The vehicle would rely on a crew of six personnel to man the various controls and guns and included the driver, tank commander, main gunner and several machine gunners. Machine gun sponsons were added along the hull superstructure sides to help defend the vehicle at multiple angles. The superstructure was well formed with sloped sides, particularly along the glacis plate, as well as a 360-degree traversing turret along the hull roof. Like the M2 Light before it, the M2 Medium utilized the same Vertical Volute Suspension System (VVSS) and incorporated much of the same machinery. ![]() An additional road bogie was added to each track side and a new hull superstructure was devised. The T5 was more than a larger M2 Light Tank - it was given several key features that certainly differentiated the type from the previous offering. In all, 112 of the type were ultimately produced. The M2 Medium Tank, itself, was designed as an enlarged version of the preceding M2 Light Tank design and initially born as the "T5" prototype under the direction of Rock Island Arsenal. The more successful M3 Stuart Light Tank and M3 Grant/Lee and M4 Sherman medium tank series would not have been made possible if not for the previous endeavors that were the M2 Light Tank and the M2 Medium Tank. In many ways, the M2 Medium Tank was a stepping stone design for American armored warfare leading up to World War 2.
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