The mantlet had additional armor ring protecting the sight. Some of the ISU-152Ks received an additional 15 mm armour plate welded on top of the 60 mm armour plate covering the mantlet above. Also, some of them received an additional armour plate welded on the upper mantlet front. The modernisation was carried out in the Leningrad Kirov Plant.
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Gun mantlet, highlighted in red, mounted to a tank's main gun (American M1A1 Abrams) A gun mantlet is an armour plate or shield attached to an armoured fighting vehicle's gun, protecting the opening through which the weapon's barrel projects from the hull or turret armour and, in many cases, ensuring the vulnerable warhead of a loaded shell does not protrude past the vehicle's armour. On many tanks during World War II, the gun mantlet covered both the main gun and any coaxial armament, and had the thickest armour on the vehicle. However, in many late Cold War and post-Cold War tank designs, the gun mantlet became one of the weaker parts of a vehicle's turret armour and thus a weakness. This was because as many mantlet designs were attached directly to the gun, it drastically increased the weight of the whole gun system and the amount of effort needed to elevate and depress it.
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As a result, it is generally the thickest, most robust armored section of a tank, followed by the turret face and gun mantlet.
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Also, four magazines containing main gun ammunition were located between the driver/radio operator seats and the turret, directly underneath the gun mantlet when the turret was facing forward.Jentz 1995, p. 124 From September 1944, a slightly redesigned mantlet with a flattened and much thicker lower "chin" design started to be fitted to Panther Ausf G models, the chin being intended to prevent such deflections.
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Panther with regular rounded mantlet Panther with flattened lower 'chin' mantlet The front of the turret was a curved thick cast armour mantlet. Its transverse-cylindrical shape meant that it was more likely to deflect shells, but the lower section created a shot trap. If a non-penetrating hit bounced downwards off its lower section, it could penetrate the thin forward hull roof armour, and plunge down into the front hull compartment.Doyle and Jentz 1997, p. 9 Penetrations of this nature could have catastrophic results, since the compartment housed the driver and radio operator sitting along both sides of the massive gearbox and steering unit.
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This was an issue for gun stabilizers as they proved to be less efficient and accurate in keeping the gun steady with the added weight of the mantlet. Therefore, as seen in tanks such as the M1 Abrams and the Leopard 2, the mantlet had less armour than the rest of the turret to cut down on weight and they became far smaller to minimise the area that a projectile could hit for if it did, it would very likely result in a penetration and disable the gun and damage the fighting compartment. On vehicles such as the Chieftain, the mantlet is dispensed with completely.
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The Tiger I's armour was up to 120 mm on the gun mantlet. The Tiger I had frontal hull armour thick, frontal turret armour of and a thick gun mantlet. The Tiger had thick hull side plates and 80 mm armour on the side superstructure/sponsons, while turret sides and rear were 80 mm. The top and bottom armour was thick; from March 1944, the turret roof was thickened to .
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Early Shermans that had a periscopic sight for the main gun mounted in the turret roof possessed a small thick mantlet that only covered the hole where the main gun barrel protruded; the exposed barrel of the coaxial machine gun was vulnerable to bullet splash or shrapnel and a small armored cover was manufactured to protect it. When the Sherman was later fitted with a telescopic sight next to the main gun, a larger thick gun mantlet that covered the entire rotor shield including the sight and coaxial machine gun barrel was produced.Reid, p. 215 105 mm-armed Sherman tanks did not have a rotor shield, possessing only the mantlet to cover the opening in the turret front.
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Two separate versions of the Sturmpanzer IV existed, one without a machine gun in the mantlet and one with a machine gun mounted on the mantlet of the casemate.Scheibert (1991), pp. 32–33 Furthermore, a artillery gun was mounted in an experimental demountable turret on a Panzer IV chassis. This variant was called the Heuschrecke ("grasshopper").Scheibert (1991). p. 43 Another 105 mm artillery/anti-tank prototype was the 10.5 cm K (gp.
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Both the hull and the turret shell of the SP70 are made of aluminium and meet the requirements for protection against 7.62 mm armor-piercing rounds, 14.5 mm armor-piercing rounds at 100 meters and shell fragments from a 152 mm shell bursting at 10 meters. The NBC seal is provided by a mantlet and mantlet seal. The SP70 provides full NBC collective protection for the crew with charcoal filters and a ventilation unit.
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Zaloga 2008, Armored Thunderbolt p. 86–125, p. 287–294. T26E3 nicknamed Fireball, knocked out by a Tiger I in an ambush. An 88 mm round penetrated the gun mantlet.
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It was mounted in a large cast turret featuring a thick mantlet. With the passage of OCM 28848, the program changed to a postwar developmental study consisting of only eight tanks.
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The armor was extremely light and was sloped to maximize effectiveness. The turret was 25 mm thick with a 38 mm thick gun mantlet. The glacis plate was 25 mm thick.
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Some Mark IIIs were also modified, using Mark IV turrets. To fit the Sherman mantlet required cutting away the front of the Churchill turret before it was welded in place, then the mantlet slot had to be cut away to give sufficient elevation. The Sherman 75 mm gun was designed for a left hand loader and the Churchill, in common with British practice, had a right hand loader. The gun was turned upside down and the firing controls adapted.
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A mantlet or shawl-mantlet was a shaped garment like a cross between a shawl and a mantle, with points hanging down in front. The burnous was a three-quarter length mantle with a hood, named after the similar garment of Arabia. The paletot was knee-length, with three cape-collars and slits for the arms, and the pardessus was half or three-quarter length coat with a defined waist and sleeves.Tortora and Eubank 1994, p.
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Beneath it was the splinter deck that ranged from in thickness.Friedman, US Battleships, 115, 118, 440. The boiler uptakes were protected by a conical mantlet that ranged from in thickness.Stillwell, Battleship Arizona, 359.
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Kilbourn had a new barrel designed for the 17-pounder that had a longer untapered section at the base, which helped solve the stability problem. A new mantlet was designed to house this gun and accept the modified cradle. The Firefly had no armour or mobility advantages over the normal Sherman tank beyond the additional 13 mm of protection added to its mantlet. The modifications were extensive enough that 17-pounders intended for the Firefly had to be factory-built specifically for it.
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In the early years of World War I, W.J. Jeffrey & Co rifles chambered in their high velocity .333 Jeffery cartridge proved highly effective against the steel mantlet plates used by German snipers at the time.
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The Chronica records that Alfonso also brought with him siege engineers and built several siege engines (probably including at least siege towers "placed against the walls") for investing the castle. To cut off the defenders' water supplies he stationed guards along the riverbank and had a mantlet placed at a location where they had theretofore drawn water in secret. One day the Muslims sallied forth and set the mantlet, left unguarded, on fire, destroying it. Thereafter, however, an order prevented anybody inside the castle from leaving.
