T249 Vigilante

Common card · No. 290065

The T249 Vigilante was a prototype 37 mm self-propelled anti-aircraft gun (SPAAG) designed as a replacement for the Bofors 40 mm gun in both towed and self-propelled (M42 Duster) forms in US Army service. The system consisted of a 37 mm T250 six-barrel rotary cannon mounted on a modified M113 armored personnel carrier chassis, with an alternate trailer-mounted variant designated T248 Vigilante A. By the early 1960s, the US Army declared that gun-based systems were outdated, and canceled further development in favor of the MIM-46 Mauler missile system that also failed to enter service. In the end the M163, a M61 Vulcan mounted on an M113, was used. The designer, the Sperry Utah Engineering Laboratory, later revived the Vigilante, rechambering it for NATO-standard 35×228mm rounds and mounting it on an M48 Patton tank chassis for the Division Air Defense (DIVAD) contest. However, it ultimately lost to Ford's M247 Sergeant York (twin 40mm Bofors) that also failed to enter service.

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