M24

### **Description**

The **M24 Chaffee** is a Premium American light tank part of the Normandy Allies' garage. It is a bigger improvement over other American light tanks via its driving handling and 75 mm cannon.

### **General Info**

The **M24 Chaffee** has thin armor on all sides, and can only effectively resist machine gun fire or very low-penetrating shells. It's crew is also very close to each other, increasing the chance of it getting one-shotted. The V-shaped gun mantlet might bounce some small caliber shells if you are lucky enough. However, don't rely on it as the rest of the tank is still poorly protected.

#### Armor Type

* Rolled homogeneous armor (hull, turret, cupola)
* Cast homogeneous armor (gun mantlet)

25.4 mm (44°) *Lower glacis*
12.7 mm (13°) *Rear*
19 mm (1-43°) *Bottom*
 Turret
38.1 mm (1-45°) *Gun mantlet*
 Cupola

#### Notes

* Suspension wheels and tracks are 15 mm thick.
* Belly armor is 12.7 mm thick.

### Upgrade Module

* **[NOTICE** - This tank comes fully upgraded**]**

#### Machine Gun Overview

The two machine guns on the **M24 Chaffee** are the .50 caliber M2HB and the 7.62 mm M1919A4. The roof-mounted .50 caliber can traverse 360 degrees and has great depression & elevation, posting a big threat to any plane that is flying too close to the M24. It has an unbelievable penetration of 31 mm at 10 m, meaning it can easily penetrate plenty of lightly armored vehicles and even the side of some low rank medium tanks. The 7.62 mm, on the other hand, can only efficiently damage exposed crews due to its low penetration.

 Pintle

 Coaxial

### Pros and Cons

#### **Pros**

* Decent mobility: good top speed and great turning ability
* Uses the same gun as the 75 mm Sherman's: Good penetration & damage and excellent gun depression.
* Fast turret traverse allows it to track agile targets easily.
* Low profile allows it to easily hide behind small bushes or rocks, increasing survivability.
* Very fast reverse allowing it to retreat from danger quickly.

#### **Cons**

* Low survivability: all-round thin armor and closely packed crews. Can get one-shot by Pz. IV's and Pz. III's.
* Acceleration is rather sluggish, especially when stock or on soft terrains.
* Shells drop dramatically at long distances, making distant / moving targets hard to shoot at.
* Reload time is pretty slow for a light tank.

## History

### Development

As early as 1942, the light tanks M3 and M5 Stuart have been seen as severely lacking in the modernizing design of tanks and how they fight. The armor was seen as insufficient and the 37 mm gun was also deemed useless against even the standard German tanks like the Panzer III and Panzer IV. The system needed an upgrade, specifically a light tank that mounts the 75 mm gun seen on the Sherman's. An attempt to mount a 75 mm gun on a Stuart was deemed inefficient as it reduced ammo stowage and left the armor too thin on the design.

In April 1943, the U.S. Ordnance Department worked with Cadillac to start on a project for the new light tank, designated Light Tank T24. The powertrain and transmission of the M5 Stuart were used with the ultimate goal of producing a vehicle weighing less than 20 tons. This left the vehicle with relatively thin armor to stay lightweight. At the time, a lighter 75 mm gun was developed for mounting on the B-25 Mitchell bomber without sacrificing performance, and this was mounted onto the light tank in development. The tank used 410 mm wide tracks with a torsion bar suspension that greatly improves cross-country travel. The engine was a Cadillac 44T24 V-8 petrol engine. The chassis was designed with the expectation that it would be used as a basis of many different vehicle roles so it was called the "Light Combat Team". The light tank end design had a low profile at 9 ft. 1 in. height and featuring a crew of five with a three-man turret, an improvement over the two-man turrets of the Stuarts. The first finished vehicle arrived on October 15, 1943, and was deemed a success, starting a contract for 1,000 units that was later raised to 5,000 units. The vehicle was classified as the Light Tank M24 and as the Chaffee by the British after US General Adna R. Chaffee, Jr., who helped develop some of America's earliest tank designs. The vehicle was produced by Cadillac and Massey-Harris from April 1944 to August 1945 with a total of 4,731 units produced.

### Combat usage

The first batch of M24s reached the battlefields of Europe in November of 1944 and first assigned to the U.S. 2nd Cavalry Group in France. The M24 gradually entered widespread use by December 1944, some Chaffee's went to the British to replace their Stuart tanks as well. The M24s were first used in the Battle of the Bulge with the 2nd and 42nd Cavalry Reconnaissance Squadron sent to support the southern sector of the battle. The Chaffee's were slow to enter use in the front-lines as even by the end of the war, some armored division did not have the M24 light tanks. Despite that, the reception of the Chaffee was positive even though it may not have the firepower to fight the better German tanks like the Panther tanks. The 75 mm gun gave the crew much more firepower than the earlier 37 mm. The light armor, though allowing the tank to pick up speed, was penetrable by most anti-tank weapons in service by Germany. The effect of the M24 Chaffee in World War II was deemed insignificant as it was not used in great numbers in comparison to the Stuarts in service since the start of the war.

The M24 Chaffee served a greater role in the Korean War and were sent in large numbers to combat the North Korean Armored Forces, however, they were severely under-gunned with their 75 mm cannon and the light armor was easily destroyed by the Soviet-supplied T-34-85 tanks. Plus, the deficiency in crew training also contributed to the poor performance of the M24 against the North Koreans. Due to their inferiority, they were used as a delaying measure until better tanks like the M4A3E8 Sherman and M26 Pershing could be brought in. Once with supports with these better tanks, the Chaffee's were relegated to reconnaissance roles, where they served with better results.

The M24, after being replaced in America by the M41 Walker Bulldog, was sent to many other countries for use. The French Army deployed the M24s during their fighting in Indochina and famously in the Battle for Dien Bien Phu. Some M24s went to the hands of the ARVN in South Vietnam to support the troops during the Vietnam War. The Pakistani Army used them as well in 1971 against India during the Indo-Pakistani War. The M24 Chaffee was also adapted in different roles by using the chassis for different designs, such as the M19 TGMC anti-air gun and self-propelled guns with the M37 105 mm HMC and M41 155 mm HMC.

The Chaffee had turned out to be one of the greatest light tanks the Allies developed during World War II. Though arriving too late to be a main turning factor for the war, the design has turned out to be so reliable that some countries like Uruguay still operate modernized versions. Austria has since retired its M24 fleet, but their turrets still serve on as bunkers.