The tank destroyer concept had its origins with the Fall of France in June 1940.

However, the US Army would decide to create a separate branch for its anti-tank units. For example, armies formed on the British Army model generally had both their towed and self-propelled anti-tank guns as a specialist trade of the artillery. During the Second World War, each warring nation took different approaches to countering tanks. To understand the how the M36 came into service, a quick overview of the US Army’s Tank Destroyer branch should be taken first. While the tank destroyer concept was deemed to have been unsuccessful following the Second World War, the M36 would continue to serve in several armies until the 1990s. It had paper thin armor and an open turret, the M36 became one of the most powerful Allied tank destroyers of the war. Created as a more powerful development of the M10 tank destroyer, the M36 was armed with an excellent 90 mm gun that could deal with German tanks most other Allied guns couldn’t. The M36 was the last and most heavily armed tank destroyer of the US Army’s tank destroyer branch during the Second World War.

Us modern tank with open top