M24 Chaffee - Foreign Variants

Foreign Variants

NM-116

In 1972, the Norwegian Army decided to retain 54 of their 123 M24 light tanks as reconnaissance vehicles after they were substantially rebuilt under the designation NM-116. It was calculated that the NM-116 rebuilding program cost only about a third as much as contemporary light tanks.

This program was managed by the firm Thune-Eureka. The American firm NAPCO developed an improved power-pack based around the 6V53T diesel engine used in the M113 armored personnel carrier mated to an Allison MT-653 transmission. The original 75 mm Gun M6 L / 39 was replaced with a French D-925 90 mm low pressure gun, with a co-axial M2 .50-caliber heavy machine gun. The bow gunner position was eliminated in favor of ammunition stowage. A new fire control system was installed, complete with a Simrad LV3 laser rangefinder. Norwegian firms also converted eight M24 light tanks into light armored recovery vehicles to support the NM-116. The NM-116 were retired from service in 1993.

The Chilean Army up-gunned their M24s in the mid-1980s to the IMI-OTO 60 mm Hyper Velocity Medium Support (HVMS) gun, with comparable performance to a standard 90 mm gun. Chile operated this version until 1999.

Uruguay continues to use the M24, modernized with new engines and 76mm guns which can fire armour-piercing, fin stabilised, discarding sabot (or APFSDS) rounds.

In mid-1950s, in an attempt to improve the anti-tank performance of the vehicle, some French M24s had their turrets replaced with those of the AMX-13 light tank. Interestingly, AMX-13 variants with Chaffee turret also existed.