Type Medium tank Used by Argentina | Place of origin Argentina Designer Alfredo Baisi | |
 | ||
Manufacturer Arsenal Esteban de Luca No. built 12 (+ 1 wooden mock-up) | ||
The "Nahuel" D.L. 43 tank was a medium tank developed in Argentina during World War II. It was the Argentine equivalent of the M4 Sherman and the M3 Grant American medium tanks.
Contents
Design
The designer was Lt. Colonel Alfredo Baisi. The word Nahuel means "jaguar" in the aboriginal language Mapudungun. It was armed with a 75 mm gun (taken from the Krupp Model 1909 Field Gun used by the Argentine Army) in a rotating armored turret.
Similarity
Its design is similar to that of the United States Army M4 Sherman and the early versions of the M3 Grant but with sloped armor. Contrary to popular belief it was not a copy of the M4 Sherman, but the design of the M4 influenced it.
Production
Only 12 tanks and one wooden mock-up were produced by the Arsenal Esteban de Luca in Buenos Aires and supplied to the Argentine Army, because of the availability of cheap surplus Sherman tanks, several of which were provided by the United Kingdom in the late 1940s.