Type 3 tank

The Type 3 tank is a tank produced by Sierra from 1918-1921, and from 1920 to 1924 in the updated Type 3A variant. The Type 3 was the first modern-looking Sierran tank, being developed off of but radically different from the Type 1 Tank of 1917 and they Type 2 prototype of 1917-18.

The Type 1 was too heavy and cumbersome and did poorly in battle, and the Type 2 prototype, tested in May 1918 had treads so large leading them to have mechanical issues. The Type 3 was therefore began in March and borrowed heavily in styling and operation from the French Renault FT. Trials were rushed and in August 1918 the Type 3 was approved for production. It was given an engine modified from the Type 2 prototype, producing 71 hp. 11 were ordered, though only five were completed in time to be sent over to Europe for the final weeks of the war. One became stuck in a trench though the other four saw action against German machine gunners and successfully cleared areas of them. Six were later completed at a much slower rate between 1919 and 1921.

In 1920 a more powerful model was made, with a new 99 horse 6 cylinder that enabled a flat-ground speed 14.4 km/h. From 1920 to 1924 40 models were produced, most in 1920-21, with 4 in 1922, 6 in 1923 and 3 in 1924. The tanks were scrapped in 1931, though four were saved. One Type 3 model made its way to Mexico in the early 1920s, purportedly used by an anti-government armed group.

A more mobile improvement on the Type 3 was meant to be the Type 5, of which work began in late September 1918, with a mind to have it ready for 1919. The sudden end of the war in November 1918 saw work on a new tank halted, wit only drawings and a 1/16th scale model surviving.

Only until 1932 would another light tank enter Sierran service, the M32 Light nowhere near as successful as the Type 3