AMERICAN ARMY

Evening Post, Volume CV, Issue 123, 26 May 1928, Page 20

AMERICAN ARMY

PROCESS OF MECHANISATION. The United States is apparently on tho eve of a big advance towards army mechanisation and a real programme of tank production, writes' Captain 13. H. Liddell Hart, in tho "Daily Tele-, graph," In the American army there are now under test the first models of a two-man tank, called the "Light T 1," which can travel at over 20 miles an hour, and is light enough to be moved long distances by road on ordinary motor-lorries. Largo masses could thus be concentrated rapidly ut any, ponif of'a battle-front. American troops in the war, for want of supplies, had small acquaintance with tanks, and were dependent for such asthey had upon their Allies. The armistice cut off in bud a vast project for building thousands of "Liberty" tanks for tho 1919 campaign, ami with tho rapid reversion to peace conditions the development of armoured fighting vehicles was practically halted, except for experiment on a small scale. And this, as so often with official experiments, stultified itself by seeking the ideal. Tho two models planned for 1919 had' been the heavy Liberty, or Mark "VIII. of 40 tons, and a light 7-ton model similar to the French Renault. The new ideal was to produce a 15-ton machine combining the advantages of both and adding speed. The desire for invulnerability steadily augmented the weight until it reached 23$ tons and the desire for obstacle-spanning, capacity increased tho length until it reached 21J feetStill unsatisfied, tho technical experts tried to reconcile road and crosscountry qualities, and produced several . Christy whoel-cum-track machines. 'And as the. practical soldiers were equally emphatic for nothing short of perfect reliability, the American army remained devoid of tankß and faithful to tho delusion that flesh and blood—unarmoured infantry—could still overcomo machine-guns. The advent to power of more progres-sive-minded soldiers, notably Major--1 General B. H. Allen as Chief of Infan- | try, has given a new impulse to mechanisation. ■ . . , ! The new authorities, instead of wasting more time on ideals, decided to concentrate on the delevopment of a

light tank of under 7 tons, capable of being carried to the battlefield on the ordinary 5-ton commercial lorry. This machine had a cross-country speed of 16 miles an hour, a road speed of 22 miles an hour, and a radius on one fill of petrol of 80 miles. It carries in a turret with all-round traverse a machine-gun and a. 33 mm. gun. The crew consists of a driver and a firer. This type of light tank, which counters the anti-tank weapons by speed and dispersion of. the target—due to numbers and cheap production —is undoubtedly the future standard pattern to which all countries, our own included, are trending. And we have at least the benefit of a good start, if fully exploited, in our funded experience.