The Australian Experimental light tank (AELT, and also known as "Chassis 160") was a prototype

light tank A light tank is a tank variant initially designed for rapid movements in and out of combat, to outmaneuver heavier tanks. It is smaller in size with thinner armor and a less powerful main gun, tailored for better tactical mobility and ease o ...

built by Australia during World War II, using a local pattern carrier hull. It was one of two indigenously developed tank designs, the other being the cruiser

Sentinel tank The AC1 Sentinel was a cruiser tank designed in Australia in World War II in response to the war in Europe, and to the threat of Japan expanding the war to the Pacific or even a feared Japanese invasion of Australia. It was the first tank to be ...

. While the LP1 Chassis 160 was only developed as a light tank prototype, the Sentinel and

Thunderbolt A thunderbolt or lightning bolt is a symbolic representation of lightning when accompanied by a loud thunderclap. In Indo-European mythology, the thunderbolt was identified with the Proto-Indo-European mythology#Sky Father, 'Sky Father'; this ...

were put into production. None of the two Australian developed tanks saw combat.

Background

Australia in 1941 saw the need to produce its own military vehicles, as their normal source, the United Kingdom, could not spare the vehicles because of their own war effort needs. This saw Australia produce a number of armoured cars, and both a light tank and several cruiser tanks. The first effort to create a tank in Australia was the assembly of a light tank, in 1941. A total of 160 Carrier, MG (Aust) No.1 or LP1 were built with the last two, chassis number 159 and 160, being experimental vehicles for developing the LP2 carriers. Number 160 being formally identified as "MG Carrier LP1 Track Displacement-Closed Front". Chassis 160 was subsequently rebuilt into a light tank with new suspension and a rudimentary cylindrical turret on top of the body for testing. The tank as constructed, however, was found to be completely unmanoeuvrable and a total failure. The project was promptly terminated. Plans were drawn up for the AELT to be armed with a 2 pounder gun, a 6 pounder gun, and later, when it was started to be produced in Australia, the 25 pounder gun-howitzer much like the AC3 Thunderbolt. The tank would have been able to achieve a speed of about 48 km/h. The tank was of welded construction, with the envisaged turret of a similar polygonal shape to the

Crusader tank Crusader, in full "Tank, Cruiser Mk VI, Crusader", also known by its General Staff number A.15, was one of the primary British cruiser tanks during the early part of the Second World War. Over 5,000 tanks were manufactured and they made imp ...

and the

Rhino Heavy Armoured Car Car, Armoured, Heavy (Aust), also known as Rhino, was an armoured car designed in Australia during the Second World War. Due to enemy action and design problems the project never got beyond a prototype stage. History At the outbreak of the Se ...

. Like the Rhino, the armour thickness was 30mm. Little else is known about the tank. With increased tank production overseas Australia was able to get access to US-built tanks, and British

Matilda II The Infantry Tank Mark II, best known as the Matilda, was a British infantry tank of the Second World War.Jentz, p. 11. The design began as the A12 specification in 1936, as a gun-armed counterpart to the first British infantry tank, the mach ...

tanks became available after being replaced in British service by later tanks, such as the

Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 187424 January 1965) was a British statesman, soldier, and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from 1940 to 1945 during the Second World War, and again from 1 ...

. Visually, the light tank is based on local pattern carrier components, with four wheels per side individually sprung on a

Watt's linkage In kinematics, Watt's linkage (also known as the parallel linkage) is a type of mechanical linkage invented by James Watt in which the central moving point of the linkage is constrained to travel on a nearly straight line. It was described in ...

. The upper hull and cylindrical turret are of indigenous design.

Surviving example

There is only one example of the Australian experimental light tank. It was previously on display at The Melbourne Tank Museum, owned by John Belfield. The Museum was closed down in 2006 and the contents were sold off, the tank was for sold for $6215. It is now located at the Puckapunyal Military Museum.

References

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External links

Australian Experimental Light tank
World War II tanks of Australia Military vehicles introduced from 1940 to 1944 World War II armoured fighting vehicles of Australia World War II light tanks