T92 Light Tank


T92 Light Tank, or 76-mm Gun Tank, T92, was an American light tank developed in the 1950s by Aircraft Armaments. At 18.5 tonnes, 5m length, it was designed as an airborne/airdropped replacement for the 5.1 tonnes heavier M41 Walker Bulldog. The T92 was never accepted into service.
The main gun was a conventional 76 mm cannon with a very low profile turret. Little more was exposed than the main gun and two crew cupolas which allowed 50 caliber and 30 caliber machine guns to fire buttoned up. The engine was moved to the front, which increased protection for the crew, and a rear access door provided an escape hatch and allowed for reloading under cover; this layout was later adopted by the Israeli Merkava battle tank. It had a crew of four with a semi-automatic loading system that allowed it to shoot 12 rounds a minute. It carried 60 main gun rounds, and automatically ejected spent shell casings.
Study of the Soviet PT-76 led to a new swimming requirement for light tanks, for which the design could not be modified. The T92 would be passed over and the M551 Sheridan was eventually adopted instead. It fielded an unconventional 152 mm gun-missile system which would suffer many technical problems, and its swimming system would be rarely used in combat. The French AMX-13 tank was a somewhat similar design that was successfully fielded.