T42 medium tank

The 90mm GUN TANK T42 was a medium tank powered by the AOS-895-3, a 6-cylinder, Air cooled, Opposed cylinder, Supercharged engine displacing 895.9 cubic inches. It was intended to fulfill OTCM 32529's, dated December 2, 1948, call for a tank weighing 36 tons and equivalently armed as the M46 while having superior armour. With an engine producing only 500 hp, concern about the T42's performance was expressed. Testing, with a T40 loaded to the weight of T42 and powered by the AOS-895 through a CD-500 transmission, revealed it to be only equivalent in performance to the late model M4A3, which was below the design estimates.

Variants

 * T69: armed with a 90mm T178 in an oscillating turret with an autoloader
 * T87: proposed improvement of the T42 including features such as a cast steel elliptical hull and a flat track suspension