The M551 "Sheridan" Reconnaissance/Airborne Assault Vehicle

I was a Sheridan crewman in the 11th ACR in Germany. Simon, great video enjoyed seeing a vehicle I was on represented, but a few mistakes I have to reply to. First in the US Army it is an M five, five, one not Five fifty-one. The Sheridan was also deployed in conventional parachute drops not just low altitude ones. When swimming and I did swim one in training, the TC and driver used the regular intercom no need to shout. The 152mm Heat round was more then capable of destroying any tank of the era within it's engagement range. When fired the front 2 road wheels not the rear would come off the ground. It was quite a ride. Also the flechette rounds held 10,000 flechettes not several hundred. we had a love hate relationship with the tracks, we never called them tanks. They were getting long in the tooth by 1978 and broke down a lot. I was happy to see them replaced with M60A1 MBTs.

Naming a very light tank after General Sheridan was something of an inside joke for Civil War historians. General Sheridan was five feet and five inches tall.

In 1971 I was at Ft Knox, and I was driving to work one afternoon in my 1968 Mustang, following a Sheridan. Suddenly a hatch fell off of it, and because of on-coming traffic I had no where to go so I ran over it. No damage to my Mustang, but not so to the hatch. My boss, a Major, suggested I stencil a Sheridan under the driver's window. I didn't do it, but that was funny though. BTW, yeah, I still own and drive the '68. Slightly restored.

As a m551 tank driver/loader that jumped into Panama i can tell you that they were dropped from C141 transports not C5B galaxy. We had a platoon (5tanks) pre deployed and dropped 4 more in on dec 21 1989. Four m551 were dropped from a single C5B galaxy along with 74 paratroopers which set a word record for heaviest drop which I was on that jump. About a year later my entire battalion was deployed to Saudi Arabia for desert shield/storm. It was a good vehicle for its role but definitely HIGH maintenance.

I drove one of those for two years back in the early 90's at Fort Knox in a training brigade as OPFOR. They were quick, maneuverable, easy to maintain and fun to drive. However yea... I'd be terrified to go into combat in one.

As an 11B in 82nd Abn, I loved the M551, very sad day when we watched them drive down the Ardennes to rail to be shipped away forever. Great when expanding the airhead and in urban ops. Enjoyed riding around on them (fast transport) and during Desert Sheild they provided mobile fire power in the first few days.

The FV101 Scorpion was a very light armoured vehicle, weighing in at a mere 8 tonnes. This meant some compromises had to be made on protection. The vehicle had 12.7 mm of sloped aluminium armour, giving an average effective thickness of 25 mm. The FV101 had all-around protection from shell fragments and 7.62 mm rounds, and the heavily sloped frontal arc was designed to be resistant to 14.5 mm rounds fired from 200 m (660 ft). The initial manufacture of the aluminium armour resulted, after time and effects of the environment, in failure; "Stress Corrosion Cracking" (SCC) which seriously affected all early builds.  wiki

I spent two and a half years as OpFor (Opposing Forces), Cobra to the rest of the army's GI Joe, at Fort irwin, Barstow, California, from 2002 to 2004. During which time they phased out the Sheridans, that, at that point, were prone to the road wheels randomly flying off, and the engines needed rebuilt after every monthly rotation of mock combat. They were replaced by M113s with Bradley turrets with PVC cannons as part of the VizMods (Visual Modifications) to look like Soviet tanks.

Served alongside these in the 1980s. Until the HMMV mounted TOWs got night and Thermal sights the 551s were the eyes and ears of 18th airborne corps infantry divisions.

It was a rolling howitzer to support an Airborne assault. In that role, it worked to give heavy support to light infantry.

Sending a tank into a combat zone without ammo for the main gun, brilliant.

I had many fond memories of my track in Fulda Germany. My Sheridan was always kept up as best we could, and was never deadlined. With a well trained gunner this track was devastating to the enemy....and these rascals could move and scoot !

My brother served in the 82nd Airborne and he was in a Sheridan unit, he was a Cav Scout.

In the 60s I was second in command in Friedishafen, lac Constance South Germany of a depot of stored vehicle including M60 or Paton tank, great fun to pilot it we had!

Light armored tanks seem like the perfect candidate for a drone/remote operation. Not having to make room for a crew would save thousands of lbs

I crewed one of these with the 3/12 CAV in Germany 73-74, as stated, aluminum armor was a joke, and actually was one of the main reasons the vehicle was pulled from Viet Nam, vehicle was easily damaged or destroyed from .51 cal and up of enemy fire, rockets, and mines, after about 2 yr.s. This vehicle weighted 21 ton fully load fuel and ammo, 22 ton with a "steel chicken plate" bolted to bottom (1 1/2" steel plate, this was an "add on kit", not something cobbled together) ...which provide some protection from mines, but covered drivers escape hatch). High altitude air drops were possible, but once on the ground the mechanics would have to replace about every torsion bar on the track. The 152 mm main gun was slow and dangerous to load, took about 21 seconds between rounds (normal duration), and had a rainbow trajectory. The M60 tank's 105mm was 7 seconds between rounds and very flat shooting (you could hardly turn your head fast enough to follow the tracer element in the projectile). The Shillelagh missile it fired was good, but hard to load (approx. 39" long) in a small turret plus you had to stab a keyway, but accurate with a good gunner (they said if you can see it, you can kill it!) ...However, like most vehicles made in America, the automotive system was excellent! Turbo charged Detroit 6-cyl diesel, ran like a sweetheart! I personally had one up to 50 mph (on slight downhill grade). They were totally replaced in Europe theater in 77, with M60 A3's.

Two words that are mutually exclusive, or more likely diametrically opposed are "aluminum" and "armor".

“Cadillac, of later Cimarron fame”. Proper good burn there. 🔥

I spent two years as a gunner and commander on a M551 in a Cavalry unit in the 70's. It was light and fast, and wasn't meant to go head on. My mission was to shoot and run away. At 1800 meters it was devastating to any enemy vehicle.

1:59 background 4:06 development 6:38 performance and mobility 9:08 armament 12:02 Sheridan's in Vietnam 13:52 post Vietnam service