M16 Half-track

The M16 Multiple Gun Motor Carriage was a self-propelled anti-aircraft weapon using a half-track chassis. It was used by the United States Army, the British Commonwealth, and South Korea. This vehicle replaced the M14 MGMC half-track in the anti-aircraft role and went on to serve during World War II after 1943 and the entire Korean War. The M16 was famous for downing low-flying aircraft and was nicknamed the "Meat Chopper" because it tore the aircraft's fuselage to pieces with its machine guns and was extremely popular with soldiers.

Development


The M16 was an improvement on the M13 MGMC and M14 MGMC which used twin 0.5 heavy machine guns in a Maxson M33 turret mounting on a M3 and M5 half-track chassis respectively. The two guns were increased to four giving the M45 Quadmount. Further production of the M13 and M14 was stopped so that resources could be used to produce the M16 and M17.

The M16 was extremely popular with most soldiers and many officers. Some soldiers nicknamed the M16 "The Meat Chopper". In addition to its anti-aircraft role, the M16 could also be used to provide fire support to infantry on the ground, and was frequently employed in this role and was often accompanied by the M15 Half-track. The M16 was similar to related models like the M17 MGMC and some models based on the SdKfz 251 half track used by Nazi Germany.

Service history


During World War II, the M16 was used by the United States Army in several campaigns including: Italy, Operation Overlord, the Battle of Arracourt, and the Ardennes Offensive. The vehicle was later also used in the Korean War by the South Korean Army, the United States Marines, and the United States Army, seeing action during the Battle of Pusan Perimeter, the Battle of Inchon, the First Battle of Seoul, the Battle of Pyongyang, the Second Battle of Seoul, and many others.

Operators

 * 🇺🇸 United States – United States Army, United States Marines
 * 🇬🇧 United Kingdom
 * Nazi Germany – Captured from US
 * 🇯🇵 Japan – Lent by US
 * 🇰🇷 South Korea – Lent by US
 * 🇰🇵 North Korea – Captured from South Korea and US

Variants

 * M16 – The original version. It had four M2HB machinguns in the M45D Quad-mount.
 * M16A1 – Almost exactly the same but directly converted from the M3 Half-track, and used the M45F Quad-mount.
 * M16A2 – Original M16s brought up to M16A1 standard with a M45F Quad-mount.
 * M17 Half-Track – Same as the M16, built on the M5 Halftracks and leased under the Lend Lease to the USSR. It still had the M45F Quad-mount.