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[–]GelfandFominDemocracy Uber Alles 4 ポイント5 ポイント  (2子コメント)

Do you mean put the Pershing as it was earlier in the war or do you mean develop a more reliable and improved version of the Pershing?

AFAIK the Pershing was like a Tiger in terms of reliability and logistical issues.

Also M4 Sherman & Firefly could destroy tigers and panthers just well enough with the M3, M1, and 17pdr cannons if needed. The thing is the tanks of the USA were not designed to fight heavily armored targets as a main role in mind--they deferred to special up-gunned variants like the 76 shermans, fireflys, and tank destroyers. However, I do believe US tank doctrine used tank destroyers as a rapid response force used to plug armored break throughs rather than supporting antitank offensives.

[–]PuddingInferno [スコア非表示]  (1子コメント)

That was the idea behind U.S. Tank Destroyer doctrine - it didn't work for two fairly obvious reasons. The first is that by the time the Americans were invading Europe, Germany wasn't making enormous armored offensives that required a rapid response force. The second is that field commanders weren't stupid enough to leave the TDs in the back in reserve when they had krauts to shoot at.

[–]theamazingjexOuiboo [スコア非表示]  (0子コメント)

No. The technology of the early 1940s was such that a tank around 30-35 tons made sense. The M4 was on a tank for tank basis the best tank in that category.

The M4 is a vehicle where you scratch beneath the surface and it's full of good surprises like excellent crew survivability, gyro stabilizers, very quick target acquisition and very good transmission. These less obvious features matter a lot because they make crews win battles, keep crews alive and allow the army to make use of tactical successes. This is not common with WWII tanks, the Panther was supposedly faster then the Sherman but in reality the Sherman was faster then the Panther. This happened because the Americans had the luxury of doing things right from the start and refining a design. There were a few design compromises (narrow tracks on early models) but there were no huge flaws.

When your tank is better then it appears at first glance you can get away with tweaks without making too much of a frankenstein. It was possible to make a Firefly Sherman because the excellent ergonomics of the turret meant you could shove an oversized gun in there and still shoot (at reduced speed). When your engine and suspension are overkill for your tank you can afford to make a Jumbo Sherman without shooting your reliability to hell.

There Americans could have made the Pershing their main tank but they would be sacrificing a good design for a kludge.