The M46 was an improved M26 Pershing (sometimes named Pershing II) tank and one of the U.S army's principal main battle tanks of the Cold War, with models in service from 1949 to the mid 1950s. It was widely used by some U.S. Cold War allies, especially other NATO countries. The M46 tank was designed to replace the previous M26 Pershings and M4 Shermans.

After World War II most US Army armored units were equipped with a mix of M4 Sherman and M26 Pershing tanks.

Designed initially as a heavy tank, the M26 Pershing tank was reclassified as a medium tank postwar. The M26 was a significant improvement over the M4 Sherman in firepower and protection. Its mobility, however, was deemed unsatisfactory for a medium tank as it used the same engine that powered the much lighter M4A3. Its underpowered engine was also plagued with an unreliable transmission.

Work began in January 1948 on replacing the original power plant with the Continental AV-1790-3 engine and Allison CD-850-1 cross-drive transmission. The design was initially called M26E2, but modifications continued to accumulate, and eventually the Bureau of Ordnance decided that the tank needed its own unique designation. When the rebuild began in November 1949, the upgraded M26 received not only a new power plant and a main gun with bore evacuator, but a new designation along with a name - simply M46. In total 1,160 M26s were rebuilt: 800 to the M46, 360 to the M46A1 standard.

Pictured here is a 1:72 scale replica of a US M46 Patton medium tank that was attached to the 6th Tank Battalion, 24th Infantry Division, then deployed to the Han River, in Korea, during 1951, Sold Out!

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

Release Date: October 2008

Historical Account: "A Tiger in Your Tank" - The Korean War came as a complete surprise to the U.S. military, catching our forces off guard and woefully short of the right equipment. World War II-vintage Shermans and Pershings that had been in storage in Japan were quickly refurbished and sent to Korea with cobbled-together units. The distinctive tiger face was painted on many of the early tanks that went into combat. The thought was that they would scare the superstitious North Koreans into surrender.