That was the leading theory of the time and, as a result, the Army went with the M4 Sherman – producing over 50,000 of those tanks. Meanwhile, the mission of the tank was to support infantry. World War II reached what is now Ukraine in 1939 with a Soviet invasion into territory then controlled by Poland in western Ukraine, at a time when the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany were in a. These vehicles were fast and had potent guns, but sacrificed a lot of armor to achieve such a speed. Instead, that job was relegated to the aptly named tank destroyer class of vehicle. Prior to World War II, the United States Army didn't think that tanks should fight other tanks. The few tanks that did get to the front lines performed well, though - leaving many to wonder what might have happened had an Army general by the name of Leslie McNair been more open-minded. While over 2,000 of these tanks were produced, they largely missed World War II because of bureaucratic infighting. Well, the M26 Pershing fits into neither of these categories. In other cases, a piece of technology might mark an important milestone, but end up virtually obsolete by the time the next war rolls around, as was the case with USS Ranger (CV 4). In some cases, there simply aren't any conflicts going on through which the gear can demonstrate its worth (the B-36 Peacemaker comes to mind).

Sometimes, a good weapon system never gets a chance to shine.

Tank battles of ww2