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The 76 mm gun could also not penetrate the front hull armour of the Panther, but could penetrate the Panther turret mantlet at very close range.Jentz 1995, p. 127 In August 1944, the HVAP (high velocity armour-piercing) 76 mm round was introduced to improve the performance of the 76 mm M4 Shermans. With a tungsten core, this round could still not penetrate the Panther glacis plate, but could punch through the Panther mantlet at , instead of the usual for the normal 76 mm round.
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After the Panther II project died, a more limited upgrade of the Panther was planned, centred around a re-designed turret. The Ausf F variant was intended for production in April 1945, but the end of war ended these plans. The earliest known redesign of the turret was dated 7 November 1943 and featured a narrow gun mantlet behind a thick turret front plate. Another design drawing by Rheinmetall dated 1 March 1944 reduced the width of the turret front even further; this was the Turm-Panther (Schmale Blende) (Panther with narrow gun mantlet).
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Schematic plan of the bergfried The bergfried and mantlet wall Map showing the plan of the Gräfenstein Castle. Gräfenstein is one of the most important, Hohenstaufen era castles in Rhineland-Palatinate. It is about long and about wide.
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Some were to be landed with the first wave.p. 185 Schenk # Panzer III F/G upgraded with more armour on the mantlet and progressively from 3.7 cm KwK 36 L/46.5 to 5 cm KwK 38 L/42.
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The ring protecting the sight was present, and the armour of the upper mantlet front was further increased with a thicker additional armour plate. The ISU-152M had the same V-54K engine with a heater, but lacked the cooling system.
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Nevertheless, the administrators at Uralmash were persuaded to proceed, and the new design was put into production. The weapon was later modified to include a telescopic sight and a new ball gun mantlet. This vehicle was retitled the SU-85-II.
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In military use from pre-WW2 onward, a mantlet is the thick, protective steel frontal shield, usually able to elevate and depress, which houses the main gun on an armoured tank, examples being Tiger Tank, Sherman Tank and Churchill Tank .
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Both the A13 Mk III Covenanter and the A15 Crusader designs used the same main turret. The turret was polygonal—with sides that sloped out then in again—to give maximum space on the limited turret ring diameter. Early production vehicles had a "semi-internal" cast gun mantlet, which was quickly replaced in production by a better protected larger cast mantlet with three vertical slits for the main gun, a coaxial Besa machine gun and for the sighting telescope. There was no cupola for the commander who instead had a flat hatch with the periscope mounted through it.
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M3 Lee/Grant Medium Tank 1941-45. Osprey Publishing, 2005. The M2A1 had slightly better armor and a slightly larger turret than the original M2, since it had the turret from the M3 Light Tank, with gun mantlet armor 2 inches (51 mm) thick.
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This gun was designated D-25S, and the vehicle mounting it ISU-122S. The modification increased rate of fire from 1.5 rounds/minute to 3 rounds/minute. The ISU-122S variant is recognizable by its ball-shaped gun mantlet and double-baffle muzzle brake.
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The 1968 proposal for a vehicle specification that differed from the Mark 1 in the following respects: #Transistorised gun- control equipment. #New turret of cast front and mantlet-less design, with new gun mounting. #Improved frontal aspect to the hull and turret. #Improved track, suitable for continuously.
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Behind the lower side plate inflatable bags could hold fuel. The turret mantlet was 350mm thick and the turret itself between 240-250mm angled at 50-60 degrees. When shot at frontally, the extreme angle that the pike nose presents results in a much higher likelihood of a ricochet.
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Both turret types had 9 in rears and they rested atop barbettes that were 13 in thick. The conning tower had 16 in sides and a 8 in roof, the latter consisting of STS. The uptakes from the boilers to the funnel were protected by a conical mantlet that was 13 in thick.
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Although the Type 89 was well regarded by the army, there were several small problems to be rectified, notably a gap under the mantlet on early models that allowed rifle fire to enter the turret. Work continued on improving the Type 89 after the production started, and as a result variants were developed.
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Osprey Publishing, 2005. p6Chamberlain & Ellis (1969) p106 The M2A1 had slightly better armor and a slightly larger turret than the original M2, since it had the turret from the M3 light tank, with gun mantlet armor 2 inches (51 mm) thick. An M2A1 Medium Tank on display at Aberdeen Proving Grounds.Crismon, Fred “U.
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The keep at Provins encirled by a low wall In medieval castles the chemise (French: "shirt") was typically a low wall encircling the keep, protecting the base of the tower. Alternative terms, more commonly used in English, are mantlet wall or apron wall.Friar, Stephen (2003). The Sutton Companion to Castles, Sutton Publishing, Stroud, 2003, pp.
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The pelerine was a popular name for wide, capelike collars that extended over the shoulders and covered the upper chest. Sometimes they had layers of tiered fabric, long front panels hanging down from center front, or were also belted at the natural waistline. The mantlet was a general name for any small cape worn as outerwear.
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The SU-122 had no variants that went into mass production. The T-34 chassis of the SU-122 was further adapted as part of the later SU-85 self-propelled gun. Towards the end of the production run, a prototype SU-122 was built with the same ball mantlet as the SU-85. (Zaloga 1984:160–61).
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The Tiger was spotted by the Firefly crew through the windows of a corner building. They reversed to shoot through the windows. The Tiger was hit on the gun mantlet and raced past the side street. A Cromwell advanced onto the main street and fired into the rear of the Tiger, knocking it out and then reversed back into cover.
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The gunner uses an APX M581 telescopic sight with ×10 magnification with a built-in APX M550 laser rangefinder (a.k.a. CILAS TCV 80). The possibility of misalignment are reduced as the sight is an integral part of the mantlet. A Thomson CSF DIVT-13 low light television camera (LLLTV) with a ×1 magnification allows night observation up to 1200 m.
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The new artillery pieces consisted of a core tube and mantlet with a mechanism retainer, 28 rifles, Nordenfelt eccentric screw and hydraulic brakes with a spring system for returning the tube to position. This made the Model 1901 Norway's first quick-firing gun. The gun's range was , firing a standard shell. The Model 1901 was long, with a barrel length of .
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Chilcomb range is a Ministry of Defence range to the south of the village. The range has 12 lanes and firing points from 50m to 500m. Targets are both manual and automatic with the ETR coffins in front of the mantlet. The range is used by British Army and Royal Navy units for personal weapon training in daylight and at night.
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Miller, David. Zenith Imprint, 2000. The M2 Medium Tank's unique features included a total of 7 M1919 Browning machine guns, whereas most tanks only had 1 or 2, bullet deflector plates, and sloped armor on the hull front (glacis plate). The main armament was a 37 mm gun, with 32 mm armor; the M2A1 had a 51 mm gun mantlet.
