The M4A4 Sherman is the fifth variant of the early-generation Medium Tank M4 (Sherman) family. Medium tanks were delivered to the French Army under the official French lend-lease program in 1943 and 1944. The Free French received 656 M4 Shermans of various variants, including 274 new production M4A4s, 362 new production M4A2s, and 20 remanufactured M4A2s. Except for the 20 M4A2s allocated in October 1944, it is believed that all of these were deployed to Northwest Africa. These were most likely brought in through Marseille, France, in early 1945. In 1943, M4A4s and M4A2s were delivered to the ports of Algiers, Algeria, and Casablanca, Morocco. The French organised three armoured divisions, each with 165 Sherman tanks. The U.S. required the formation of homogeneous armoured divisions. As a result, the 2ème Division Blindée was exclusively armed with M4A2s. The 1ère Division Blindée was supposed to be armed solely with M4A2s, whereas the 5ème Division Blindée was supposed to be supplied only with M4A4s. However, the 1ère and 5ème Divisions' initial tank allocation was not uniform, and they both began training duties with 110 M4A4s and 55 M4A2s. Despite several requests from the U.S. for standardization, the French refused to retrain personnel on other Sherman variants or swap regiments across armoured divisions, believing that such transfers would harm unit cohesiveness and morale. M4A4s were eventually assigned to the 2nd Régiment de Chasseurs d'Afrique and 2nd Régiment de Cuirassiers (1ère Division Blindée) and the 1er Régiment de Chasseurs d'Afrique and 1er Régiment de Cuirassiers (5ème Division Blindée). The 110 M4A2s were divided between the 5ème Régiment de Chasseurs d'Afrique (1ère Division Blindée) and the 6ème Régiment de Chasseurs d'Afrique (5ère Division Blindée) in equal numbers.

Introduced in Update "Starfighters", the M4A4 was the main French medium tank during World War II. Armour arrangements are comparable to the M4 variant, particularly the hatches that protrude from the slope contour of the hull. These hatches should be noted since they generate interruptions in the slope and reduce the overall efficacy of the sloped armour. Despite the fact that armour plates are welded in front of the discontinuities to improve protection, this is still a serious weakness in the frontal hull context, and most experienced enemies would target it. The M4A4 variant also has a new composite Chrysler multibank engine (consisting of five automobile engines) that required extra space (the hull was lengthened by 15 cm).