Never saw a Sheridan but did hear some negative stories about mechanical breakdowns & lack of crew protection . I bet that big HEAT round did make a boom. I remember shooting 105mm APDS on ranges in Germany. The recoil would lift two of the front road wheels off the ground & very loud. Using it's tracer for adjustment was not easy at around 4800 FPS plus the dust and dirt thrown up. If I'm not mistaken our 105 HEAT rounds ran at 3600 FPS to aid in shooting moving targets.
I had a love-hate relationship with the Sheridan. Lack of crew protection was a given since it was an armored reconnaissance/airborne assault vehicle (see the earlier post on Sheridans in Desert Shield/Storm). Automotively, it was terrific and could move like a bat out of hell. Over rough terrain the Christie suspension system could do wonders and not throw a track. The mechanical issues were in the turret primarily. It was for its day a sophisticated and sensitive weapons system which did not have an equally sophisticated power generation system from the alternator and voltage regulator. An all electric drive turret is OK; I think the Centurion has/had one, but you need the proper electrical system to support it.
It seems like I remember the Sheridan could also fire a missile through that big 152mm gun.
Yes it did, as did the M60A2.
mikesresearch.com
Same 152mm but a different turret.
tanks-encyclopedia.com
Same chassis/hull as the others.
There's a place in Kansas I could buy a tank right now. Last I checked it was about 30k and had a decommissioned gun.@Bassbob would probably like to have a surplus M551 or M60A2 152mm turret to use those M625 canister rounds to defend the homestead from any herd of Zombies that could come out of St. Louis, since he's a shotgun guy.
The A2 was a hastily developed beast. A family member was a warrant officer maintenance tech up in the tank plant at Warren, MI and said it was just a haphazard process. Add this box, do this adjustment, take this off, etc. Ultimately, the A2s in Germany were formed into tank destroyer battalions usually one per division. The entire gun/missile combo thing never did work out. The NATO MBT-70, which used the same concept, never got off the ground beyond a few prototypes thank goodness. The US and Germany both walked away and went their separate ways, sort of. Today's Abrams tanks do have an international aspect. British armor; German main gun; US engine, commo gear, and heavy MG; Belgian medium coax and loaders MGs.Same 152mm but a different turret.
152mm Gun/Launcher M60A2 'Starship' - Tank Encyclopedia
The M60A2 "Starship" was one of the most technologically advanced tanks of its era, capable of firing ATGMs.
The M60A2 "experiment" really didn't work out well.
View attachment 49492
Armd Cav units in VN with Sheridans had high praise for these rounds. I never did fire these, just plenty of the HE and HEAT and one Shillelagh.M551 Sheridan in combat 1969-91
The M551 Sheridan Armored Reconnaissance/Airborne Assault Vehicle (AR/AAV) was a US light tank designed to be dropped by parachute, swim across rivers and was the last light tank employed by the US…
Apparently this round was highly effective...
View attachment 49490
The M625 canister round was intended primarily for antipersonnel use at close range. The cartridge was loaded with 10000 13 grain steel flechettes and was very effective at cutting large swathes of jungle foliage. The official designation was the antipersonnel-tracer (APERS-T) round.
The Six Day War - The Golan Heights Offensive
I heard good & bad stories about them. Never saw one in Chu Chi or Phu Bai areas. I bet those 152mm HE & HEAT rounds caused some major damage. I don't imagine they had very high velocity but I guess they didn't need it for static targets. Know little to nothing on the Shillelagh rounds. Our M-48 A3's we had canister & beehive rounds. I think the canister round had a little over 1800 ob-long sub-projectiles, while our Beehive had around 3000 flechcetts (sp). Both of these rounds left the barrel at around 2800 fps. Both were very effective.