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The M60A2 featured a specially designed turret for the M162 gun/missile launcher that greatly reduced the frontal arc in comparison to the M60A1's T95E7 turret. The M60A3's turret was similar to the A1's but with increased armor protection for the frontal arc and mantlet in an effort to provide additional protection of the turret's hydraulics system.
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Around the bergfried there is a mantlet wall, which appears to represent five sides of a slightly irregular octagon, due to the nature of the terrain. The outer wall of the upper ward consists externally entirely of rusticated ashlars. Access was via a wooden staircase at the site of the present stone one. The gate at this point has not survived.
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On 26 February, a T26E3 named Fireball was knocked out in an ambush at Elsdorf while overwatching a roadblock. Silhouetted by a nearby fire, the Pershing was in a disadvantageous position. A concealed Tiger tank fired three shots from about . The first penetrated the turret through the machine gun port in the mantlet, killing both the gunner and the loader.
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F2 were mainly associated with the change in armament, including an altered gun mantlet, internal travel lock for the main weapon, new gun cradle, new Turmzielfernrohr 5f optic for the L/43 weapon, modified ammunition stowage, and discontinuing of the Nebelkerzenabwurfvorrichtung in favor of turret mounted Nebelwurfgerät.Jentz & Doyle (1997) p. 44 Three months after beginning production, the Panzer IV Ausf.
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The Schmalturm design featured several design requirements with the main concerns being the removal the shot trap found in the Panther's mantlet due to its cylindrical shape, an increase in turret protection while limiting weight, decreasing the size of the turret while still maintaining crew efficiency, as well as taking 30 percent less time to manufacture than the standard Panther turret. The addition of a stereoscopic rangefinder and making the turret easier and less expensive to produce compared to the Panther's turret. The end result of Daimler Benz's design resulted in a hexagonal-shaped turret which featured heavier armour on the turret as a whole. The front plate of the turret was 120 mm thick while the mantlet was a conical shape that was 150 mm thick angled to an extreme to ricochet any shells that hit it.
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A Medium III in use as a command vehicle The disappointment of the A6 led to the "Medium Mark III", being ordered in 1928 and constructed from 1930.Fletcher Mechanised Force, pp. 16-17 It was similar to the A6 but featured a new turret and improved armour. The turret had a flat gun mantlet and a bulge at the back to hold the radio set.
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It resembled a longer, better armoured T-34-85 turret. It had a cast gun mantlet with a small but prominent ring/collar around the base of the tank gun tube. The turret roof had a raised commander's cupola on the left and loader's hatch on the right with a low dome-shaped ventilator behind it. The turret was moved with an electric motor.
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This tank, acquired from the MTM, has a largely uncut hull, with turret, gearbox and running gear, otherwise bare inside. This vehicle consists of the hull of AC1 8040 and an AC3 turret. The tank was externally restored in 2014. It now has a 17 pounder barrel in an attempt to represent the AC4 prototype; the mantlet and gun mount were fabricated by the AAAM.
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An emergency exit was installed in the underside. A small circular or rectangle hatch was placed in the turret for ventilation. The T-18s armament stayed the same as that found on the FT-17 and T-16, the French 37 mm Model 28, mounted in a Hotchkiss-system mantlet. This gave the gun a range movement of 35 degrees horizontal, and +30 to -8 degrees vertical.
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The original 115 mm gun was retained, making IDF dependent on captured ammunition. The commander's 12.7 mm DShK 1938/46 antiaircraft heavy machine gun was replaced by an M1919 Browning 7.62mm machine gun, with a mount for a second Browning on the loader's hatch. An M2 Browning 12.7mm machine gun could be mounted on the mantlet of the main gun as a ranging gun.
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Field modifications were made to increase the vehicle's survivability, resulting in diversity to already numerous variants; cement plastered on front superstructure, older Ausf.C/D retrofitted with a KwK 40 L/48 gun, Ausf.G mounting Panzer IV cupola, a coaxial MG34 through a hole drilled on a boxy mantlet, et cetera. The Soviet SU-76i self-propelled gun was based on captured StuG III and Panzer III vehicles.
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Due to its 55 degree slope, the Panther's glacis had a line of sight thickness of with actual effectiveness being even greater. An M4 might only knock out a Panther frontally from point-blank range by aiming for its turret front and transverse-cylindrical shaped mantlet, the lower edge of which on most Panthers (especially the earlier Ausf. D and A versions) constituted a vulnerable shot trap.Zaloga 2008 pp.
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The first vessels had been designed to bear the 90mm M3 cannon, present in the Type 61, and ST-A1, revealing itself underpowered. Later in the development stage engineers opted to license the NATO standard Royal Ordnance L7 105mm cannon. Japan only produced the barrel under license, developing an indigenous mantlet, breech and recoil system. The full length of the cannon was 5,592 mm, for a total weight of 2,800 kg.
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The M2's features included an unusually large number of machine guns, bullet deflector plates, and sloped armor on the hull front (glacis plate). The main armament was a gun, with armor; the M2A1 had a gun mantlet. Some features of the M2 series, especially the suspension and powertrain, provided the basis for later, important U.S. tank designs including the M3 Lee, M4 Sherman and other armored fighting vehicles.
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D; this variant, of which 248 vehicles were produced, reintroduced the hull machine gun and changed the turret's internal gun mantlet to a Jentz & Doyle (1997) p.30 thick external mantlet. Again, protection was upgraded, this time by increasing side armor to . As the German invasion of Poland in September 1939 came to an end, it was decided to scale up production of the Panzer IV, which was adopted for general use on 27 September 1939 as the Sonderkraftfahrzeug 161 (Sd.Kfz. 161). In response to the difficulty of penetrating the thick armor of British infantry tanks (Matilda and Matilda II) during the Battle of France, the Germans had tested a gun — based on the 5 cm Pak 38 anti-tank gun — on a Panzer IV Ausf. D. However, with the rapid German victory in France, the original order of 80 tanks was cancelled before they entered production.Doyle & Jentz (2001), p. 5 In October 1940, the Ausf.
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The fifth bogie at the rear was sprung against a hull bracket. Between the first bogie and the idler wheel, was a larger diameter vertically sprung "jockey wheel". The first Matildas had return rollers; these were replaced in later models by track skids, which were far easier to manufacture and to service in the field. The turret carried the main armament, with the machine gun to the right in a rotating internal mantlet.
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As a private venture, Thyssen-Henschel built a fourth prototype designated TH 301\. Completed in 1978, it added a PERI R12 periscope, originally designed for the Leopard 1A4, for the tank commander. The gunner and loader each received a day periscope as well. To enable the crew to fire effectively at night, a low light level television (LLLTV) camera, which moved in elevation with the main gun, was fitted to the mantlet.
