Could 'surplus' M3/M5 Stuarts have been IFV'd?

What's on the tin.:p Inspired by the M3 Lee thread,;) but I've had this idea a long time.

The M3/M5 were pretty lightweight, & increasingly unsuited for use as battle tanks. They were also reasonably commonplace. So, what would it take to convert them in the fashion of the Kangaroo? Or in a heavier-gunned version, say with 5" AT rockets & a Skink turret?

Would moving the engine to the front, & driving the front sprockets, be excessively difficult?:eek: (After some thought, rather than move the engine, wouldn't it be easier & simpler to extemporize a z-drive & power the rear sprockets?:confused:)
 
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Some Bloke said:
I'm pretty sure the British did exactly this in Italy, but it never caught on.
AIUI, they were improvised APCs, not IFVs. I'm looking at something more heavily-armed than a tracked carrier.
 
wietze said:
13-50mm armour, that is not heavily armoured

and armed with a 37mm
Not looking for heavy armor, just heavier-than-halftrack guns. As noted: the Skink turret with 4x20mm Postens, frex.
 

Driftless

Donor
There wasn't a lot of unused interior space inside the hulls of those vehicles, especially with some form of turret basket extending into the personnel compartment. I can see an open-topped APC/hauler more so than a IFV in those hulls.

m3stuartcross.jpg
 
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There wasn't a lot of unused interior space inside the hulls of those vehicles, especially with some form of turret basket extending into the personnel compartment. I can see an open-topped APC/hauler more so than a IFV in those hulls.

M3 didn't have turret basket, but M3A1 did. Also note the early M3 the gunner had a shoulder brace, in British fashion and earlier M2, while M3A1 had power traverse instead
m3a1stuartcross.jpg
 
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There wasn't a lot of unused interior space inside the hulls of those vehicles, especially with some form of turret basket extending into the personnel compartment.
m3stuartcross.jpg
I'm thinking the turret basket is replaced with simple seats, or the turret itself is replaced with something more like a bomber turret. I'm also thinking, why not turn the engine sideways, or fit a z-drive, & use a rear drive sprocket, freeing the driveshaft space.

That said, the M3/M5 might be a bit small...:(
 
The Stuart is way too small for a IFV.

An interesting fact about them was that Portuguese Stuarts were highly regarded as COIN AFV in the colonial war, being small enough to be used in the narrow "picadas" (jungle tracks) of Guiné. Canister ammo was the weapon of choice for the 37mm then.
 
Might make a good Cavalry vehicle for scout dismounts etc but then the British already had the Universal Carrier which could do the same job, more or less
 
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