Greatest Ever Tanks - M551A1 Sheridan (9)

[MitchofSmeg]

I may be wrong, but wasnt this the tank made out of skin thin armor and have magnesium in it? So would you know, have its armor litterally set on fire?

[geko213]

Ok, so that guy was a billionaire tank collector, but how does a mere mortal go about obtaining any kind of tank? I have been wondering for years, but no results...

[MrAnonymousRandom]

How does this piece of junk make the list?

[spacecadet35]

I would rather see the Chieftan in the top ten rather than this failure.

[SMGJohn]

This tanks where slaughtered by RPG-2 and later RPG-7 and they where runned over by T-34's and T-55's in Vietnam war. Sure it's good for infantry support but it's low armor makes it easy target for Soviet anti tank weaponry

[DugBlz]

@pcroas & lima33ful search this link on uTube, it;s an M551 restart for off-site events. Ltwh8hx2_bM Enjoy, we will keep this & others Alive & Running..

[dalcazar96]

What a load of crap, almost every other tank ever built would have been able to take out this rolling coffin. The Shillelagh missile was an expensive turd too.

[hentaisexfreak4life]

whats the difference between aluminium and aluminum?

[Nohomers48]

@hentaisexfreak4life One letter.

[hentaisexfreak4life]

@Nohomers48 so theres no difference in what it actually is?

[Nohomers48]

@hentaisexfreak4life Nope.

[brunosantosmf]

m6o

[iLmerlOchEfAmE]

...ALLUMINIUM?!?!?!?! O.O

[KookiePuffz]

@iLmerlOchEfAmE TOO MANY BIG WORDS *HEAD BLOWS UP*

[ak907jk]

@iLmerlOchEfAmE alot of recon tanks have aluminum armor like the FV101 scorpion and the m113 APC I know the m113 is not a tank just using it as an example.

[KHfreak7526]

good tank for mexico

[lima33ful]

I agree whole heartedly....yeah she had some problems but I loved this beast.

[snov153]

bullshit thank

[pcroas]

I served on the Sheridan in Panama and the Gulf War... With C Co. 3/73 Armor, 82d ABN Division. For those Vets 3/73 Armor has a facebook page, come check it out.

[pathman56]

I confess as to not being a big fan of the Sheridan. Placing it ahead of the Sherman I really question. The Sheridan was too much of a 1 trick pony whereas the versatility of the Sherman in all its iterations had a much greater impact in battle and history.

[c7thcavalry]

We used these (3/7thCav 3rd Inf) to relieve the 2nd & 11th ACR at the border (Black Beret). My troop used camps Pittman, and Gates. On a long downhill slope we out ran a jeep, we estimated over 50mph.. Very smooth ride in rough terrain, but would break torsion bars. Can't swim in any current. Firing main gun would lift the second road wheels, or slide on muddy concrete, Volatile round casings in an electric turret was scary. We lost a man when a track came off and rolled over.

"GARRY OWEN"

[Palmharb1]

This brings back some memories. I was trained at Fort knox , Kentucky, to repair the turret on this vehicle,  I was stationed In Amberg, Germany. 3/2nd ACR, L-troop. Did a lot of repairs and maintenance on this turret. Seems like an eternity ago !! Thanks for sharing. I was in Germany in 1972-73.

I remember the main gun Hydraulic pressure relief valve,popping occasionally, when the main gun was fired, and you would have cherry juice, all over the turret floor.

Thanks for- memories

[gon2fsh]

@Palmharb1

I was driver on one in the mid 70's at Amberg, 3/2 camp Rotz lots of memories!

[Palmharb1]

@gon2fsh And don't forget Camp May, Vilseck and Grafenwohr ! If you google pond Barracks, you can get some film footage.

[Palmharb1]

This brings back some memories. I was trained at Fort knox , Kentucky, to repair the turret on this vehicle, I was stationed In Amberg, Germany. 3/2nd ACR, L-troop. Did a lot of repairs and maintenance on this turret. Seems like an eternity ago !! Thanks for sharing. I was in Germany in 1972-73.

I remember the main gun Hydraulic pressure relief valve,popping occasionally, when the main gun was fired, and you would have cherry juice, all over the turret floor.

Thanks for- memories

[broadjumper1]

Always though this was a pretty cool looking 'tank' if nothing else.

[Tumbleweed1954]

Vehicle highlighted is an M551. Not an M551A1.

C Troop 3/12 Cav

I Troop 3/3 ACR

[EXXC0MN]

alley-ou-miniumm

LOL

[kintamasan]

Remember, this track is an Armored Recon Airborne Assualt Vehicle. It is not a main battle tank but, a specialized light armored track designed for armored recon, that can be LAPESed in by C130 or air dropped by 8 G11 parachutes. In a forest environment, it is in it's element and during Desert Shield/ Desert Storm performed flawlessly for every mission that I was part of. I wonder how many folks who commented actually served in any armed forces let alone served on a tracked vehicle during combat

[kintamasan]

I served with 3/73rd Armor, 82nd Airborne Div. I served with the Sheridan from 1989 to 1992 along with Desert Shield/Desert Storm. During tank gunnery, the main gun would not knock out the missile system. Armor protection would protect up to 23mm canon rounds. The missile would range to 3000 meters, that was confirmed during Desert Shield phase of the war. My track was completely reliable in desert opperations and we had the lightest ground pressure per square inch of any vehicle in theater.