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The gunhouses for the main battery had thick faces, thick sides, rears, and 2 in thick roofs. The secondary guns' casemates were 6 in thick, with 2 in thick sides and rears to protect the gun crews from splinters. A mantlet that was 6 in thick covered the stern torpedo tube. The forward conning tower had 14 in of steel on the sides, except for the rear-facing side, which was reduced to 12 in.
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Zaloga 2004, p. 41. The older T-54 can be distinguished from the T-55 by a dome-shaped ventilator on the front right of the turret and a driver-operated SGMT 7.62 mm machine gun mounted to fire through a tiny hole in the center of the hull's front. Early T-54s lacked a gun fume extractor, had an undercut at the turret's rear, and a distinctive "pig-snout" gun mantlet.
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General Hermann Balck (standing left in the cupola) in a Panzerbefehlswagen III Ausf. E command tank in Greece in 1941. This vehicle is fitted with a dummy 37mm main gun and a dummy MG 34 co-axial machine gun but has an actual ball-mounted MG 34 machine gun on the right side of the turret's mantlet. The Panzer III was intended to fight other tanks; in the initial design stage a gun was specified.
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Damaged Schmalturm at the Bovington Tank Museum Scale model of prototype Schmalturm turret on Panther F The Schmalturm (German for "narrow turret") was a tank turret designed for use on the Panther Ausf. F medium tank. There was a Krupp proposal to fit it onto the Panzer IV medium tank as well. The turret's shape resembled the Soviet T-34 tank turret with a narrow conical gun mantlet resembling German Jagdpanzer mantlets.
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The siege cannon fires another shot which breaches the castle wall and also destroys the catapult as well as knocking down the Normans who were operating it. The Norman soldier on the ramparts shoots his crossbow but only hits a siege mantlet. One of the knights fires back with his steel crossbow and kills the crossbowman. A third Norman shoots Joan with his crossbow but the bolt is unable to penetrate her plate armour.
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The M10 and M10A1 had a crew of five; commander, gunner, loader, driver, and assistant driver. The driver and assistant driver (who also operated the vehicle's radio) were seated in the front hull and provided with periscopes. The unique design of the hull hatches to clear the gun mantlet meant that the driver's view directly to the left side was obstructed. He was provided with a second periscope at the edge of the hull for this purpose.
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In all models, four rounds were also stored in the left sponson between the driver and the turret. An additional 36 rounds were stored inside the hull of the Ausf D and A models – 27 in the forward hull compartment directly underneath the mantlet. In the Ausf G, the hull ammunition storage was reduced to 27 rounds total, with 18 rounds in the forward hull compartment. For all models, three rounds were kept under the turntable of the turret.
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The vehicle is armed with a 73 mm 2A28 Grom gun and a 7.62 mm PKT coaxial tank machine gun. Mounted on the mantlet is the 9S428 ATGM launcher capable of firing 9M14 Malyutka (NATO: AT-3A Sagger A) and 9M14M Malyutka-M (NATO: AT-3B Sagger B) ATGMs (for which the vehicle carries two ATGMs in the turret). There are also two 7.62 mm PKT machine guns in fixed mounts, one in each corner of the bow.
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The oscillating turret was the most armoured section of the vehicle, with a 127 mm plate angled at 60 degrees. The gun mantlet was 254 to 101.6 mm thick at 45 degrees. The sides of the turret were 136 to 69.85 mm thick at 20 to 40 degrees of angling while the rear of the turret was 38.1 mm thick as was the roof of the tank. The belly of the vehicle was 12.7 to 38.1 mm thick.
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This new nose lacked the opening driver's visor. It is sometimes incorrectly referred to as the IS-2M, but that designation actually refers to a much later modernization program from the 1950s. Other minor upgrades included the addition of a travel lock on the hull rear, wider mantlet and, on very late models, an anti- aircraft machine gun. In comparison to the Tiger I, the IS-2 had modest advantages in armour, even though it was 10 tons lighter.
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This ammunition was once again ballistically matched to the main gun. As this was a rather higher velocity round than the recoilless rifles, the case was the same as the M2 and the rounds could be used in either weapon. The enhanced tracer effect of the spotting round was sometimes used in an M2. Mounted in the Centurion it was alongside another conventional co-axial machine gun, the ranging gun being the one in the mantlet closest to the main gun.
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The hull was fully welded as standard and armour was increased, ranging from 32 mm to 74 mm on the hull, while the turret was from 57 to 102 mm. A new lower-profile welded turret was created using a cast gun mantlet for the 77 mm. The turret was electrically traversed (a design feature taken from the Churchill tank), with a generator powered by the main engine rather than the hydraulic system of the Cromwell. Ammunition for the 17 mm gun was stored in armoured bins.
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Steven Zaloga makes therefore an unfavorable comparison (30° to 90° for the range of destruction) for the Panther over its adversary A Wa Pruef 1 report states that when set at a 30-degree angle the glacis plate of the Panther could not be penetrated by the 122 mm D-25T AP shell, the lower glacis could be penetrated from , the turret mantlet from and the turret front from . The Panther's 75 mm gun could penetrate the IS-2 model 1943's mantlet from , turret from , and driver's front plate from . From the side, the Panther's armour was penetrable by the 122 mm D-25T from over . The Panther carried more ammunition and had a faster firing cycle: for every 1–1.5 shots of the IS-2, the Panther and Tiger could fire 3-4 times. With the addition of a semi- automatic drop breech over the previously manual screw, this breech modification increased the IS-2's rate of fire to 3-4 rounds per minute. The IS-2 proved to have surprisingly good anti-tank capabilities due to the D-25T's extremely heavy HE projectiles.
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With the castle under siege from parliamentary forces, Salesbury held out for six months and refused to surrender on five occasions. Both the castle and the surrounding town walls were secure in spite of cannon fire being used to try to destroy the Goblin Tower on the east side of the town walls, which was reputedly a source of water for the defenders. On the south west corner, further cannon fire sought to breach the thinner outer curtain wall, the mantlet. In response, the castle had one cannon to try to return fire.
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This conversion became the Sherman Firefly. Like the U.S. M1 gun, the 17 pdr was also a 76 mm gun, but the British piece used a more voluminous cartridge case containing a much bigger propellant charge. This allowed it to penetrate of unsloped RHA at and at using APCBC ammunition. The 17-pounder still could not penetrate the steeply sloped glacis plate of the Panther but it was expected to be able to pierce its gun mantlet at over ; moreover it was estimated it would defeat the Tiger I's frontal armor from .
