Vietnam Campaigner The lightweight M551 Sheridan was designed as an airliftable tank, a cutting-edge design with aluminum alloy hull and powerful 152mm gun/launcher. Work began on it in 1959, and it was officially adopted in May 1966, with 1,600 produced by November 1970. Its first taste...
In the end however, these qualities could not compensate for its very thin aluminum armor. The Sheridan was used during the Vietnam War and it did achieve certain level of success, but it was extremely vulnerable to RPG hits and mine detonations. On the other hand, it could also get to...
January 1969: "Two-box" Sheridans with conventional ammunition deployed to Vietnam. 1978: 1,570 Sheridans in service. June 1978: Sheridan phasedown began. 1979-1980 (FY 1980): Phasedown of the Sheridans to a residual fleet of 140 vehicles was completed. A total of 54 M551A1s remained ...
The M551 "Sheridan" AR/AAV was a light tank developed by the U.S. and named after American Civil War hero General Philip Sheridan. It was designed to be air-dropped and amphibious. It was equipped with the innovative but problematic 152 mm M81