[ferdieloverboy]

but this tank is more powerful than the scorpion tank, 152 mm gun. but the scorpion is a lot more faster...

[BVargas78]

I think it's a good concept the Sheridan. VC troops would not be expecting tanks in the jungle so would be unlikely to have rpg's if your making an airbourne 'hit'

[artacania]

152 mm gun ... airdorpable :P UBERFAST 43/46 Mph! and a regular coffin of death .. or destruction .. propper tank :D

[Biggus63]

What rubbish! I have to agree with the people who wonder why this tank is in the list. This cost 3 times the cost of an M60 and it's survivability on a modern battlefield would be almost nil. On top of that the anti armour round for the gun/launcher cost the price of a Rolls-Royce. My god, I almost wet myself laughing. The same applies to the inclusion of the Swedish S-Tank. For all it's innovation how can an AFV that has never seen combat rate as the 6th best of all time? Absolutely ridiculous!

[exxalte]

@Biggus63s-103 did beat m 60 in tests within usa

[Lobito26R]

genial. me gustaria tener uno para ir a dar una vuelta de picnic. 

[TheProjektcc]

where the fuck is the tiger?

[Dedfaction]

if an RPG smacked it, it'd bloody melt, Aluminium burns!

[vonkeonig]

tetrach ......

[mtw56or]

I was the driver on b/37 for 2 1/2 years back in 74/76 a good track for its time

1/2 ACR

toujours pret

[Patroler2299]

So whoo did

Ha these tanks!!

[nikola2500]

the Sheridan is a light tank.....and how do you now if the tiger isn't 7th,6th,5th,4th?... i am seeing this because i didn't see them all

[JAGDPANTHER20]

How on earth did this fucker get in the top 10. Shows how retared the show creaters are. NO TIGER!?

[PanterausfG]

When i see this small, chubby tank i can hear Gruber from the 80s ww2 comedy Show Alo Alo : "my tank, my poor little tank".

[whitesox889]

Vietnam wasn't a colonial war, it was about stopping communists and saving a free country.

[tandemis1]

Yeah, sure:)))

[Pyramidium]

Actually, the North Vietnamese advocated free elections and the South didn't as they were afraid of the communists actually winning. One has to remember that Vietnam was colonized by the French and as the US came after them to fill their role, it's easy to see the 1965 invasion as continuation to the colonization period. The US didn't have "solidarity" to the Vietnamese, it was all about to world powers fighting each other.

[mdfiremedic]

memonk11- you have no idea what your talking about . Having been a gunner on this vehicle with the 82nd, I have seen this tank and its missle do amazing things, but you wouldn't know since you have no experience with it. So maybe your the turd.

[memonk11]

@mdfiremedic Wow, just found this reply. Just about every single thing I've read, and every inteview I've ever seen, describes how the how firing the gun would knock things out of alignment. And the usable range ot the Shellilah due to it's trajectory is well documented. So, either every one of multiple sources I've read is wrong, and every inteviewee is lying, or you're not what you claim to be. In other words, you're full of shit.

[palehorse25]

When we would fire a round, the driver would stop and hold the brakes on so the gunner had a stable platform to sight in on the target. There was only one system for targeting; the Mark 1 eyeballs.

There was a stabilization system, but it was VERY low tech and not very good by today's standards, but back in the day, it was the best available. And the gun system had some electronic "cards" that would often come loose because of the recoil, the front 2 road wheels lifting off the ground.

[memonk11]

@palehorse25 Thanks for the info. Sounds like you have some actual experience.

[palehorse25]

Thanks for noticing. I served on 1 from '86-'89 when I left to go to flight school to become a Warrant Officer AH-1F Cobra Attack Helicopter Pilot. The training I got from being on Sheridans came in handy as a Cobra pilot, engaging enemy armor and knowing first-hand the limits of ground armor. I'm with you, when used as designed, they were great. We could kick M-60s and M-1s around no problem in the woods. Their long gun and our short gun turned the tides in the trees.

[palehorse25]

@memonk11 Served on one from '86-'89 before going to Warrant Officer flight school to fly AH-1F Cobra Attack Helicopters. The Sheridan was originally designed for jungle warfare, using a main gun that barely went past the front slope. Wed used that against OPFOR when going against M60s and M1s. Whose long guns sucked to try and traverse in the trees, and we could manuever against them easily. They were also designed to swim, but that took a lot of prep. Nothing works as good as it's hoped.

[palehorse25]

@memonk11 Served on one from '86-'89 before going to Warrant Officer flight school to fly AH-1F Cobra Attack Helicopters. The Sheridan was originally designed for jungle warfare, using a main gun that barely went past the front slope. Wed used that against OPFOR when going against M60s and M1s. Their long guns sucked to try and traverse in the trees, and we could manuever against them easily. They were also designed to swim, but that took a lot of prep. Nothing works as good as it's hoped.