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"Leopard 2 Improved" was a prototype- series for enhancing the A4, introducing a wedge-shaped, spaced add-on armour to the turret front and the frontal area of the sides. These spaced armour modules defeat a hollow charge prior to reaching the base armour, and causes kinetic-energy penetrators to change direction, eroding them in the process; it does not form a shot-trap, since it does not deflect the penetrators outwards to hit the hull or turret ring. The gun mantlet was redesigned to accept the new armour.
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The armour was substantial: the hull front was thick, the sides and rear of the hull were up to . The turret armour was even thicker, the turret front was up to and the sides and rear . The gun mantlet was , and combined with the turret armour behind, the protection level at that section was even higher. The initial plan for the Maus was for the prototype to have been completed by mid-1943, with monthly production scheduled to run at ten vehicles per month after delivery of the prototype.
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It was placed less than from the 9.1 kt blast with its turret facing the epicentre, left with the engine running and a full ammunition load. Examination after detonation found that it had been pushed away from the blast point by about , pushed slightly left and that its engine had stopped working, but only because it had run out of fuel. Antennae were missing, lights and periscopes were heavily sandblasted, the cloth mantlet cover was incinerated, and the armoured side plates had been blown off and carried up to from the tank. It could still be driven from the site.
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In the Germanic castles of the Holy Roman Empire, there is a distinction between a Vorburg and a Kernburg roughly corresponding to lower and upper baileys in English castles. In German-speaking countries, many castles had double curtain walls with a narrow enclosure outside the main walls, acting as a killing ground between them, referred to as a zwinger. The outermost wall was a Zwingermauer or type of low mantlet wall. These were often added at vulnerable points like the gate of a castle or town, but were rarely as fully developed as in the concentric castles in Wales or the Crusader castles.
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This turret's armor was thick on the sides and rear, angled from 0 to 13 degrees from the vertical. It had a thick roof, which sat at 0 to 45 degrees from the vertical. The front of the T23 turret, which like the 105 mm-armed Sherman's turret, did not have a rotor shield, was protected by an unsloped thick cast gun mantlet. Combat experience indicated that the single hatch in the three- man 75 mm gun turret was inadequate for timely evacuation, so Ordnance added a loader's hatch beside the commander's beginning in late 1943.
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Mantelet, French, 1895 A variation on the mantle is the mantelet (also spelled mantelot and mantlet), typically describing a short version of the mantle. The term appears as early as 1386, in "The Knight's Tale" by Geoffrey Chaucer. In the 18th century, a mantelet was a woman's short cloak, and in the early 19th century, it was an ornamental scarf that crossed over the chest and tied behind, usually made of fur or lace. By the end of the 19th century, a mantelet was a woman's shoulder cape with elongated ends in front, sometimes held in position by a belt at the waist.
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The lower ward, which is laid out in a ring around the foot of the rock on which the upper ward is built, goes back to Hohenstaufen times, at least in its southern and western sections. The shape of the irregular polygon is again repeated on the expected direction of attack, so that there is a triple defence here consisting of enceinte, mantlet wall and bergfried. Thus the southern part of the lower ward was built shortly after the upper ward at the end of the 13th century. The northern part with its zwinger may not have been added until the 15th century.
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The stone castle is a large, irregular hexagon with a round keep on the west side, to which were attached two other towers and a partial mantlet or chemise wall. At the north-west corner is a twin square-towered gatehouse with another tower inside. The ground falls away steeply to the north, east, south and south west, where there are various other turrets, though not scientifically disposed. The whole structure is now in a dangerous condition, but the south wall can be seen from the footpath that runs past the 18th-century mansion on the estate (), immediately to the south.
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In the late production vehicles, the heavy machine gun was replaced with two M1919A4 .30 MGs on pintle mounts and one more in the bow mount. 1,890 units produced, and 1,307 were transferred to US Army and 50 to British Army. The Chinese PLA captured several from Nationalist forces during the Civil War and placed them in service, eventually modifying some by replacing the 75 mm howitzer with the 37 mm M6 tank gun and others with the ZiS-2 57 mm anti-tank gun, complete with shield, the conversion also necessitating the removal of the original mantlet.
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The tank carried two 7.7 mm Type 97 machine guns, one on the front left of the hull and the other in a ball mount on the rear of the turret. The turret was capable of full 360-degree traverse, but the main gun was in a "semi-flexible mount" allowing a maximum 10-degree traverse independently of the turret. The thickest armor used was 25 mm on the gun mantlet and 15–25 mm on the hull front. Power was provided by an air-cooled "V-12 21.7 liter diesel Mitsubishi SA12200VD" engine, which provided 170 hp (127 kW).
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All shells are shown from two sides. A Wa Pruef 1 Report dated 5 October 1944 has data on the penetration ranges of the 122 mm A-19 gun against a Panther tank angled at 30 degrees; this estimated that the A-19 gun was unable to penetrate the upper glacis plate of the Panther from any distance, could penetrate the lower glacis plate from , could penetrate the mantlet from and could penetrate the front turret from . The side armour of the Panther was comparatively weaker and could be pentrated at according to the same Wa Pruef 1 report.
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The mantlet, the turret sides and the hull noseplate of the AMX-32 are hollow, the outer layers are made of dual hardness steel plates which are particularly effective against kinetic energy projectiles. The frontal armor of the AMX-32 was successfully tested against 75 mm tungsten-cored PCOT rounds fired from the AMX-13 light tank and 57 mm armor-piercing rounds of the ASU-57. The turret side armor can withstand impacts of 23 mm armor-piercing rounds. The turret roof has been thickened in order to be protected from autocannons shells fired by fighter-bombers at a steep angle of 30°.
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The 85 mm gun could not reliably penetrate the Tiger I except at ranges within the lethal envelope of the Tiger I's own 88 mm gun. The Soviets had already embarked on the 85 mm gun upgrade path before encountering the Panther tank at the Battle of Kursk.Healy 2008, p. 167–171 After much development work, the first T-34-85 tanks entered combat in March 1944. The production version of the T-34's new 85 mm gun had to be aimed at the Panther's turret front and mantlet to penetrate, while the Panther's main gun could penetrate the T-34's glacis from at 30 degrees.
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It had been used as a post- war range target until its historical significance was recognised. Model of Panther II (with 80 cm diameter Tiger II wheels and transport tracks) with proposed Schmalturm, with stereoscopic sight bulges on the turret sides The Schmalturm had a much narrower front face of armour sloped at 20 degrees; side turret armour was increased to from ; roof turret armour increased to from ; and a bell shaped gun mantlet similar to that of the Tiger II was used. This increased armour protection also had a slight weight saving due to the overall smaller size of the turret.Jentz 1995 p.
