During World War II, a new heavy weapon came to the aid of American soldiers - an M24 tank called the Chaffee. By the end of 1945, this combat vehicle was considered quite powerful. After all, despite the light execution, the tank was equipped with a 75 mm gun.
In a fairly short period, on the basis of the M24, another lightweight combat vehicle was invented - the Bulldog (M41 Walker Bulldog tank). During the release (from 1946 to 1949) in the United States produced about 4 thousand units of this machine.
The battle tank is equipped with a 76 mm cannon, and the barrel is almost 2 times longer than its predecessor (60 calibers). Despite the successful configuration and execution, the Walker characteristics were not enough to win during the Vietnam War, because the enemy was armed with heavier weapons - the T-54 tank.
The remains of weapons were used to complete various military vehicles: armored personnel carriers, self-propelled guided vehicles and other tracked vehicles.
Operation of equipment in peacetime
The German tank Bulldog was not effective enough in Vietnam. It was finally discontinued in 1969. Export of this combat vehicle did not stop - many states of the world (about 30) adopted Walker into service.
Modern army structures use the invention of the last century and today. So, even 7 years ago, in the Brazilian army, there were one and a half hundred “Bulldogs”.
During training in the departments of the combat vehicle are simultaneously 4 people performing tasks. This feature is positive, because each crew member is responsible for their work, and the number of cadets (military) is recognized as optimal.
The main tasks in the design of the M41
The project of a light tank was developed back in 1942, but the final completion and release of a trial series began only in 1946.
Based on the requirements of military engineers, a description of the bulldog tank based on the obsolete T-24 was compiled. According to the requirements of the times of the last century, military equipment was to become faster, more mobile, and possess high power. When designing, the weight of the machine was taken into account: it should not exceed 25 tons.
This machine, thanks to the long-barreled cannon, pierced almost 13 centimeters of the target’s armor at a distance of more than 900 meters.
The Bulldog tank underwent a number of modifications: the layout of the turret changed, the side machine-gun mounts were removed. Based on the upgraded version of the M41, the T41E1 was soon released. The last instance was mass-produced.
Components of the M41 combat gun
The entire outer casing of the machine is welded, and consists of armored sheets. The control department is in the front, and the combat department is in the middle. The engine compartment is located in the stern. In the aft compartment there is a powerful horizontally opposed engine (6-cylinder) with air cooling.
The main combat characteristics of the bulldog tank are higher than in previous versions: a powerful rifled gun, which is located on a tower with circular rotation, is paired with machine guns. Walker is also equipped with sights and a ballistic computer.
The dimensions of the combat vehicle are quite impressive: 5.8 meters in length and 3.2 in width. The total length with the gun forward is 8 meters. As was set, the weight of the tank did not exceed 25 tons (in equipment, the weight reached 23.2 tons).
Walker speed on a flat road reached 72 km / h. Also impressive by the standards of the last century was patency: the tank easily overcame 70-centimeter walls, almost 2-meter ditches, fords, and sharp corners (35 °).
The bulldog tank had a large range - 160 km on a flat road. Ammunition was 57 rounds of 76 mm charges. The power of the carburetor engine reached 400 liters. with.
Features of the body of the combat vehicle
The armor plates of the entire tank are located at an optimal angle and have different thicknesses. The armor of the roof of the tower is 12.7 mm, the mask is 38. The bottom of the control department is welded from 32 mm armor, the bottom of the back of the car is 9.25 mm. The nasal parts were provided with the most dense armor - their thickness was not less than 5 cm.
For better viewing, the commander’s tower housed glass blocks that provided a circular view.
A feature of the German tank "Bulldog" was the lack of protection of the crew from various weapons of mass destruction. In the engine compartment, only fire-fighting equipment was installed, which was controlled from the driver's seat.
Walker combat equipment
The main armament of the machine was a large-caliber gun, which was equipped with a muzzle brake. In the conduct of hostilities, shells with killer elements, smoke bombs, high-explosive fragmentation, armor-piercing and other types of shells were used.
The first layout of the tank bulldog provided 57 shots. After the upgrade, the stock of shots increased by 8 units. A feature of this solution was overload: it was possible to use only 24 shots immediately, the rest - only after reloading. To update the arsenal, it was necessary to deploy the tower in the stern, because the rest of the charges were in the car body.
In some previous versions and modifications, ground pressure and track extension were not taken into account when performing military operations or operations. Therefore, the independent torsion bar suspension was equipped with lever mountings providing constant tension of the tracks, which was very necessary when firing, moving and overcoming obstacles with military equipment.
