During the Second World War, a new heavy weapon came to the aid of American soldiers - the M24 tank called "Chaffee". By the end of 1945, this combat vehicle was considered quite powerful. After all, despite the light design, the tank was equipped with a 75-millimeter cannon.
In a fairly short period, another lightweight combat vehicle was invented on the basis of the M24 - the "Bulldog" (M41 Walker Bulldog tank). During the release (from 1946 to 1949), about 4 thousand units of this machine were produced in the States.
The battle tank is equipped with a 76 mm cannon, and the barrel length is almost 2 times longer than that of its predecessor (60 calibers). Despite the successful configuration and execution, the characteristics of the Walker were not enough to win during the Vietnam War, because the enemy was armed with a heavier weapon - the T-54 tank.
The remnants of weapons were used to complete various military vehicles: armored personnel carriers, self-propelled controlled and other tracked vehicles.
Operation of equipment in peacetime
German tank"Bulldog" was not effective enough in Vietnam. It was finally discontinued in 1969. The export of this combat vehicle did not stop - many states of the world (about 30) adopted the Walker.
Modern army structures use the invention of the last century and today. So, even 7 years ago, there were one and a half hundred "Bulldogs" in the Brazilian army.
During training, there are 4 people at the same time performing tasks in the combat vehicle compartments. This feature is positive, because each crew member is responsible for his work, and the number of cadets (military) is recognized as optimal.
Main tasks in the design of M41
The project of a light tank was developed back in 1942, but the final development and production of a trial series began only in 1946.
Taking into account the requirements of military engineers, a description of the bulldog tank based on the outdated T-24 was drawn up. According to the requirements of the times of the last century, military equipment had to become faster, more mobile, and have high power. When designing, the weight of the machine was taken into account: it should not exceed 25 tons.
This vehicle, thanks to its long-barreled cannon, could penetrate almost 13 centimeters of target armor at a distance of more than 900 meters.
The "Bulldog" tank has undergone a number of modifications: the layout of the turret has changed, the side machine gun mounts have been removed. Based on the upgraded version of the M41, the T41E1 was soon released. The last copy was mass-produced.
Components of the military gun M41
The whole outer body of the machine is welded, and consists of armor plates. The control department is in front, and the combat department is in the middle. The engine compartment is located in the stern. In the aft compartment is a powerful air-cooled horizontally opposed engine (6-cylinder).
The main combat characteristics of the bulldog tank are higher than those of previous versions: a powerful rifled cannon, which is located on a turret 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 long and 3.2 meters wide. The total length with the gun forward is 8 meters. As it was asked, the weight of the tank did not exceed 25 tons (in equipment, the weight reached 23.2 tons).
The Walker's speed on a flat road reached 72 km/h. The cross-country ability was also impressive by the standards of the last century: the tank easily overcame 70-cm walls, almost 2-meter ditches, fords, and sharp corners (35 °).
The Bulldog tank had a large power reserve - 160 km on a flat road. The vehicle's ammunition load was 57 shots with 76-millimeter charges. The power of the carburetor engine reached 400 hp. s.
Features of the body of the combat vehicle
The armor plates of the entire tank are located at the 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 rear of the vehicle is made of9.25 mm. The thickest armor was provided by the nose parts - their thickness was at least 5 cm.
For a better view, glass blocks were placed on the commander's tower, which provided a circular view.
A feature of the German tank "Bulldog" was the lack of crew protection from various weapons of mass destruction. Only fire-fighting equipment was installed in the engine compartment, which was controlled from the driver's seat.
Walker Combat Equipment
The main armament of the vehicle was a large-caliber gun, which was equipped with a muzzle brake. During the conduct of hostilities, shells with lethal elements, smoke bombs, high-explosive fragmentation, armor-piercing and other types of shells were used.
The first layout of the bulldog tank provided for 57 shots. After the modernization, 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 upgrade the arsenal, it was necessary to deploy the turret in the stern, because the rest of the charges were in the hull of the vehicle.
In some previous versions and modifications, ground pressure and track stretching during combat operations or operations were not taken into account. Therefore, an independent torsion bar suspension was equipped with lever installations that ensured a constant tension of the tracks, which was very necessary when firing shots, moving and overcoming obstacles with military equipment.
Additional armament of the combat vehicle
Side machine guns have been effective weapons for a long period. The first 7.62 mm machine gun, which was paired with a gun, was equipped with 5,000 rounds of ammunition. Large-caliber (12.7 mm), located near the commander's hatch. The anti-aircraft machine gun had a large supply - 2175 rounds. The control was carried out by the gunner and commander using guidance drives.
Designers planned to equip the black Bulldog with an automatic loading system, but, as with the 90mm cannon, development stalled at the experimental stage.
Photos of the "Bulldog" tank are widely available on the Internet, and are also used in modern computer games and textbooks.