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A Panzer III Tauchpanzer under test (1940) The Tauchpanzer or deep-wading tank (also referred to as the U-Panzer or Unterwasser Panzer) was a standard Panzer III or Panzer IV medium tank with its hull made completely waterproof by sealing all sighting ports, hatches and air intakes with tape or caulk. The gap between the turret and hull was sealed with an inflatable hose while the main gun mantlet, commander's cupola and radio operator's machine gun were given special rubber coverings. Once the tank reached the shore, all covers and seals could be blown off via explosive cables, enabling normal combat operation.Schenk, p.
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The Schmalturm was initially conceived by German arms manufacturer and designer Rheinmetall during their tasking for designing the turret of the Panther II. The new turret design was named Panther 2 Turm mit schmale Blendenausführung (meaning "turret with narrow mantlet"). However, the Panther II project cancelled in May of 1943 so Rheinmetall switched the design for the original Panther tanks. By 1944, very little progress had been made on the design, with it not progressing beyond the drawing board. It was at this time that additional requirements were made for the turret design due to beginning of design for the newest Panther version, the Ausf.
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A still heavier version of the A-32 with of front armour and wider tracks was approved for production as the T-34. Resistance from the military command and concerns about high production cost were finally overridden by anxieties about the poor performance of Soviet tanks in Finland and the effectiveness of Germany's Blitzkrieg in France, and the first production tanks were completed in September 1940, completely replacing the production of the T-26, BT, and the multi-turreted T-28 medium tank at the KhPZ. mantlet housing its recoil mechanism. This pre-production A-34 prototype vehicle has a complex single- piece hull front.
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To protect the sappers, trenches were usually dug at an angle in zig- zag pattern (to protect against enfilading fire from the defenders), and at the head of the sap a defensive shield made of gabions (or a mantlet) could be deployed. Once the saps were close enough, siege engines or cannon could be moved through the trenches to get closer to—and enable firing at—the fortification. The goal of firing is to batter a breach in the curtain walls, to allow attacking infantry to get past the walls. Prior to the invention of large pieces of siege artillery, miners could start to tunnel from the head of a sap to undermine the walls.
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Crusader Mk III Due to delays with the Cruiser Mark VII Cavalier and the need for cruiser tanks, the Crusader was up-gunned with the 6-pounder, the first British tank to mount this gun. Design work for a new turret started in March 1941, but Nuffield was not involved until late in the year, when they adapted the existing turret with a new mantlet and hatch. The turret also received an extractor fan to clear fumes from the firing of the gun. The larger gun restricted turret space, so the crew was reduced to three, with the commander also acting as gun loader, a role previously performed by the wireless operator.
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The Ram had a distinctive turret with a bolted flat-faced mantlet and the UK 6 pdr gun, with the hull machine gunner housed in a rotating turret based on the M3 'Lee' cupola, rather than the simpler ball-mount that was becoming universal for tank hull guns. Production facilities for the Ram were constructed at the Montreal Locomotive Works, with the aid of Alco, but the large armor castings for turret and hull were supplied by General Steel Castings in the US. Greater Sherman production and availability meant that the Ram was never used in action as a gun tank, being either used for training or converted to Kangaroo armoured personnel carriers.
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The sight was marked from zero to later 3,500 yards with vertical markings to aid deflection shooting at a moving target. The gunner laid the gun on target through geared handwheels for traverse and elevation. The 37 mm was aimed through the M2 periscope, though this was mounted in the mantlet to the side of the gun. It also sighted the coaxial machine gun. Two range scales were provided: 0- for the 37 mm and 0- for the machine gun. M3 tank crew at Souk el Arba, Tunisia, November 23, 1942 Of the 6,258 M3s produced by the U.S., 2,855 were supplied to the British Army, and about 1,368 to the Soviet Union.
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Chieftain, with the ranging gun barrel just visible above the main gun in the mantlet A rare few tanks have used spotting rifles, termed a "ranging gun" for ranging their main gun. This was a short-lived use, from the period in the 1950s when the increasingly powerful tank guns (and their reduced capacity for spare ammunition) encouraged a more carefully ranged first shot in the hope of an immediate kill, and the later development of laser rangefinders. The British Centurion Mk 5/2 with its new 105mm L7 main gun introduced a ranging gun. This was derived from the M2 Browning design, both the L6 variant of the gun and also its 12.7×99mm ammunition.
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Another meeting on 17 February 1943 focused on sharing and standardising parts between the Tiger II and the Panther II, such as the transmission, all-steel 80 centimetre diameter road-wheels that only overlapped (as on the Tiger II) and not interleaved (as the original 'Schachtellaufwerk' road-wheel system used) and running gear. Drawings from 1943 also showed the addition of a machine gun port for the turret, with a narrow gun mantlet. Additional meetings in February 1943 began to outline the various components, including a suggestion to use the 8.8 cm KwK 43 L/71 gun from the Tiger II. However, it was ultimately decided to continue use of the production Panther's 7.5 cm KwK 42 L/70 gun.
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Vlaicu III monoplane, built just prior to World War I Gun mantlet built at Atelierele CFR The Kingdom of Romania was ruled by kings of the House of Hohenzollern from 1866. In 1883, the King of Romania, Carol I of Hohenzollern, signed a secret treaty with the Triple Alliance that stipulated Romania's obligation to go to war only in the event that Austria-Hungary was attacked. While Carol wanted to enter World War I as an ally of the Central Powers, the Romanian public and the political parties were in favor of joining the Triple Entente. Romania remained neutral when the war started, arguing that Austria-Hungary itself had started the war and, consequently, Romania was under no formal obligation to join it.
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M4A3E2 Sherman Jumbo. Many units replaced the original 75 mm gun with a 76 mm gun The M4A3E2 Sherman "Jumbo" assault tank variant, based upon a standard M4A3(75)W hull, had an additional plate welded to the glacis, giving a total thickness of , which resulted in a glacis of line-of-sight thickness, and over effective thickness.WO 185/118, DDG/FV(D) Armor plate experiments The sponson sides had thick plates welded on, to make them thick. The transmission cover was significantly thicker, and a new, more massive T23-style turret with of armor on the sides and rear and a thick flat roof, and a gun mantlet with an additional of armor welded on, which resulted in a thickness of 177.8 mm, was fitted.
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Chieftain display at the Bovington tank museum, 2006 The design of the Chieftain included a heavily sloped hull and turret which greatly increased the effective thickness of the frontal armour – on the glacis (from an actual thickness of ) and on the turret (from ).Richard Ogorkiewicz, Cold War, Hot Science: Applied Research in Britain's Defence Laboratories 1945–1990 (2002), p.128-129, edited by Robert Bud & Philip Gummett, NMSI Trading Ltd, It had a mantletless turret in order to take full advantage of reclining the vehicle up to ten degrees in a hull-down position. For security reasons early prototypes had a canvas screen covering the mantlet and a sheet metal box mounted over the sloping glacis plate to disguise the configuration of the vehicle.
