airborne tank

When the Tetrarch was re-designated as an airborne tank, several changes were made to its design.

Even with its problems the system had shown that it could be used by an airborne tank to destroy a main battle tank.

It proposed to design a light airborne tank, based on the Renault ZT.

However, it had not been designed specifically as an airborne tank or to be airmobile, and it also possessed several faults.

The squadron was also equipped with Tetrarchs, which had recently been re-designated as an airborne tank by the War Office.

Although they were of the opinion that the M22 possessed a number of faults, the War Office believed it would perform adequately as an airborne tank.

As no serious artillery support could be given, it entertained the thought of providing fire support to the infantry by airborne tanks, to be landed on captured airfields.

The United States Ordnance Department was asked to produce this replacement, which in turn selected Marmon-Herrington to design and build a prototype airborne tank in May 1941.

As early as 1936 the French had commissioned the design of light airborne tanks, but these plans had been abandoned in 1940, as they possessed no cargo planes large enough to carry them.

The 151st Airborne Tank Company remained in the United States, shuttling from base to base throughout the war, and the 28th Airborne Tank Battalion was refitted with conventional tanks in October 1944.

The obvious unit for conversion was 'C' Special Services Squadron, as it was trained to act as an independent tank unit and, more importantly, was the only unit that was still using Tetrarchs; it had been re-designated as an airborne tank by the War Office.

The 151st Airborne Tank Company was formed on 15 August 1943, despite concerns that there would be insufficient transport aircraft to deliver the unit into battle, and the 28th Airborne Tank Battalion was also formed in December of the same year.

This lack of sufficient replacement reserves, combined with a War Office report that some 287 airborne tanks would be required for the 1st Airborne Division and an unnamed airborne division to be formed in India, led to the Tetrarch's eventual replacement by the US M22 Locust.