Red_Horse_vehicles

TRANSPORTATION AND COMBAT VEHICLES


	LIGHT, ARMORED, CAR, M8, (6 x 6)

Light Armored Car M8 is designed as a light, highly mobile, armored reconnaissance vehicle which may also be used as a 37-mm gun motor carriage.

It consists of a welded hull and cast turret on a 6-wheel (6x6) chassis. The vehicle uses a conventional type of steering wheel and a Hercules model JXD engine.

Principal armament consists of a 37-mm Gun M6, mounted with a cal. .30 machine gun in a combination mount in the turret. The guns have an elevation from - 10° to + 20° . The machine gun can be removed from the combination mount and used on a Tripod Mount M2 if required.

The 37-mm gun, using A.P.C. shot M51B1 or M51B2, with a muzzle velocity of 2,900 feet per second, will penetrate 1.8 inches of face-hardened armor plate at 1,000 yards. A folding cal. .50 antiaircraft machine gun mount is provided.

The commander and gunner occupy positions in the open-top turret, which has a traverse of 360° . Driver and assistant are seated forward in the hull. In combat zones, the direct-vision slot shutters and hatch covers can be closed, and vision afforded by protectoscopes.

The vehicle is equipped with a radio and an intracar speaking tube. It is provided with a removable folding canopy of heavy canvas for covering the turret. A pintle hook is affixed to the rear of the vehicle for towing a trailer.

The pilot vehicle was manufactured by the Ford Motor Company.


	ARMORED, UTILITY, CAR, M20, (6 x 6)

This vehicle, which is based on the chassis of Light Armored car M8, is designed to combine the functions of a command car and a personnel and cargo carrier. Following the standardization of Light Armored Car M8, the Tank Destroyer Command requested the development of three vehicles - a command car, a personnel and cargo carrier, and an antiaircraft multiple machine gun mount - based on the same chassis.

Of these, it was proposed that the command car should be essentially the same as Armored Car M8, the principal change being the substitution for the 37-mm gun of a cal. .50 machine gun on a ring mount on top of the turret. The proposed personnel and cargo carrier was to be without a turret. Subsequently the Tank Destroyer Board indicated a preference for a turretless command car. This permitted the combination of the two functions in a single vehicle, with provision for stowage as required for the two different uses

The vehicle was originally standardized in April 1943 as Armored Utility Car M10. To avoid confusion with the 3-inch Gun Motor Carriage M10 intank destroyer organizations, the designation was changed to Armored Utility Car M20.

A Ring Mount M49 or M66, for the cal. .50 Machine Gun M2 HB (flexible), is provided over the rear of the open cargo compartment, for protection against low-flying aircraft. Provision is made for carrying a 2.36-inch rocket launcher and five cal. .30 carbines.

The car will accommodate two to six men, depending on the use for which it is intended. Protectoscopes and direct vision are provided for the driver and assistant driver.

Like the Armored Car M8, the vehicle is of the six-wheeled type, with power from a Hercules JXD gasoline engine being supplied to all six wheels.

The pilot vehicle was manufactured by the Ford Motor Company.


	Car, Half-track, M3

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