page_title: Tanks of the United States
section_title: M22 Locust
hierarchical_section_title: Tanks of the United States / World War II / Light tanks / M22 Locust
caption_attribution_description: An M22 Locust, American light tank at Bovington Tank Museum in the UK
context_page_description: The U.S. has been greatly influential in the design philosophy, production and doctrine of tanks, and has been responsible for some of the most successful tank designs.
context_section_description: The Light Tank (Airborne) M22, also known as the Locust, began development in late 1941 in response to a request by the British military earlier in the year for an airmobile light tank which could be transported onto a battlefield by glider. The United States Ordnance Department was asked to produce this replacement, which in turn selected Marmon-Herrington to design and build a prototype airborne tank in May 1941. The prototype was designed so that it could be transported underneath a Douglas C-54 Skymaster transport aircraft, although it would also fit inside a General Aircraft Hamilcar glider.
  After a series of modifications were made to the initial prototype, production began in April 1943. It was significantly delayed, however, when several faults were found with the tank's design. Marmon-Herrington only began to produce significant numbers of the T9 in late 1943 and early 1944, and by then the design was considered to be obsolete; only 830 were built by the time production ended in February 1945. As a result, the Ordnance Department gave the tank the specification number M22 but no American combat units were equipped with it.
  However, during 1943, the War Office believed that the tank would perform adequately despite its faults that came to light, so the tank was given the title of 'Locust' and 260 were shipped to Great Britain under the Lend-Lease Act. Seventeen Locusts were received by the 6th Airborne Armoured Reconnaissance Regiment in late 1943. Eight were eventually used during the airborne Operation Varsity in March 1945. The tanks did not perform well in action and Locusts were never used in action again.
caption: M22 Locust light tank
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