M36 (90 mm)

This page is about the tank armament M36 (90 mm). For the tank destroyers, see M36 GMC and M36B1.

Description

The 90 mm M36 is an American tank armament used in the M47 Patton II series of tanks. The 90 mm M36 is based on the T119E1 gun, which fired both standard and higher-pressure 90 mm ammunition for better ballistic performance.

Not to be confused with the 90 mm Gun Motor Carriage M36.

Vehicles equipped with this weapon

• M47
• ▅M47
• mKPz M47 G

General info

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Available ammunition

Penetration statistics
Ammunition	Type of warhead	Penetration @ 0° Angle of Attack (mm)
		10 m	100 m	500 m	1,000 m	1,500 m	2,000 m
M318A1 shot	APBC	193	190	177	162	148	136
M82 shot	APCBC	185	182	170	155	142	130
M304 shot	APCR	287	281	259	234	211	191
M332 shot	APCR	321	316	292	265	240	218
M431 shell	HEATFS	320	320	320	320	320	320
M71A1 shell	HE	13	13	13	13	13	13

Shell details
Ammunition	Type of warhead	Velocity (m/s)	Projectile Mass (kg)	Fuse delay (m)	Fuse sensitivity (mm)	Explosive Mass (TNT equivalent) (g)	Ricochet
							0%	50%	100%
M318A1 shot	APBC	912	10.98	N/A	N/A	N/A	47°	60°	65°
M82 shot	APCBC	853	10.94	1.2	14	137.2	48°	63°	71°
M304 shot	APCR	1,021	7.62	N/A	N/A	N/A	66°	70°	72°
M332 shot	APCR	1,249	5.7	N/A	N/A	N/A	66°	70°	72°
M431 shell	HEATFS	1,216	5.8	0.05	0.1	712.64	65°	72°	77°
M71A1 shell	HE	732	10.55	0	0.1	925	79°	80°	81°

Smoke shell characteristics
Ammunition	Velocity (m/s)	Projectile Mass (kg)	Screen radius (m)	Screen deploy time (s)	Screen hold time (s)	Explosive Mass (TNT equivalent) (g)
M313	821	10.7	13	5	20	50

Comparison with analogues

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Usage in battles

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Pros and cons

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Pros:

Cons:

History

During the development of the T42 medium tank prototype (which would later become the M47), the initial armament requirement of the tank was to have an equivalent firepower to the M46 tank. However, a British liaison officer objected to this specification saying it is no longer adequate, using the British 20-pdr cannon as an example of a more powerful tank armament in service.

In response, the requirements was revised that upon the T42's approval for production, the specification called for the 90 mm gun T119 to be used, which could use APDS rounds in the armour-piercing shell. However, the gun maintains the same chamber volume as the previous 90 mm M3 gun, but rated for a much higher maximum pressure. This means that the T119 was able to fire older rounds for the 90 mm M3, but also newer, higher-pressure rounds for more ballistic performance. To prevent mix-ups of the T119's higher-pressure rounds being loaded into the 90 mm M3 gun, the casing was modified that would prevent loading into the older gun. The gun was mounted in the T42 tank in the Mount T139.

After the T42's adoption for production as the M47 in 01 November 1950, the Army Field Forces continued to evaluate the tank prior to its standardization. As such, the T119 was still in its prototype designation (later redesignated to T119E1 for unspecified reasons). One change in the T119 design was the replacement of the single baffle muzzle brake with a cylindrical blast deflector. However, after the the M47's standardization in 08 April 1952, the 90 mm gun T119E1 was standardized as the 90 mm gun M36, with Mount M78. Another change to the muzzle brake after its standardization was the replacement of the cylindrical blast deflector with a T-shaped deflector.

A lightweight 90 mm gun design would later be developed for the 90 mm Gun Tank T48 tank prototype, based off the ballistics of the 90 mm gun M36. This would eventually be designated the 90 mm gun M41.

Media

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See also

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• reference to the article about the variant of the cannon/machine gun;
• references to approximate analogues by other nations and research trees.

External links

References

Citations

Bibliography

• Hunnicutt, Richard P. 1984. Patton: A History of the American Main Battle Tank: Volume I. Novato, CA: Presidio Press.

USA tank cannons
20 mm	M139
25 mm	LW25 · M242
37 mm	M3 · M5 · M6
57 mm	M1
75 mm	M2 · M2 Howitzer · M3 · M6 · M1897A4 · XM274
76 mm	M1 · M7 · M32 · T185E1
90 mm	M3 · M3A1 · M36 · M41 · M54 · T15E1 · T15E2 · T54 · T208E9
105 mm	M4 · M68 · M68A1 · M68A1E8 · T5E1 · T5E2 · T140E2 · T140E3 · XM35
106 mm	M40A1C
120 mm	M58 · M256 · T53
152 mm	M81 · M162 · XM150E5
155 mm	M185 · T7
165 mm	M135
	Foreign:
20 mm	Rh202 (Germany)
57 mm	6pdr OQF Mk.III (Britain) · ZIS-2 (USSR)
105 mm	Sharir (Israel)
120 mm	IMI MG251 (Israel)

Japan tank cannons
37 mm	Type 94 · Type 100 · Type 1
47 mm	Type 1
57 mm	Type 90 · Type 97
70 mm	Type 94
75 mm	Type 90 · Type 99 · Type 3 · Type 5 (Type I Model II · Type II Model I · Type II Model II)
90 mm	Type 61
105 mm	Type 5 (Experimental · Production) · JSW L/52
106 mm	Type 60 (B)
120 mm	Taishō Type 10 · Navy short gun · Type 90 L/44 · Type 10 L/44
150 mm	Type 38
155 mm	NSJ L/30 · JSW L/52
	Foreign:
25 mm	Oerlikon KBA B02 (Switzerland)
30 mm	Bushmaster 2 Mk.44 (USA)
35 mm	Oerlikon KDE (Switzerland)
75 mm	M6 (USA)
76 mm	M1 (USA) · M32 (USA)
88 mm	KwK36 (Germany)
90 mm	M3A1 (USA) · M36 (USA)
105 mm	L7A3 (Germany)
120 mm	Schneider-Canet 1898 (France)