An Obscure Little American SPG: XM104

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So far in WoT there is a total of two premium artillery pieces, however most nations can easily be given a premium arty. America had been at the forefront of SPG development up until recently and could easily have a second SPG branch in WoT, but that is for another article. Today I’d like to showcase the XM104.

XM104

The XM104 was a very small vehicle(4.06 m long–including the gun & shovel/spade, 1.75 m wide, and 1.75 m tall) which weighed ~3.9 metric tons. We are talking about a vehicle with similar dimensions to the UE 57. It was developed in the early 1960s as a light, air-mobile, and amphibious artillery piece. Unsurprisingly, the XM104 did not have any armor to speak of besides a supposed variant with a gun shield. The XM104 had a 66 hp M151 engine which could propel the vehicle to speeds of 56 km/h. The XM104 had a crew of 4.

The main gun on the XM104 was the XM103 105 mm howitzer, which was used in the M108 SPG. The earlier trial model mounted a vintage M2A1 105 mm howitzer, which is in all practicality the same gun as the M37′s top M4 105 mm howitzer. Either weapon would work in WoT, it would be WG’s discretion on which to use.

XM103 armed variant(test rig 4)

XM103 armed variant(test rig 4)

The XM104 was eventually cancelled and never saw wide spread production. Their were a number of faults with the machine which includes exposing the crew to unsafe levels of CO to being armed with a caliber that was quickly falling out of favor. The XM104 was cancelled in the mid-1960s.

XM1044

I believe this vehicle is on display at Ft. Sill, OK.

In WoT the XM104 would be a very good fit as a premium arty. It really doesn’t fit into a theoretical 2nd branch and is a near perfect vehicle for tier 5. WG can decide whether to use the M2A1 or M103 armed versions. Either way the XM104 would be a rather unique arty for WG to add to the game.

Sources:

Hunnicutt’s Sheridan

http://www.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/405791.pdf

Thanks StrelaCarbon(NA) for the idea for a XM104 Premium.

34 thoughts on “An Obscure Little American SPG: XM104”

  2. I know the lefh can’t be bought anymore but wouldn’t that make two premium arty counting the sexton 2?

  3. In the case of Western Allied 105mm Howitzers not much has changed since the introduction of the M2A1. They all fire the same round. The main differences being variation of recoil, equilibration and laying systems to suit specific carriage requirements.

    The current Western 105mm is the L119 (M119) Light gun which is a British design.

  6. Can this be the American FV304?

    Though I’m also still holding out hope for the M52 and M108.

  7. I don’t even understand where the driver has to sit, let alone anyone else.

    Is this just a testbed that ditched serious crew accommodations for a later time?

    • Probably just took the AMX-13 F3 solution of hauling them (and most of the spare ammo presumably) on a different vehicle. If you’re aiming for airmobile moving a few (very) small vehicles is easier than a single larger one, if only because a wider range of transports can handle them.

  12. Well, I never said it had to be a premium…

    Given the 2 different hulls and the different guns, there could be enough variety for it to be a mainline tank. For example, the XM103 gun didn’t fire HEAT like the earlier M2A1 did, instead it would have HESH.

    But like Priory said, it doesn’t really fit anywhere, being built after most of the tanks in the current tech tree.