Tankopedia
WW2LightLight TankUnited States

M24 Chaffee

In service 1944 - 1970s (foreign service)

The best light tank of the war - a 75 mm gun on eighteen tonnes, and still fighting in Indochina twenty years later.

Built byCadillac, Massey-Harris

M24 Chaffee
M24 Chaffee at The Tank Museum — Rodw, via Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0

Development history

The Chaffee solved the light tank problem by fitting a lightened version of the B-25 bomber's 75 mm gun into a low, torsion-bar-sprung hull. It reached Europe late in 1944, fought in the Ardennes and across Germany, and gave reconnaissance units something that could defend itself. Post-war it served dozens of armies: American M24s fought in Korea, French ones were airlifted into Dien Bien Phu, and others soldiered on into the 1980s with Norwegian and Taiwanese modernisations.

Variants

One canonical record, 3 recorded variants.

  1. M24

    1944

    Standard production light tank with 75 mm M6

  2. Chaffee NM-116

    1975

    Norwegian rebuild with diesel engine and 90 mm gun

  3. Taiwanese Type 64

    1979

    Local rebuild with new powerpack and fire control

Notable actions

  • Ardennes Offensive
  • Korean War
  • Battle of Dien Bien Phu