T26E5

[ZakTheBuilder1]

TANK ORIGIN
Successful combat use of the assault M4A3E2 tank with enhanced armor spurred the decision to create a similar modification of the M26. Chrysler started production of the improved vehicles in July 1945. Trials revealed that it was necessary to reduce its off-road speed to avoid damage to the suspension. A total of 27 vehicles were manufactured to take part in trials and experiments.

DEVELOPMENT
With the rapid increase of enemy high-performance anti-tank firepower on the battlefield during WWII, the American primary tank, the M4 Sherman, found itself in a difficult situation where it could not protect the mobilizing forces anymore. Its existing design could not be pushed further to emphasize armor without hampering the other aspects of the tank, such as mobility. Therefore, a new role was formed to counter this threat, the Assault Tank, a vehicle with the purpose of breaking through highly concentrated enemy defenses and withstand enemy gunfire.

Successful deployment of the M4A3E2 in late 1944 had garnered interest in the US Army to develop another type of assault tank. While the M4A3E2 was considered satisfactory for its role, it did not provide nearly the same level of protection offered by its contemporaries, such as the German Tiger II. Fortunately, the heavy frontal armor arrangements of the M4A3E2 suggested the possibility of improving the armor for the latest heavy tank under production, the T26E3 Pershing. The earliest draft was recommended by the Ordnance Committee of the Ordnance Corps to increase the effective frontal armor of the Pershing by 203.2 mm. This entailed:

A new front hull casting with a maximum thickness of 120.65 mm at 46°.
A new turret casting with an effective thickness of 203.2 mm and a counterweight at the rear of the turret.
A new gun mantlet casting with an effective thickness of 203.2 mm at 0°.
Increased equilibrator capacity to offset the weight of gun mantlet.

ROLE IN GAME
A upgrade to the T26E3 Pershing

LINK
https://tanks-encyclopedia.com/ww2-usa- ... nse%20line.