Armored Vehicles

The production of armored vehicles is a highly specialized industry that first appeared during World War I and reached its height in the United States during World War II. Armored vehicles—including tanks, personnel carriers, and tracked artillery pieces—are very expensive and time-consuming to manufacture. Most require large engines, armament, and tracked propulsion systems. Traditionally, the United States has maintained neither a large peacetime military nor the weapons used by such a force, which has necessitated having the capability to rapidly produce weapons during wartime. Furthermore, armored vehicle technology is a very dynamic field, with rapid shifts in composition, structure, and philosophy. Despite such challenges, the American military has been very successful in procuring the armored weapons necessary for modern land warfare.

During World War I, America produced virtually no armored vehicles. Because the United States had not invested heavily in the technology and production facilities necessary for armored vehicles during the war, in the postwar period, American military engineers could experiment with several vehicle designs. In the 1920s, the Army relied upon lightly protected tanks with high mobility but little firepower. American planners expected the tanks to assume the role of 19th-century cavalry—screening infantry, raiding areas behind enemy lines, and performing reconnaissance. Thus, tanks would not face enemy armored units, which could be engaged by “tank destroyer” guns and self-propelled artillery. These light tanks had very little armor plating but a much stronger main armament, required fewer resources, and could be produced quickly during wartime. They were designed around a chassis and frame similar to that of an automobile; thus, assembly line automobile factories could be rapidly converted to the production of tanks and other armored vehicles.

American forces deployed to Europe in World War II discovered that their light tanks could not successfully engage German tanks. American commanders soon demanded a shift to medium tanks, with bigger armament and thicker armor plating. The heavier machines required a more durable assembly line for production, but the military could not wait for the construction of entirely new factories. Instead, the government asked domestic farm equipment manufacturers to convert to tank production while the new factories were completed. Despite conversion of existing factories, and the construction of new facilities, full-scale production of armored vehicles did not begin until 1943. Most of the nearly 100,000 tanks manufactured during the war were built in 1943 and 1944, when production reached an all-time high. In addition to producing tanks for American needs, the United States sent more than 30,000 tanks to allies throughout the world, along with thousands of other armored vehicles, through the Lend-Lease program.

[Page 53]The production of such large numbers of tanks required a huge amount of resources and civilian labor. Millions of individuals entered the workforce for the first time, making a tremendous impact upon the production capability of the United States. A number of unique advantages enabled American wartime production of armored vehicles to far outstrip that of any other nation. The United States was able to use existing factories to a large degree, possessed its own natural resources and a large domestic labor pool, and did not face the likelihood of combat on its own soil.

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