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The M24-Hellcat gap is one of the most discussed gaps in the US tech tree, perhaps only after The Great USA SPAA Gap™. The 57mm Gun Motor Carriage T49 is one of many possibilities that could fill it. As a predecessor to the M18 GMC, it has even lighter armour, a weaker 57mm gun, and boasts the same excellent mobility, making it a great choice for War Thunder’s mid-World War II battlefields.
History and Design
US tank destroyer doctrine called for a heavily armed, lightly armoured, and highly mobile vehicle. Unfortunately, the earlier M10 GMC failed to satisfy these requirements fully. Therefore, the Ordnance Committee and the Tank Destroyer Board made another attempt in this direction.
Initial designs from autumn 1941 called for a 37 mm gun mounted in an open-top chassis on a T9 light tank (the predecessor to the M22 Locust). However, some tank destroyer officers, including then Lieutenant Colonel Andrew Bruce, believed the Christie suspension would allow for greater speed, so the vehicle was redesigned. Then on 3 April 1942, the Ordnance Committee recommended replacing the 37 mm with a more powerful 57 mm gun. These changes meant that the original T9 chassis would be unsuitable for use, so a new chassis was designed. The resultant vehicle was designated the 57 mm Gun Motor Carriage T49, and two pilots were authorised to be built by the Buick Motor Car Division of General Motors.
The T49 was manned by a crew of five. It was armed with a 57 mm M1 cannon and a coaxial .30 machine gun. It had extremely light armour: 22 mm on the turret and 9.5 mm for the hull. It was powered by two 164-horsepower Buick engines (330 hp in total) and was designed to reach 55 mph. The suspension was changed from the original Christie design to save space. The first prototype was completed in July 1942. During testing, power loss in the transmission reduced the max speed to only 38 mph, but the new suspension provided excellent ride characteristics.
In the end, the 57 mm cannon was found to be too weak. The second prototype, designated the T67, was completed in November 1942 with the 75 mm M3 cannon instead, but after firing tests the gun was quickly replaced by the 76 mm M1 cannon in the same month. The 76 mm was found to be the obvious best choice, so the T49/T67 program was closed, finally giving birth to the M18 Hellcat.
Specifications
Crew: 5
Armour: 22 mm turret, 9.5 mm hull
Armament: 57 mm M1 (for current in-game performance, see wiki), .30 coaxial MG
Weight: 12-14 tons (source conflict)
Engine: 330 hp twin Buick engine
Max speed: 55 mph designed, 38 mph actual
Power-to-weight ratio: 24-28 hp/t (due to source conflict regarding weight)
In-game
The importance of the T49 to the US tech tree is self-explanatory, being one of the possibilities to fill the low-tier light tank gap alongside the T24E1, T86, T67, M38, etc. All these vehicles already have suggestions open on the forum, so there’s no shortage of options for Gaijin to pick from.
Regarding the specific playstyle of the T49, it would play very much like the M18. The gun has less penetration, but the lower BR should mean that it wouldn’t have too much trouble penetrating the sides and weak spots of enemies. It does have less explosive filler which leads to worse post-penetration damage, but the faster reload allows for quick follow-up shots. The armour is extremely light, however, making the T49 vulnerable to even machine gun fire, so speed and stealth are key for this tank.
Sources
- “Stuart: A History of the American Light Tank” by R.P. Hunnicutt
- “M18 Tank Destroyer 1943-97” by Steven Zaloga
- “T49 57mm Gun Motor Carriage” by J. Rickard
- Tank Archives: Halfway to the Hellcat
- ADA954997