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Plan of the Great Gatehouse Immediately to the west of the Great Gatehouse is John of Gaunt's Gatehouse, originally either two or three storeys tall, but now only surviving at the foundation level. This gatehouse replaced the Great Gatehouse as the main entrance, and would have contained a porter's lodge, defended by a combination of a portcullis and an 82-foot (25 m) long barbican.; ; A inner bailey was approximately 50-foot by 75-foot (23 m by 15 m), defended by a 20-foot (6 m) high mantlet wall, was constructed in the 1380s behind John of Gaunt's Gatehouse and the Great Gatehouse.; This complex comprised a vaulted inner gatehouse, square, and six buildings, including an antechamber, kitchen and bakehouse.
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Molina 2007, p. 16 On 6 September 1937, Captain Félix Verdeja, commanding the maintenance company of the Nationalist Batallón de Carros de Combate ("Tank Battalion"), began to privately develop a new light tank. His position, with direct access to Panzer Is and T-26s, gave Verdeja direct evidence of the shortcomings of current tank models in terms of combat ability and maintenance issues. Verdeja established a future tank requiring the 45 millimetre (1.77 in) gun fitted in the T-26; two coaxial light machine guns; a low profile, all-around armor greater than 15 millimetres (0.6 in), with a turret mantlet plate of at least 30 millimetres (1.2 in); road speed of , combat range of , and a capable suspension and new track system.
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In total, there were five prototypes produced, that considerably differed in the details of their construction. Weighing about fifty-five tonnes, the general AMX 50 project was the heaviest of a trio of French armoured fighting vehicle designs of the postwar period to feature an oscillating turret, the others being the AMX 13 and the Panhard EBR. The oscillating turret design, lacking a conventional gun-mantlet, is in two separate parts, with an upper and lower part connected by two hinge bolts or pivots, the gun being fixed within the upper section. The horizontal movement of the gun, traversing, is conventional, but the vertical movement, elevation, is achieved through the pivoting of the entire upper section with respect to the lower section, which holds the lower sides of the upper section within its trunnions.
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The Journal, 1981, Collected Issues 5–16. pp. 54–59. The CANASTA system included a low-light television camera and display units for the AML's gunner and commander, along with a moving electronic reticle with sight angle corrections. This somewhat compensated for low hit probability from the first 90 mm round at long range, allowing for the automatic engagement of moving targets. One of the defining characteristics of the AML-90 Lynx was the large searchlight mounted co-axially with its 90 mm gun, a domed commander's cupola with vision blocks reminiscent of the Eland Mk7, and a boxlike laser rangefinder on the gun mantlet. Two types of French laser rangefinders were available as standard, although several foreign designs such as the Avimo LV3 could also be fitted: the TCV 107 and the TCV 29.
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Although the T-34-85 tank was not quite the equal of the Panther in the anti-tank role, it was much better than the 76.2 mm-armed versions and made up for it with proven reliability, more effective fragmentation shells, and production in greater quantities.Zaloga 2015, Armored Champion p. 253 New tank destroyers based on the T-34 hull, such as the SU-85 and SU-100, were also developed. A Wa Pruef 1 report dated 5 October 1944 estimated that when set at a 30-degree angle the T-34-85's upper glacis could be penetrated by the Panther's 7.5 cm KwK 42 from , the mantlet from and the turret front from while the T-34-85's 85 mm ZiS-S-53 could penetrate the Panther's frontal turret from .
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Ultimately the Verdeja program's end came with the arrival of military equipment from the United States, beginning in 1953. From 1954, the Spanish Army received 389 M47 Patton Tanks, replacing the T-26s, Panzer Is and Panzer IVs then in service.Zaloga 1999, pp. 36–37 The Verdeja had become completely obsolete when compared to larger, more potent tanks such as the German Panther, the Soviet T-54 and the US M47. The T-54 had 200 millimetre of steel armor on the turret mantlet, far greater than the Verdeja 2's maximum armor thickness of 40 millimetres.Zaloga 2004 The Soviet 45 millimetre model 1932 gun was replaced by the T-34's 76.2 millimetre gun, while the Germans adopted the 75 millimetre L/70 tank gun on the Panther.
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The type was to resemble the standard gun tank, to avoid making it conspicuous: command vehicles are a standard priority target of enemy fire. For that reason the enlarged radio compartment was in the form of a superstructure that looked like a rotatable turret — having the general form of the AVIS-2 but without the asymmetry — but in reality was fixed to the hull. In the front of the "turret" a small gun mantlet was present, that normally lacked any armament but in an emergency situation could be fitted with the portable FM 24-29 machine-gun that was part of the crew equipment. To make sufficient room for an added third crew member, the radio operator, the gear box was moved to the front of the vehicle.
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30-06 Browning M1919A4 machine guns: coaxial with the gun, on top of the turret in an M20 anti-aircraft mount, in a ball mount in right bow, and in the right and left hull sponsons. Later, the gun was replaced with the slightly longer M6, and the sponson machine guns were removed. For a light tank, the Stuart was fairly heavily armored. It had 38 mm of armor on the upper front hull, 44 mm on the lower front hull, 51 mm on the gun mantlet, 38 mm on the turret sides, 25 mm on the hull sides, and 25 mm on the hull rear.Zaloga 1999, p. 31A M3 going through water obstacle, Ft. Knox, Ky. The M3 and M3A1 variants were powered by an air-cooled radial engine, either a gasoline-fueled 7-cylinder Continental W-670 (8,936 built) or a 9-cylinder Guiberson T-1020 diesel (1,496 built).
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The different versions meant that the service life of an MG 42 barrel varied between 3,500 and 8,000 rounds assuming the barrel was used according to the regulations, which prohibited rapid fire beyond 150 rounds. Excessive overheating caused by rapid firing about 500 rounds through a barrel resulted in unacceptable wear of the bore rendering the barrel useless. The method of barrel change made the MG 42 unsuitable for secondary or co-axial armament on World War II era German tanks with the exception of the Jagdpanzer IV. Early versions of the Jagdpanzer IV carried two standard (no modification made) MG 42s on both sides of the gun mantlet/glacis, firing through a ball slot which was protected by an armored cover (with the MG 42 retracted) when not in use. Later version Jagdpanzer IVs carried only one MG 42 on the left side.
