| 120 mm Gun Tank T57 | |
|---|---|
 The T69 tank, which the T57 bore extreme resemblance to, despite the latter having a larger calibre gun. | |
| Type | Heavy tank |
| Place of origin | United States |
| Service history | |
| Used by | See Operators |
| Production history | |
| Designed | 1951 |
| No. built | 2 turrets built |
| Specifications | |
| Mass | 54.3 tonnes (59.9 short tons; 53.4 long tons) |
| Length | 9.3 m (30 ft 6 in) (hull only) |
| Width | 3.63 m (11 ft 11 in) |
| Height | 3.08 m (10 ft 1 in) |
| Crew | 4 (commander, gunner, loader, driver) |
| Armor | Cast homogeneous armor Front upper glacis: 127 mm (5.0 in) @ 60° Front lower glacis 114.3 mm (4.50 in) @ 45° Sides:76.2 mm (3.00 in) @ 0° Rear: 38.1–25.4 mm (1.50–1.00 in) @ 30° - 60° Turret front: 127 mm (5.0 in) @ 60° |
Main armament | 120 mm T179 tank gun |
Secondary armament | 1 x coaxial 7.62 mm M37 light machine gun 1 x 12.7 mm M2 Browning heavy machine gun on a turret pintle mount |
| Engine | Continental AV-1790-7 V12 gasoline 810 hp (600 kW) at 2300 rpm to 690 hp (510 kW) at 2100 rpm |
| Power/weight | 14.9 hp/tonne |
| Transmission | General Motors CD-850-3 5 gear transmission |
| Suspension | Torsion bar suspension |
Operational range | 130 km (81 mi) |
| Maximum speed | 35 km/h (22 mph) on road |
The T57 heavy tank was an experimental heavy tank developed by the American military during the Cold War era as a further development of the M103 heavy tank. Featuring heavy armor and a long range 120 mm rifled gun, the T57 was supposed to serve as a replacement to the M103 in service with American heavy tank units in Europe. Armor on the hull front was to range between 5–8 in (130–200 mm) in thickness and the turret was to be 5.98 in (152 mm) at maximum on all sides. Like the French AMX 50 project, it was to feature an oscillating turret and was also to receive a 153 mm gun. Experiments were also conducted to investigate mounting a 203 mm gun, but this was soon found to be infeasible. When multiple problems were discovered in the turret oscillation system on account of the excess weight of the heavily armored turret and the gun, the project was dropped.