M9 Half-track

The M9 Half-track was a half-track produced by International Harvester in the United States in World War II. It was designed to supersede the M2 Half Track Car which was mostly outclassed by 1942. It had the same body and chassis as the M5 Half-track (also built by International Harvester) but had the same stowage and radio fit as the M2 Half Track.

The M9 served for a long time, and is still in service with Paraguay today. 3,500 were produced by the end of World War II. It was used during World War II, the Arab-Israeli War of 1948, the Korean War, the Suez Crisis, the Vietnam War, the Six-Day War, and the Yom Kippur War.

Development

The M2 Half Track Car had first been intended as an artillery tractor but was also used for carrying the machine gun squads of armored infantry regiments and for reconnaissance units until better vehicles were available.^[1] In order to supply America's allies, much more production was required than was possible through the firms producing the M2 (and the larger M3). International Harvester could produce half-tracks but some differences had to be accepted due to different manufacturing methods and components. This led to IH producing for Lend-Lease the M5 Half-track as a M3 equivalent and the M9 as the M2 equivalent.^[2] The M9 used the same chassis and mechanical components as the M5 but laid out to provide similar stowage, access to the radios from the inside, rear doors, and a pedestal machine gun mount as the M2.^[3]The M9A1 matched the improvements made to the M2/M3 and M5, changing to ring mount machine gun mount and three pintle machine gun mounts.^[4][5] As with the M5, due to the lack of face-hardened armor, homogenous armor was used. Although thicker, it gave less protection and could be penetrated by armor piercing rifle bullets from 300 yards (270 m) rather than 200 yd. The armor also made the vehicle heavier though the "performance was essentially similar".^[6]

Production history

M9 started production in August 1942,^[7] at International Harvester.^[7] The M9 and M9A1 were manufactured en masse and 2,026 were produced in total.^[8] Zaloga gives 2,026 M9 and 1,407 M9A1 produced in 1943.^[9]

Service history

The M9 served in World War II, the Arab-Israeli War of 1948, the Korean War, the Suez Crisis, and many others conflicts. All of the production half-tracks were leased to other countries, like most other International Harvester half-tracks produced in World War II. This time it was leased to both the Soviet Union and the British Commonwealth which also leased it to other countries.^[10][11]

Operators

The M9 was used by many countries but not the United States as there was sufficient M2 and M3 production for US needs.^[4] Britain leased some half-tracks to Free France and other governments-in-exile. The Soviet Union received supplies directly.^[12] Post war, the second hand market was a source of supply for some countries such as Israel.^[13]

After the war, halftracks were provided under the Military Aid Program.^[12]

See also

• List of U.S. military vehicles by model number
• List of U.S. military vehicles by supply catalog designation

References

Notes

Citations

Bibliography

• Berndt, Thomas (1993). Standard Catalog of U.S. Military Vehicles. Iola, WI: Krause Publishing. ISBN 0-87341-223-0
• Berndt, Thomas (1994). American Tanks of World War II. Minnesota, MN: MBI Publishing Company. ISBN 0-87938-930-3
• Green, Michael (2014). American Tanks & AFVs of World War II. Oxford, UK: Osprey Publishing. ISBN 1-78200-931-0
• Green, Michael; Green, Gladys (2000) Weapons of Patton's Armies. Minnesota, MM: MBI Publishing Company. ISBN 0-7603-0821-7
• Hunnicutt, R.P. (2010). Half-Track: A History of American Semi-Tracked Vehicles. Navato, CA: Presidio Press. ISBN 0-89141-742-7
• Ness, Leland L. (2002). Jane's World War II Tanks and Fighting Vehicles. London, UK and New York City, NY: HarperCollins. ISBN 0-00711-228-9
• Zaloga, Steven J. (1994). M3 Infantry Half-Track 1940–1973. Oxford, UK: Osprey Publishing. ISBN 1-85532-467-9

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to M3 Half-track.