The M3 Lee Medium Tank — The Sherman’s Maligned Cousin
A common tank in WWII largely overshadowed by better variants
You can always tell which weapon platforms are considered good by how many get shipped to international partners. Countries will rarely ship their latest and greatest options to their allies. Most nations prefer to ship outdated, outmatched, or unpopular variants rather than the best option.
That is exactly what happened to the M3 Lee medium tank in World War II. Over 6,000 were manufactured and deployed, but many of the tanks were shipped to nations such as India, the Soviet Union, and Australia. That is because the M3 was an ineffective medium tank and an odd variant that could not stand up to the newest models of Panzer IV in the field.
The M3 Lee tank was rushed into production in 1940 as a way to provide Britain with a large number of medium tanks. But since the design and production were rushed, the final choices were ultimately poor, leaving tankers with an unwieldy beast that was hard to maneuver and could not go hull-down.
Design Flaws
