T95

T95 Medium Tank
Type	Medium tank
Place of origin	United States
Production history
Designed	1955-1959
Specifications
Weight	38.2 t
Length	10.18 m
Width	3.15 m
Height	2.85 m
Crew	4
Armor	Fused silica embedded in cast steel armor
Main armament	90 mm T208 (T95E2) 105 mm T210 (T95E4)
Secondary armament	.50 caliber M2 machine gun
Engine	AOI-1195 gasoline engine, GM12V71T diesel engine 550 - 570 hp
Transmission	XTG-410 four-speed
Suspension	torsion bar
Fuel capacity	206 Gallons
Speed	56 km/h

90 mm T208 (T95E2)

The T95 was an American prototype medium tank developed from 1955 to 1959. These tanks used many advanced or unusual features, such as siliceous-cored armor, a new transmission, and the OPTAC fire-control system. The OPTAC incorporated an electro-optical rangefinder and was mounted on the right side of the turret, and was used in conjunction with the APFSDS-firing 90 mm T208 smoothbore gun, which had a rigid mount without a recoil system. In addition, although the tanks were designed with a torsion beam suspension, a hydropneumatic suspension was fitted, and one of the tanks was fitted with a Solar Saturn gas turbine for demonstration purposes.

The siliceous cored armor consisted of fused silica, which has a mass efficiency of approximately three versus copper-lined shaped charges, embedded in cast steel armor for an overall mass efficiency of 1.4. The early APFSDS penetrators fired by the T208 had a low length-to-diameter ratio, this being limited by their brittle tungsten carbide construction, with a diameter of 37 mm, although they had a high muzzle velocity of 1,525 meters per second (5,000 feet per second). The rangefinder, the T53 Optical Tracking, Acquisition and Ranging (OPTAR) system, emitted pulsed beams of intense but incoherent infrared light. These incoherent beams scattered easily, reducing effectiveness in mist and rain and causing multiple returns, requiring the gunner to identify the correct return after estimating the range by sight. This, combined with the large and vulnerable design of the transmitter and receiver assembly, led to the abandonment of the OPTAR system in 1957.

In the early 1950s, work began in the US to develop an eventual replacement to the M48 tank, the operational medium tank at the time. A series of relatively simple upgrades to the T48 were considered as part of the T54 project, but these were considered to offer too little advantage to be worth it. Examples of more radical upgrades were also called for. In September 1954, out of many submitted plans, two main examples were chosen – one of them, the T95; the other, the T96, which used a heavier gun and a 105 mm round. Both tanks used smooth-bore barrels with a fixed mount and no recoil system. In November 1956, it was finally decided that nine tanks would be produced. Four of them would be original T95s. One would be a T95 with a 90 mm gun on a mount with a recoil system, receiving the designation T95E1. The remaining four would use the T95 chassis and the T96 turret, and were designated the T95E4.