us tank destroyers Modern Firearms- QLZ-87

Trials began to evaluate the worth of the vehicle as a tank destroyer. Otherwise, the tank was identical to the M2A1 Light Tank. The turret lost its roof and the two machineguns were replaced with the cannon, covered by a massive mantlet. The stock turret was altered significantly, receiving a number of new components made from mild steel. 'Built' is a strong word, as it was more of a conversion. The tank destroyer was built in July of 1937 in Fort Benning, Georgia. Like its smaller version, it was loaded with 5-round magazines. It was first trialled on the T2 Medium Tank. This was effectively the same 37 mm semi-automatic cannon, but with a larger caliber. The tank destroyer, classified as a tank support vehicle, received a 47 mm semi-automatic Browning cannon. Work on a tank destroyer on the M2A1 chassis was initiated by the Infantry Department on October 9th, 1936. Unlike the double turreted M2A2 and M2A3, their predecessor had one two-man turret with enough space to install a cannon. The M2A1, America's first mass production light tank of the 1930s, served as a lab rat. As soon as production of light tanks began, design of tank destroyers on their chassis started. The American military realized that the AT capabilities of the heavy machinegun were limited. Not surprisingly, the machinegun was preferred. As for the 37 mm infantry gun M1916, its armour piercing effect was even lower than that of the Browning M2HB that was installed in the light M2 and M1 Combat Car series tanks. This gun was trialled on the T1 family of light tanks, but nothing came of it. It was proposed to either use the short barrelled 37 mm infantry gun or an experimental 37 mm tank gun converted from the Browning semiautomatic AA gun equipped with a 5 round magazine. At the time, typical armament for American tanks was a pair of machineguns, one rifle caliber, and one large caliber (12.7 mm).

It is often thought that the Americans began work on tank destroyers after WWII began, but engineers started thinking about destroying enemy tanks in the mid 1930s. The American concept of a tank destroyer, a tank with lighter armour but a more powerful gun in an open turret, bred many other solutions that were later rejected. The only class of vehicle that the Americans never turned into tank destroyers were heavy tanks. There was a great variety of them: tracked, half-tracked, and wheeled vehicles. The United States built almost 19,000 tank destroyers during WWII.

Us tank destroyers Modern Firearms- QLZ-87