坦克世界曾經(jīng)被放棄的美帝“E計劃”坦克

　　On January 2nd, 1945 the US Army Ground Forces Equipment ReviewBoard outline requirements for a new class of tanks, and on June 20th they reportedthat they suggest that American Armored Forces have a 25 ton light tank, a 45ton medium tank, a 75 ton heavy assault tank, and wanted to research a 150 tonsuper heavy tank. In 1946, the Stilwell Board dropped the plans for the 150 tonvehicle along with tank destroyers and had American tank development looselyfollow the requirements set forth by the AGF up until requirements changed inthe year 1950.

　　1945年1月2日。美國陸軍裝備部為一個新級別的坦克列出了設計指標，同年6月20日他們提議美軍分別裝備25噸級的輕坦，45噸級的中坦，75噸級的重型突擊坦克，并想研制150噸級的超重型坦克。1946年，史迪威公司放棄了150噸級坦克及坦殲的項目，直到1950年之前都大致圍繞著美國陸軍(AGF)提出的要求進行坦克的研發(fā)。

　　So first off lets discuss the 25tvehicle. The AGF’s 25t tank was to replace the M24 which was inadequate,especially in the firepower department. The proposed gun was to be a 76 mmcannon that was to penetrate 127 mm @ 914 meters against a 30 deg. slopedplate. Mobility was also suppose to be better than the Chaffees. Iactually mentioned this project before in this article, because the AGF’s 25t proposal quickly developed intothe T37 and later into the M41 Walker Bulldog.

　　首先來看看25噸級的坦克。AGF的25噸坦克方案用于替換M24，后者在當時的情況下已不能滿足軍方的需求，尤其是在火力方面。提議為25噸型坦克裝備的是76mm炮，能夠在914m(1000碼)距離上擊穿法線30度傾斜的127mm裝甲板。機動從理論上講也優(yōu)于霞飛。AGF的25噸坦克隨后被發(fā)展為T37，再之后就是M41沃克猛犬。

　　The 45t vehicle had some interesting features. First of all thearmor protection was very thick. The frontal hull was to have 203 mm thickarmor. There is some ambiguity whether this is to factor in slope or not. Thegun for this 45t tank is also very interesting. It was to be a high velocity 76mm cannon which could penetrate 203 mm @ 914 m against a 30 deg. sloped plate.I have concluded that this penetration requirement refers to HVAP shells ratherthan AP, but I could be wrong. The gun was also to be stabalized and was tohave a rangefinder. Another interesting piece of info is that this gun was tohave an autoloader, but was to retain all 5 crewmen. The 45t vehicle was tohave a remote controlled bow .30 cal MG as well as .30 cal “blisters” on theside of the turret.

　　45噸級的坦克有一些有趣的特征。首先來看，裝甲非常厚重。前裝甲厚203mm，但不清楚這究竟是絕對厚度還是等效厚度。計劃為45噸型坦克裝備的炮也非常有趣：一門高初速的76mm炮，能夠在914m距離上擊穿203mm法線30度傾斜的裝甲板。這個穿深數(shù)據(jù)是HVAP(也就是APCR)的，不是AP的，不過也有可能是作者記錯了。主炮裝備了穩(wěn)定裝置與測距儀，還有自動裝彈機，乘員仍為5人。該坦克在車首和炮塔側(cè)面均有遙控式的.30口徑機槍，側(cè)面的安裝在水泡狀機槍塔中。

　　Concept Art of the AGF’s 45t tank.

　　AGF 45噸級坦克的概念圖

　　The 75 ton vehicle was another oddity. This behemoth was to have5 crew members and was to have a top speed greater than 30 km/h. The main gunwas requested to be a 90 mm gun that could penetrate 267 mm @ 1828 meters againsta 30 deg. sloped plate with HVAP shells. This is ~100 more mm than theT15E1/T15E2 guns in the same conditions with HVAP shells. Accuracy of the 75ttank was to be excellent. Reasonable accuracy was to be maintained up to rangesnear 3.5 km. The armor of the vehicles was to be equal to at least 267 mm atzero slope.

　　75噸級坦克又是另一個一個奇葩玩意。這個巨獸同樣采用5人車組，極速超過30。主炮被要求是一門90mm炮，發(fā)射HVAP彈時能夠在1828m(2000碼)距離上擊穿267mm法線30度傾斜的裝甲板。設計中該坦克的射擊精度不錯，能夠在3.5km距離內(nèi)保證射擊散布在一個合理的范圍內(nèi)。裝甲的等效至少為267mm的垂直裝甲。

　　Proposed Armor Values.

　　設計中的裝甲值

　　I have touched on the 150 ton project before, but I forget whicharticle I mentioned it in. Anyways the 150t vehicle was to be armed withanywhere from a 105 mm gun to a 155 mm gun. Whatever gun was mounted, there wasto be a duel autoloading system(as in the T22 medium tank) for quick changesbetween ammo types. A stabilizing system was also to be used. Armor was to beas heavy as weight and mobility requirements allowed. The conceptual artfeatured in the June 20th report had a semi-trailer layout which was thought tobe necessary for transportation for a 150 ton vehicle.

　　作者之前提到過150噸級的坦克。它是一個裝備口徑在105-155mm之間的火炮的項目。不管安裝什么主炮，該坦克都有一個分配式自動裝彈系統(tǒng)(就像T22中坦那樣)，可以實現(xiàn)不同彈種的快速切換，還使用了火炮穩(wěn)定系統(tǒng)。裝甲就和坦克自身一樣厚重，但也滿足了軍方對于機動的要求。概念圖見于6月20日的報告中，采用了半掛式的設計---這被認為是在150噸級坦克的運輸過程中關(guān)鍵的一步。

　　In the title I called these tanks the American “E Series”. Onecan make parallels between the AGF’s proposals and Wa Pruef 6′s proposals fortanks based on weight class. Both projects had some actual vehicles built likethe T37 and parts of the E 10, E 25, and E 100; but a large amount of theseprojects’ attributes remain shrouded and ambiguous. I would also like to saythat the AGF likely never took the E Series into consideration when coming upwith these requirements. It is just a case of two groups coming up withsomewhat similar solutions to somewhat similar problems.

　　在標題中把這些坦克稱為美國的“E系列”，因為AGF與陸軍武器局6處的方案，至少在以重量劃分級別的做法上是一致的，兩個方案都有一些造出來的實車，比如說T37和E10,E25和E100，但是方案中的大部分還是停留在紙面，缺乏細節(jié)。而且可以肯定的是AGF在提出著一些列方案時沒有考慮將E系列作為參考。這只是2個不同的團體在解決相似問題的方法探索上殊途同歸。