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M-24 HVMS Super Chaffee
History:
Resumo
Chile received its 21 M24 Chaffees in 1952, arriving at Antofagasta, a port city located in the Center-North of Chile. Subsequently, some of these M24s were modified by welding an anti-aircraft mount in the commander’s cupola for a 12.7 mm Browning M2HB, and in the mount that already existed in the default tank, a 7.62 mm Browning M1919 machine gun was installed, operable by the charger, which raised the number of machine guns to 4.
M-24 Chaffees on parade in Chile, 1954. The Browning M2HB is seen in the new mount and the original mount without the Browning M1919.
The M24s served for 17 years, until 1969. During this period it was evident that the tanks began to deteriorate and began to present problems, especially in their engines. Five of them were even abandoned in a warehouse and another was used as a guard in front of a barracks. then in 1975 all the m24s (including the 5 abandoned ones and the guardian) were sent to santiago de chile where they were repaired, however the army realized that they could not continue operating material in that state, and thus chile began to be interested in upgrade packages in other countries.
In the early 1970s, Chile wanted to update its M24 tanks as they were outdated compared to other tanks in the region. In 1975 the Norwegian Army put into service their improved M24 Chaffee renamed NM-116 Panserjager which had a number of improvements, including the barrel being replaced by a French 90mm one so Chile was impressed and set out to make its own variant.
First Chilean update
At that time the relations between Chile and the United States were not going well, so Chile had a military embargo and could not update them as Chile wanted, but at least they were able to update the propulsion system; For this, a tender was carried out that did not violate the embargo and the German company Mercedes-Benz, the American Cummins Engine Company and a joint project of the companies Detroit Diesel and MACO Pvt. Ltd responded to the tender.
All three projects were approved by modifying three Chilean Chaffee M24s where they underwent extensive testing.
The Cummins-powered prototype during testing, Peldehue, 1978.
At the end of 1978, the joint MACO-Detroit Diesel project was chosen as the winner and the 21 M24 Chaffee engines were repowered by the Detroit 53T 6V diesel of 250 hp at 2800 rpm and weighing 770 kg.
The engine compartment was not modified as the new engine fit perfectly. The only part modified was the engine platform, which received more air vents to facilitate air circulation.
A new radio station of unknown model with a new antenna on a mount on the right side of the turret was also added.
The hydramatic automatic transmission with 8 forward and 4 reverse gears was replaced by a 5-speed Allison HT 700 automatic transmission (5 forward and 1 reverse). Top speed increased slightly to around 60 km/h, while weight increased from 18.4 to 19 tons.
Detroit 53T 6V diesel mounted on Chilean M24s in 1978
The first phase of modernization was able to solve some mechanical problems, increasing its efficiency and power, but the biggest problem was the firepower since the 75 mm M6 guns that the tanks had were badly worn, which reduced their accuracy and effectiveness.
Negotiations with Israel
The need for more powerful weapons was resolved when, in 1979, Israel was contacted and had no problem violating the US embargo to help the Chilean Army. Israel raised the purchase of its M-50 and M-51.
Chile was interested but they also wanted to update their M24 Chaffee. so it was decided to supply the M-51s to Chile immediately and without modifications, and later supply the modified M-50s with the 60mm Hypervelocity Medium Support (HVMS) weapon, decreasing upgrade costs.
These same 60 mm Hypervelocity guns (HVMS) were implemented in the Chilean M24 Chaffee thus increasing the anti-tank performance.
Second Chilean update
In 1980 the first M-51 arrived in Chile. 3 years passed until the new guns for the M24 Chaffees arrived along with the M-50, so from 1983 the Chilean company FAMAE was in charge of beginning to install all the new improvements, starting with replace the M6 guns of the Chaffees with the new and powerful 60 HVMS guns , with new systems firing and obviously a new gyro-stabilizer . the M24 HVMS received, like the M-50 HVMS, a Fire Control System (FCS) developed by the Israeli companies Elbit and EL-OP which guaranteed a very high precision even at long range and a moderate precision even on the move. In addition, a travel lock on the transmission cover plate was added for the new longer barrel gun.
all these modifications increased the weight of the vehicle that came to weigh 22 tons.
In this way, the M-24 HVMS Super Chaffee was finally born, one of the most powerful modifications for this vehicle ever made, capable of penetrating enough armor.
Being a light tank, it had very poor armor, so Chile decided to use them more as tank destroyers, preparing ambushes and shooting from long distances thanks to the new gun that was very accurate and capable of penetrating thick armor.
The ammunition purchased by Chile was produced by MECAR in Saneffe, Belgium.
A Spanish language OTO-Melara poster on the APFSDS and HE rounds of the 60 HVMS guns.
Test firing on the chassis of a T-62 with the APFSDS.
M24 Super Chaffee HVMS and M41 Walker Bulldogs lined up in Punta Arenas, Chile
The M24 Super Chaffee 60 HVMS was the last update to the M24 Chaffee and despite being very old, it proved to be highly reliable in long-distance shooting and to be very maneuverable, but since it did not have good armor, it was very fragile compared to other modern vehicles and they were finally decommissioned along with the M- 50 and M-51 in 2002
M24 Super Chaffee HVMS and an M-51 during training somewhere on the Brunswick peninsula, Chile, in the early 1990s.
Specifications:
Resumo
country of origin: United States
manufacturing: Israel / FAMAE (Chile)
crew: 5 (Commander, gunner, loader, driver, bow-gunner)
Dimensions:
Length: 7.06 m
Wingspan: 3 m
Height: 2.77 m
Total weight, battle ready: 22 tons
Performance:
engine: Detroit 53T6V 250 hp diesel with 420 liters tank
velocity: 60 km/h, 45 km/h all terrain
weight/power: 11.4 hp/t
suspension: torsion bars
autonomy: 350 km
armor: 25 mm frontal and sides hull and 19 mm rear. 38 mm mantlet, 25 mm front, sides and rear of the turret.
Armament:
IMI high pressure cannon, 60/70 mm. HVMS, APFSDS-T 1600m/s
1x .50 browning HB
2x .30 browning M1919A4
