The 65-ton M103 Heavy Tank served with the US Army and US Marine Corps (USMC) during the height of the Cold War from 1957-1974. Its whole design was predicated on the need to counter Soviet heavy tanks, and thus it boasted a rifled 120mm M58 cannon for long-distance engagements. This gun fired a separate-loading round, which required two loaders, thus giving five men in the crew. The armor was up to 180mm thick on the front of the turret. Some 300 T43E1 tanks were built, of which 219 were later converted to M103A1 standard, and 153 rebuilt into M103A2.

The M103 (officially designated 120mm Gun Combat Tank M103) served the United States Army and the United States Marine Corps during the Cold War. Until the development of the M1 Abrams in the mid-1970s, it was the heaviest and most heavily armed tank in US service. The M103 was manufactured at the Detroit Arsenal Tank Plant and the first units were accepted in 1957. The last M103s were withdrawn from service in 1974.

Like the contemporary British Conqueror tank, the M103 was designed to counter Soviet heavy tanks, such as the Joseph Stalin tank or the T-10 if a conventional World War III broke out. Its long-ranged 120 mm cannon was designed to hit enemy tanks at extreme distances. In 1953-54 a series of 300 tanks, initially designated T43E1, were built by Chrysler at the Newark plant. Testing was unsatisfactory; the tanks failing to meet Continental Army Command's standards and the tanks were put into storage in August 1955. After 98 improvement modifications were approved, on April, 26th, 1956, the tank was designated the M103 Heavy Tank. Of the 300 T43E1s built, 80 went to the US Army (74 of which were rebuilt to M103 standard), and 220 were accepted by the US Marine Corps, to be used as infantry support, rebuilt to improved M103A1, then M103A2 standards.

The engine and transmission were never modified enough to give the extra power needed for the greater weight of the M103, and as a result, the tank was relatively underpowered and the drive systems were fragile.

The turret of the M103 was larger than that of the M48 or the M60 to make room for the huge 120 mm gun and the two loaders assigned to it, in addition to the gunner and the commander. The driver sat in the hull. The gun was capable of elevation from +15 to -8 degrees.

Pictured here is a 1:72 scale US M103A1 heavy tank that served with E Company, 34th Armor, 24th Infantry Division, then deployed to Germany during 1959. Sold Out!

Dimensions:
Length: 5-1/4-inches
Width: 2-inches

Release Date: January 2016

Historical Account: "Stare Down" - On July 1st, 1958, the 24th Infantry division was relocated to Augsburg, Germany, replacing the 11th Airborne Division in a re-flagging ceremony. The 24th was organized under the Pentomic Division TO&E, in which its combat forces were organized into five over-sized battalions (called "battle groups") with no intermediate brigade or regimental headquarters. Although considered an infantry division, the 24th included two airborne battle groups for several months. The 1st Airborne Battle Group, 503rd Infantry left the division for reassignment to the 82nd Airborne Division at Fort Bragg on January 7th, 1959, and the 1st Airborne Battle Group, 187th Infantry departed on February 8th, 1959, also for the 82nd.

On July 13th, less than 2 weeks after the reorganization, King Faisal II of Iraq was assassinated in a coup orchestrated by pro-Egyptian officers. The Christian president of Lebanon, pressured by Muslims to join Egypt and Syria in the Gamal Abdel Nasser-led United Arab Republic, requested help from the Eisenhower administration during the 1958 Lebanon crisis.