M8 (G136) and M20 (G176) Greyhound Armored Car

[dy031101]

Wikipedia claims there to be a French upgrade using the turret of the Panhard AML 90.

For TOW-armed Greyhound...... I'm kind of thinking a larger turret that, in addition to offering the TOW armament of the NAPCO modification, also have space for a gun firing a more potent HE shell......

For customers with Russian-made AFVs, could the M8 have taken a salvaged BMP-1 turret?

I feel that the M8 and M20 have a BRDM-2 look to them...... which in turn makes me feel tempted to imagine them armed with equipments such as surface-to-air missiles or radar command post...... or GROM-1 turret...... that can be mounted onto BRDM-2.

[Weaver]

They make a nice sci-fi hovertank too. Here's one I made earlier... like 20 years earlier:



The M-20 body is white metal in about 20mm scale. I abandoned it because I realised I'd make the hover skirt too small, and it's kicked around the house since, the missing bits being long gone, unfortunately.

Sci-fi aside, this shows how you could adapt the M-20 to a HOT Mephisto or BRDM-2/Sagger type system.

[Jeffry Fontaine]

I think a better proposition would be to install power traverse and a 25mm chain gun.  Remember the original turret is relatively light for the vehicle.

Excellent suggestion and one that might solve all of the problems in regards to weight and space.  The Tamiya HMMWV that has the 25mm Bushmaster and 7.62mm chain gun remote weapon system might be the ultimate solution to an improved M8 or M20.  Sad that Tamiya has discontinue that kit as it would be perfect for this conversion.  You could even use the roof section from the HMMWV and cut it to fit over the raised compartment on the M20 to allow the remote weapon station to sit a little higher.

[General Zod]

I believe it was/is Chile that mounted a quad .50 AA mount that was used on the M16 half track

[Jeffry Fontaine]

I believe it was/is Chile that mounted a quad .50 AA mount that was used on the M16 half track

The Quad .50" mount sits rather high which is good for an air defense weapon but what about mounting the twin .50" tub from a PBR on the M8 or M20?  The attached image shows what I am referring to.  One of the machine guns could be swapped out for a Mk 19 40mm weapon so you could have two capabilities on the same gun mount.  In real life there were test vehicles built on the M5 Stuart hull that were armed with a Mk 17 gun mount and 2 X .50" machine guns (same gun mount used on the PT Boats). 

[jcf]

I believe it was/is Chile that mounted a quad .50 AA mount that was used on the M16 half track

The M16 Multiple Gun Motor Carriage was the M2/M3 halftrack with the Quad .50 Maxxson turret.
It was a standard bit of WWII US Army kit with over 3400 of the various types being built and issued for divisional AA defense.

Jon

[Jeffry Fontaine]

The Jed Site page for the M8 (G136) and M20 (G176) series armored cars  lists the following known variants:

• • Greyhound I - M8 in service with the British and Commonwealth Forces.
  • Greyhound II - M20 in service with the British and Commonwealth Forces.
  • M8 - Original production vehicle armed with 37mm gun.
  • M8 TOW - Columbian modification fitted with TOW ATGM system (by NAPCO)
  • M8 with turret replaced by quad 50cal mount.
  • M8 [Mexico - Variant 1] - Short-barrel 20mm cannon and 210hp 6V-53 diesel engine.
  • M8 [Mexico - Variant 2] - 60mm mortar and 210hp 6V-53 diesel engine.
  • M8 [Mexico - Variant 3] - MG and 210hp 6V-53 diesel engine.
  • M8 [Mexico - Variant 4] - New long barrel GIAT 20mm cannon.
  • M20 [Circular Gun mount]
  • M20 [Square gun mount]
  • T26
  • T22
  • T22E1
  • T22E2
  T69 - Prototype anti-aircraft version,

*the HTML links in the list go directly to the page that has an image of the vehicle. 

If Mexico can upgrade the M8 with a 20mm GIAT Cannon, I would expect the 25mm Bushmaster in the remote operated roof mount on the M1025 HMMWV would work quite well. 

[ranger6]

 

Now this is a topic near and dear to my heart!

First off, there have been a number of real modifications to the M-8/M-20 over the years: the most notable being the Napco TOW system for the M-8 as used by Columbia. These retained the turret, but deleted the 37MM gun (because no one was making ammunition for it and, in any case, it was worth less than a pop gun against any modern armor). The T-69 was a Korean War era effort to mount the Maxson turret on the M-8/M-20 hull, but over taxed the suspension and never entered production. There is also a Bosnian varaiant mounting a BRDM turret on the M-8 hull that saw some action during the war there.

So much for historical work. Now if we want to talk what ifs, the sky's the limit. A selection of possible upgrades follows: (a) An M-8 with a closed turret mounting either theAmerican 37MM or the British 2 pounder (40MM ) gun. American Mech Cavalrymen requested a closed turret, but never got one. (b) M-8 with the turret of the M-5 Stuart light tank. (c) Up-armed with the 57MM (6 pounder) gun in a lengthened (but still opene topped) turret. (d) 57 or 75MM RCLs in the standard M-8 turret. Note: some units mounted RCLs on M-20s during the Korean War. (e) M-8 Greyhound with the turret of the M-8 howitzer motor carriage (the "Scott", itself based on the M-5 Stuart) and a short 75MM gun.

This is my short list. I've been working on a number of other upgrades, mostly mixing Roco 1/87 scale M-8 hulls with turrets and weapons from DLD Productions 15MM lines. Details and photos to follow!

Ta for now!

[dy031101]

Wikipedia mentioned an upgrade that involves the use turret turret from their AML-90 armoured car.

I kinda like the 60mm breech-loading mortar turret of the H60 variants as well......

[ysi_maniac]

A Chaffee turret was added to other US wheeled AFV. What if to a M-8?

What if a M-20 with a closed cabin? Kinda VIP version.

[Jeffry Fontaine]

What if a M-20 with a closed cabin? Kinda VIP version.

Turn it into an armoured limousine for the Pope in Vatican markings.

[Aircav]

Found this cool Greyhound mod earlier

[dy031101]

Found this cool Greyhound mod earlier

Great find!  Shows the Greyhound Mod very clearly.  

Was any mention made on how the quad MG turret affected the handling of the vehicle?  (The resulting vehicle looks taller than the stock Greyhound...... correct me if I'm wrong.)

[Aircav]

There was only the photo, no text, heres another I found

[Weaver]

Found this cool Greyhound mod earlier

Great find!  Shows the Greyhound Mod very clearly.  

Was any mention made on how the quad MG turret affected the handling of the vehicle?  (The resulting vehicle looks taller than the stock Greyhound...... correct me if I'm wrong.)

It is taller, but then that quad MG turret isn't exactly heavily armoured, so the weight difference might not be all that much. the concern I'd have with fitting it on an armoured car hull rather than an APC is can the vehicle carry enough reload ammo, and if it can, can it be easily extracted from the depths of the hull?

You could fairly easily produce a whiff version of this vehicle: the Israelis replaced the quad .50s on their turrets with twin 20mm Hispano (or were they US Mk.12s?)  aircraft cannon, complete with a length of steel tube to support the barrel, and they also supply South/Central America quite a lot. You could do this in 1/72nd with a pair of aftermarket Hispanos, and maybe a pair of Stingers for good measure....

An even more radical proposal might be a pair of Russian Zu-23s (ACE do a kit) and SA-7s..