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It proposed to design a light airborne tank, based on the Renault ZT. To save weight several innovative technologies would be applied: the use of light alloys; replacing the original chassis and turret using riveted armour plates with a cast hull and welded dome-shaped turret; the use of sloped armour and finally the use of the turret configuration already in development for the Char G1, featuring a gun mount on the bottom of the tank, obviating the need to install a heavy gun mantlet. By these measures Renault hoped to limit weight to 5040 kilogrammes for a maximum armour of thirteen millimetres or 5400 kilogrammes if the Army desired the higher protection level of twenty millimetres. The height would be 180 centimetres. To make room for a 37 mm gun, the minimal calibre to provide HE fire support, the turret would have a cross-section of 136 centimetres.
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The hull floor was only The upper hull armor was also thick, being angled at 23 degrees from the vertical on the sides and 13 degrees from the vertical at the rear. The lower front hull's angled construction was also used to form the Hellcat's sloping glacis; two plates were angled at 38 and 24 degrees from the vertical, respectively. The hull roof was The cast turret of the Hellcat was thick on the front (at a 23 degree angle from the vertical) and thick on the sides (angled at 23 degrees from the vertical) and rear (angled at 9 degrees from the vertical) The front of the turret was further protected by a rounded cast gun mantlet which was thick. The main disadvantages of the M18 were its very light armor protection and open-topped turret, and the inconsistent performance of its 76 mm gun against the frontal armor of later German designs such as the Tiger and Panther.
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Nevertheless, the good power-to-weight ratio represented a significant improvement in mobility over its predecessors. The armour, quite resistant by Italian standards, was sloped and 60 mm thick at the turret front and mantlet (by comparison the M13/40 had 42 mm), but it was still riveted at a time when most tanks were constructed by welding. Compared to welded armour, riveted armour is vulnerable to breaking apart at the joints meaning that even quite resistant plates can be defeated by rivet failures. The front armour had a compound slope with a best facing of 50 mm/45 degrees. The armour was capable of protecting the tank against early anti-tank guns such as the British QF 2 pounder (40 mm, 1.6 in), but was vulnerable to subsequent anti-tank weapons such as the British QF 6 pounder (57 mm, 2.24 in) that entered service in 1942 and the QF 17 pounder (76 mm, 3 in) coming into use in 1943.
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To lower ground pressure, instead of two tracks, it used four tracks that projected forward of the hull, each 23 inches (584 mm) wide. The outer tracks could be detached within two hours for rail transport: After removal, they could be fixed together to make a unit that could be towed behind the tank. Due to its extreme weight and low engine power, the T28 had extremely limited obstacle-crossing ability and could not cross any of the portable bridges available at the time, and so was considered impractical in the field and not suitable for production. The T28 had no conventional turret, with a casemate style hull instead, giving it a comparatively low profile, as the later examples of the fully enclosed Jagdpanzer-family of German tank destroyers, not entirely dissimilar to the 50 short-ton weight German Jagdpanther. Its main armament was a 105 mm T5E1 gun, in a ball-shaped gun mantlet set into the vertical hull front. The traverse was limited to 10° right and 11° left, and elevation from 19.5° to −5°.
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Early Shermans mounted a 75 mm medium-velocity general-purpose gun. Although Ordnance began work on the Medium Tank T20 as a Sherman replacement, ultimately the Army decided to minimize production disruption by incorporating elements of other tank designs into the Sherman. Later M4A1, M4A2, and M4A3 models received the larger T23 turret with a high-velocity 76 mm M1 gun, which reduced the number of HE and smoke rounds carried and increased the number of anti-tank rounds.A T23 turret used on 76mm gunned Shermans, here without the muzzle brake Later, the M4 and M4A3 were factory-produced with a 105 mm howitzer and a new distinctive mantlet in the original turret. The first standard-production 76 mm gun Sherman was an M4A1, accepted in January 1944, and the first standard-production 105 mm howitzer Sherman was an M4 accepted in February 1944. In June–July 1944, the Army accepted a limited run of 254 M4A3E2 Jumbo Shermans, which had very thick armor, and the 75 mm gun in a new, heavier T23-style turret, in order to assault fortifications at Normandy Beach.
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"M4" can refer specifically to the initial sub-type with its Continental radial engine, or generically, to the entire family of seven Sherman sub-types, depending on context. Many details of production, shape, strength, and performance improved throughout production without a change to the tank's basic model number; more durable suspension units, safer "wet" (W) ammunition stowage, and stronger armor arrangements, such as the M4 Composite, which had a cast front hull section mated to a welded rear hull. British nomenclature differed from that employed by the U.S. Early Shermans mounted a 75 mm medium-velocity general-purpose gun. Although Ordnance began work on the Medium Tank T20 as a Sherman replacement, ultimately the Army decided to minimize production disruption by incorporating elements of other tank designs into Sherman production. Later M4A1, M4A2, and M4A3 models received the larger T23 turret, with a high-velocity 76 mm gun M1, which reduced the number of HE and smoke rounds carried and increased the number of anti-tank rounds. Later, the M4 and M4A3 were factory-produced with a 105 mm howitzer and a new distinctive mantlet in the original turret.
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65 The hull was crowned by a flat-domed cast superstructure that superficially resembled a circular conventional turret. In reality however it was at first planned to be fixed; the 47 mm gun was supposed to traverse through a horizontal slit like in a pill-box, rotating on a pivot fixed to the hull floor, a proposal made by Colonel Balland. In a second version of this design by engineer Jean Restany, the "pseudo-turret" was traversable, but simply carried along by the electrically driven gun-mount; the turret therefore would not have to be equipped with a heavy gun-mantlet and, not bearing the weight of the armament, could be much lighter. On the right side of the superstructure a vertical cylinder protruded, on top of which a small rotating commander's cupola was fitted, that was armed with dual co-axial machine guns. The superstructure, with the commander/gunner on the right and the loader on the left, had sufficient room to hold a Schneider 47 mm antitank gun that was much more powerful than the shorter 47 mm SA 35 gun equipping the standard APX1 and APX4 turrets.
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Twelve and 24-volt electrical power supplies came from a 1 kW generator feeding four accumulator batteries. For observation from the interior, all roof hatches had periscopes and there were two gun sights: telescopic ST-10 (СТ-10) and panoramic. For crew communication a TPU-4-BisF intercom was fitted, and for inter-vehicle communication there was a single 10R or 10RK radio. These were better than Soviet equipment at the start of the war but still inferior to German equipment. The crew were given two PPSh submachine guns with 1491 rounds and 20 F-1 grenades for short-range self-defence. The ISU-152 was armed with the same gun as the SU-152, but it used the hull of the IS-1 tank instead of the KV-1S. Later in the war the ISU-152 was further improved. It used the hull of the IS-2 or IS-2 model 1944 tank, the armour of the mantlet was increased, the gun was replaced by newer variants, a 12.7×108 mm DShK anti-aircraft machine gun was installed by the right forward hatch and later its ammunition capacity increased, the 10R radio set was upgraded to a 10RK and the fuel capacity was increased.
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