The T249 Vigilante was a prototype 37 mm self-propelled anti-aircraft gun (SPAAG) designed as a replacement for the

Bofors 40 mm gun Bofors 40 mm gun is a name or designation given to two models of 40 mm calibre anti-aircraft guns designed and developed by the Swedish company Bofors: *Bofors 40 mm L/60 gun - developed in the 1930s, widely used in World War II and into the 1990s ...

and

M42 Duster The M42 40 mm Self-Propelled Anti-Aircraft Gun, or "Duster," is an American armored light air-defense gun built for the United States Army from 1952 until December 1960, in service until 1988. Production of this vehicle was performed by the ...

US Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

service. The system consisted of a 37 mm T250 six-barrel Gatling gun mounted on a lengthened M113 armored personnel carrier platform. By the early 1960s, the US Army declared that gun-based systems were outdated, and canceled further development in favor of the

MIM-46 Mauler The General Dynamics Mauler was a self-propelled Surface-to-air missile, anti-aircraft missile system designed to a late 1950s US Army requirement for a system to combat low-flying high-performance Ground-attack aircraft, tactical fighters and s ...

missile system that also failed to enter service. The designer, the Sperry Utah Engineering Laboratory, later revived the Vigilante, rechambering it for

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...

-standard 35×228mm rounds and mounting it on a

M48 Patton The M48 Patton is an American first-generation main battle tank (MBT) introduced in February 1952, being designated as the 90mm Gun Tank: M48. It was designed as a replacement for the M26 Pershing, M4 Sherman, M46 and M47 Patton tanks, and w ...

tank chassis for the Division Air Defense (DIVAD) contest. However, it ultimately lost to Ford's

M247 Sergeant York The M247 Sergeant York DIVAD (Division Air Defense) was a self-propelled anti-aircraft gun (SPAAG), developed by Ford Aerospace in the late 1970s. Based on the M48 Patton tank, it replaced the Patton's turret with a new one that featured twin r ...

that also failed to enter service.

Development

Very little information exists of the T249 Vigilante and its T250 cannon. The conceptual design for the T250 cannon was initiated in 1956. While the design of cannon of this caliber would ordinarily be handled by

Watervliet Arsenal The Watervliet Arsenal is an arsenal of the United States Army located in Watervliet, New York, on the west bank of the Hudson River. It is the oldest continuously active arsenal in the United States, and today produces much of the artillery fo ...

, it was decided that Springfield Armory would take responsibility due to their previous development experience with smaller caliber rotary cannon such the 20mm T171. The T250 was the largest Gatling gun ever assembled. Its 37×219mmSR round was based upon a shortened and necked-down 40×311mmR Bofors cartridge case. Hydraulically powered, the gun was able to vary between 120 rpm for (especially stationary) ground targets and 3,000 rpm for air targets. It had a 192-round drum magazine, which in the maximum 3,000 rpm mode would have equated to approximately 4 seconds of fire. When Springfield engineers finished their work in 1962, the design was handed over to Watervliet for production. The Sperry Utah Engineering Laboratory was selected to handle the integration of the T250 gun with the modified M113 chassis to create the T249.

Surviving Examples

One T249 Vigilante is currently displayed at the Air Defense Artillery Training Support Facility, at Ft. Sill, OK. This example was previously located at the

US Army Ordnance Museum The United States Army Ordnance Training Support Facility (formerly known as the U.S. Army Ordnance Training and Heritage Center and U.S. Army Ordnance Museum) artifacts are used to train and educate logistic soldiers. It re-located to Fort Lee, ...

in Aberdeen, MD. A T 250 machine gun is on display in Wehrtechnische Studiensammlung in Koblenz, Germany. MK-T750-Anti-Airtank-Vigilante at Wehrtechnische Studiensammlung Koblenz

MK-T750-Anti-Airtank-Vigilante at Wehrtechnische Studiensammlung Koblenz

References

External links

Information on the Vigilante and Red Queen projectsSpringfield Armory Museum Collection Record for T250
{{Modern Gatling Guns Anti-aircraft guns of the Cold War Rotary cannon Cold War weapons of the United States Self-propelled anti-aircraft weapons of the United States 37 mm artillery

Development

Surviving Examples

See also

References

External links