M41A3 Bulldog ROC Army

As a replacement for the M24, production started in 1951 on the new M41 Walker Bulldog. By 1953 the M24’s had been completely replaced. The M41 saw limited action in Korea but was very much in demand in Vietnam. In 1961 150 M41’s were delivered to the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force. Through out 1965 214 M41A3’s replaced the M24’s used by 5 Army of the Republic of Vietnam squadrons and were very effective against the ARVN T-54’s. In 1969 the M41’s began to be replaced by the M551 Sheridan. The M41A3 is the last variant of the M41 tanks. In 1958 the Republic of China (Taiwan) received approximately 700 M41A’s making them the largest user of these tanks outside of the U.S.

Throughout the Cold War the M41A3 was the MBT of the RoC Army and Marine Corps. In the mid 1980s a new type of ammunition was developed, the M464 76mm Armor-piercing fin-stabilized discarding sabot (APFSDS) that could penetrate any enemy tank frontal armor. In the 2000s the majority of these tanks were phased out with a few left on small outer islands.