M16 Half Track

The Carrier, Personnel Half-track M3 was an armored vehicle used by the United States, the British Empire and the other Allies during World War II. Nearly 43,000 were produced, and supplied to the U.S. Army and Marines, as well as British Commonwealth and Soviet Red Army forces, serving on all fronts throughout the war. Forerunner of the modern infantry fighting vehicle, the M3 Half-Track was of half-French origin. In 1931 the U.S. Army purchased a French Citroen-Kegresse Model P17 half-track as part of a research and development effort for its own design. Working with private firms, the Army Ordnance Department produced the T14 prototype in 1939. In September of the following year the T14 was standardized and accepted for production; it became the M2 and the M3 Armored Personnel Carrier.