[memonk11]

This thing was a total turd. Very short opperational carear. And I believe the missile system (the Shellilah?) was said to be unusable undr 1300 yards, beside the gun knocking the ranging system out of allignment everyime it was used.

[palehorse25]

@memonk11 Actually, the Shillelegh missile was originally designed for ship-to-ship engagements for the Navy. When the system was properly calibrated, it was extremely accurate. It would almost always hit exactly where the gunner's reticle was. Unfortunately, at long distance, the gunner's aimpoint covered more than just the tank so that limited it as well as being line-of-sight and a slow flight speed compared to today's Dragon, TOW, Hellfire and AT4. But in the day, it was cutting edge.

[memonk11]

@palehorse25 Thanks for the info. I've been reading since I was a kid that the Shillelegh was almost unusable under 1,500 yds. Something like it would take about that distance to to be controlable. It was also one of the reasons that the M60A2 had such a short carear. And I had read that is was a major sticking point between the US and West Germany in the MBT70 Program. Intialy the US wanted the gun/missle main armament, The West Germans wanted just a gun.

[lima33ful]

@memonk11 the missle was a long range weapon, 1,500 yards and under you used a conventional round

[migkillerphantom]

Why is this tank like thing included?

[CMDRFandragon]

lol I guess that tank was just a tank you got when u absolutely positivly had to have Tank support and couldnt get a Patton

[200184994]

I like the export model that had a 90mm or a 105mm with thicker armor. that one was kinda beast

[deltapunk21]

That fucking british piece of shit marxist said "colonia" war? Does that fucing dumbass know what colonial means? He is another fae Soviet p[aid "historia" distoring history....the fuckin Shridan was made for Airborne units to have armor when they did an airborne drop behiind enemy lines in Western Europe etc. The Sheridan came out in 1968 and was used sparingly in Vietnam...NO FUCKING AB DROPS it was shippe over there and run onto the dock and sent to fight commie terrorsts.

[sebass316]

Easy prey for RPG's

[jacobwolf124]

@sebass316 Any fucking tank is easy prey for RPGs

[Birdy890]

I totally disagree with this tank even being in the top 10. what about the M26, or the M60, or M48?

There are so many more tanks that are more deserving of a spot in the top ten then this "Airborne" Piece of junk.

[longbowgold67]

None of those tanks had the impact on history that the M4 Sherman did.

[biukucanoe]

"most interesting" (see s-tank) rather than "most important" as in the other top 10 show. Sheridan was a near-flop (skipped over the caseless ammo blowing up) but was well liked companion to M113 in 'nam, and superior to stryker 105 which can't airdrop, swim, or do track stuff.

[Cougar545x39]

yep..sheridan is not even a tank as is got like no real armor protection. Its more like a weapons-carrier.

[CoDmontagesvideos]

@Birdy890 Because it was fast, packed with good firepower AND it was able to drop from an airplane

[Khristophoros1001]

@Birdy890 they choose the tanks that has made the biggest impact on tank history. Read some before u post these kinds of comments

[135twilight]

@Birdy890 I agree with you M60 or M48 deserves this spot more than the Sheridan. Especially since during the only tank vs. tank battle with the Americans in Vietnam three M48's managed to fight of an assault against about 11 NVA PT-76 tanks. Plust the M60 and even the M48 saw success against Soviet-made T-72's in the Middle East.

[HeirofGojira91]

@Birdy890 Hmm - very good point - the Sheridan suffered problems with the Shiellagh Missile and thin armor protection. It was said in Vietnam it sometimes fell in streams or literally 'jumped' due to the recoil of the gun. The Patton series tanks were certainly a better candidate for top tanks - atleast classic anyways.

[warpedcomedy]

Aluminum armor plating is resistant to small arms fire, strong against bullets, but not RPG's.

[Magni56]

Worse. Alu plating can actually catch fire when being subject to a HEAT stream. And the way that stuff burns, your chances of getting out of the tank alive are pretty fucking low.

The same problem was experienced with the M113. The Israelis even gave up on using their updated M113s, the Zeldas, in Lebanon because of that. (Instead they went with modifying old soviet tanks into APCs.)

[ArmorFavorites]

The bald headed guy at 00:57, has absolutely no idea what he is talking about. "designed for colonial wars as in Vietnam" is the single most inaccurate thing I have ever heard on a documentary video. But thank you nguyen5055 for taking the time to post this.

[SharinganShadower]

I believe that the French fought a colonial war against Vietnam shortly after the end of WW2.

[ArmorFavorites]

I agree with you that the French fought a colonial war against Vietnam after WW2. However this vehicle (which is not even a tank)was not designed for that conflict. In fact the idea the the US, Europeans or even the Soviet Union, would have taken the time to develop anything for a purpose other than WW3, is not understanding of history. Now this vehicle was used in Vietnam quite a bit, but I am sure that the designers had a 'Market Garden' type scenario in mind when they built it.