Later, in November of the same year, the War Department Equipment Review Board was convened under the leadership of General Joseph W. Stilwell. Both of these boards included a light tank in their recommendations for new development.

The proposed light tank was to be about 25 tons in weight with increased firepower and mobility compared to the light tank M24. Since the latter was considered to be deficient in firepower, the new light tank was to be armed with a gun approximately three inches in caliber capable of penetrating five inches of homogeneous steel armor at 30 degrees obliquity and a range of 1000 yards.

As originally outlined, the turret development program for the light tank T37 was divided into three phases. The Phase I design utilized the 76mm gun T94 in the T137 combination gun mount. The Phase II turret was to be armed with the higher velocity 76mm gun T91 and equipped with the Vickers fire control system featuring azimuth and elevation stabilization. The vehicle with this turret was subsequently redesignated as the light tank T41. The Phase III turret was to incorporate either the T91 gun with an automatic loader or a stubby case 76mm gun proposed for development. The fighting compartment on the Phase III vehicle was to be completely integrated with an IBM stabilization system and power loading. This fire control system was to include a stereoscopic range finder, an automatic lead computer, and an automatic ballistic corrector.

Imgur album with images taken from Hunnicutt

Characteristics

Crew: 4 (Commander, Gunner, Loader in the 3 man turret and 1 Driver sitting left)

Size:

• 18 foot 1 inch (5.5 m) long (23 foot 11 inch or 7.3 m including barrel length)

• 10 foot 6 inches wide

• 8 foot 6 inches tall

Armor: lol has none

• 1 inch (25 mm) @ 60 degrees UFP

• 1.25 inch (32 mm) @ 45 degrees LFP

• 0.75-1 inch (19-25 mm) Hull Sides

• 0.75 inch (19 mm) Hull Rear

• 1.25 inch (32 mm) Turret Front

• 1 inch (25 mm) Turret Sides & Rear

• 1-1.25 inch (25-32 mm) Gun Mantlet

Mobility:

• AOS-895-1 gasoline engine producing 500 gross horsepower at 2800 rpm

• Weight of 22 tons

• Top speed of 45 mph (72 kph) based on the M41A1 in War Thunder which uses the same transmission and a similar engine

Main Armament:

1x T94 76 mm cannon firing the following rounds:

• 76 mm AP-T, M339 at 2,600 feet/second (790 m/sec) for ~140 mm penetration point blank

• 76 mm HVAP-T, M319 at 3,400 feet/second (1000 m/sec) for ~200 mm penetration point blank

• 76 mm HE, M352

• 76 mm Smoke WP, M361

These are the same shells that the M41A1 has access to in War Thunder currently minus the sabot, but with lower shell velocity owing to the shorter barrel length. The ballistics of the gun will be similar to that of the 76 mm M1 you would find on the M18, however I personally was not able to find sources for shell velocities of this specific weapon for shells other than the M339, and therefore will assume that the 76 mm M1 is a good reference.

The 76 mm T94 has a vertical guidance of +20 to -9 degrees and is loaded manually by the loader on the right side of the turret, at a rate similar to if not slower than the M41A1.

Ammo capacity should be around 60 shells given the similarities to the M41A1, however I was also not able to find a good source on this figure.

Secondary Armament:

• 1x .50 caliber machine gun placed coaxially with the main 76 mm T94

• 1x .50 caliber machine gun placed on the roof

• 2x .30 caliber machine guns placed in blister mounts on each turret wall with vertical guidance of +45 to -9 degrees

Why does this vehicle belong in the game & what BR would it be at?

Currently the US tech tree has a large gap in its scouts between the 3.3 RB M24 and the 6.0 RB M41A1. The addition of this vehicle as an interim 5.3 light tank would somewhat smooth out the progression to the high tier American scout vehicles as well as slot into the popular 5.3 lineup with the M18, T20, and M4A3 (76) W. At 5.3 this vehicle would likely be balanced, as it would be similar to an M18 without the deadly APHE round and a larger profile but enhanced protection against heavy machine guns and superior gun stabilization with scouting ability. It is possible that it could be given access to the 76 mm HVAP-DS-T, M331A2 sabot that the M41A1 has access to, however this would be quite strong at 5.3 and may warrant an increase to 5.7.

The only issue with this vehicle in the tech tree is that there was only a single prototype of this vehicle completed that did not see combat, as subsequent models were upgraded to Phase II and Phase III variants with different turrets and weapon systems that ultimately ended with the production of the M41 Walker Bulldog. This would make the case for this vehicle to be a premium, as even similar paper vehicles such as the T95 had multiple prototypes completed.