Takom 2139 M103 A1

The M103 is an American heavy tank from the Cold War period. The first prototypes of this car were made in 1957, and serial production was carried out in the years 1957-1964. The drive - in the M103A1 version - was provided by a single motor Continental AV1790-5B with 810 HP. The length of the car's hull was 6.99 meters and a width of 3.63 meters. The combat weight was 56.7 tons, and the operating range was approx. 130 kilometers. The main armament was the 120 mm M58 gun, and the additional armament was 3 12.7 and 7.62 mm machine guns.

The M103 tank was developed for the needs of the US Army and the US Marine Corps as a counterweight to the heavy Soviet T-10 tanks. In the new car, particular emphasis was placed on the best possible armor - especially the front of the hull and turret - and the use of the most powerful weapons possible. Obviously, this resulted in a relatively large weight of the vehicle, which, in combination with the relatively weak engine, resulted in the M103's low mobility and average maneuverability - especially in the basic version and the M103A1. During the operation and with the introduction of new versions of the car, efforts were also made to harmonize some elements of the M103 with other American tanks (e.g. M46 or M47), which did not have the best effect on the reliability of the M103 drive system. In the course of production, three main versions of the car were created: M103 (basic version), M103A1 (version with a new sight and ballistic computer) and M103A2 (version with a new engine and a different sight). Tanks of this type have never been used in combat. They were decommissioned in the 1970s.