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What would be the technical obstacles for America to building something like the M113 in the mid to late 30s?
Aluminium hull, V8 diesel, able to float, carry a driver and 12 others. (Or a 25mm turret. Or a mortar. Maybe a M24/75mm turret. Or any number of other uses. Add armour as required.) Say some bright spark thinks it's a good idea, and they come up with the more creative variants later.
With the exception of armour , it's a fairly good match up to the Panzer III, or Panzer IV if the M24 turret could work. Would probably do poorly against P.III-P.V, but given the extra speed might do slightly better against the P.VI than the sherman did.
That aside I can think of a few situations where it might be genuinely useful. Pacific island hopping springs to mind, amongst others. Any thoughts?