page_title: Tanks of the United States
section_title: M3 Light Tank and M5 Light Tank
hierarchical_section_title: Tanks of the United States / World War II / Light tanks / M3 Light Tank and M5 Light Tank
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 M3 Light Tank was an upgrade of the M2 Light Tank. The Battle of France gave momentum to the US tank program because U.S. observers saw how easily British and French light tanks were decimated by the advanced German Panzers, and in July 1940 work began on a new light tank based on the M2 series.
  The initial upgrade was designated the M3 Light Tank, and it was given thicker armor, modified suspension and a 37 mm gun. Production of the M3 and later the M5 Stuart started in March 1941 and continued until October 1943 with a total of 25,000 produced.
  An upgrade of the M3, which was initially called M4 but later redesignated the M5, was developed with improved engines and produced in 1942. The M5 featured a redesigned hull and driver's hatches moved to the top. There was an M7 tank design based on the M4 Sherman, but was so heavy it had to be reclassified as a medium tank and was not mass produced, with only 13 made. The M5 gradually replaced the M3 in production from 1942 and was in turn succeeded by the Light Tank M24 in 1944.
  The British Army was the first to use the M3 in combat. In November 1941, some 170 Stuarts took part in Operation Crusader, with poor results.
  Although the high losses suffered by Stuart-equipped units during the operation had more to do with better tactics and training of the enemy than superiority of enemy tanks in the North African campaign, the operation revealed that the M3 had several technical faults. Mentioned in the British complaints were the 37mm gun's limited range and poor internal layout. The two-man turret crew was a significant weakness, and some British units tried to fight with three-man turret crews. Crews liked the vehicle's high speed and mechanical reliability.
  From the summer of 1942, when enough U.S. medium tanks had been received, the British usually kept Stuarts out of tank-to-tank combat. M3s, M3A3s, and M5s continued in British service until the end of the war, but British armor units had a smaller proportion of these light tanks than US units. The National Revolutionary Army also received the M3A3s tanks and some were later used in the fight against the Communist forces. 
  The other major Lend-Lease recipient of the M3, the Soviet Union, was even more dissatisfied with the tank, considering it undergunned, underarmored, likely to catch fire, and too sensitive to fuel quality. The narrow tracks were highly unsuited to operation in winter conditions, as they resulted in high ground pressures that sank the tank. However, the Stuart was superior to early-war Soviet light tanks such as the T-60, which were often underpowered and possessed even lighter armament than the Stuart. In 1943, the Red Army tried out the M5 and decided that the upgraded design wasn't much better than the M3. Being less desperate than in 1941, the Soviets turned down an American offer to supply the M5. M3s continued to see limited usage in the Red Army at least until 1944.
  In US Army service, the M3 first saw combat in the Philippines. Two battalions, comprising the Provisional Tank Group fought in the Bataan peninsula campaign. In 1941, the US Army Chief of Staff, General George C. Marshall, directed that the army's new M3 Stuart light tanks, then just rolling off the assembly lines, were to have the highest priority in reinforcing General MacArthur's command in the Pacific. The activated Army National Guard 194th and 192nd Tank Battalions were each equipped with 54 of the newly manufactured M3 Stuart light tanks, along with 23 half-tracks per battalion.  The federalized California Army Guard 194th Tank Battalion deployed from San Francisco on 8 September 1941, arriving in the Philippines on 26 September. That deployment was followed by the 192nd Tank Battalion, which had been training at Fort Knox, which reached Manila in November.
  On 21 November 1941, the 192nd and 194th Tank Battalions were combined to form the Provisional Tank Group under the command of Colonel James R.N. Weaver.  With the subsequent commencement of hostilities, and Japanese landings along the coastlines in December, the Provisio
caption: Light Tank M5A1 Stuart.
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