During World War II, the development of American light weapons changed with each passing day. All kinds of powerful machine guns and cannons became sharp weapons for air defense and ground attack in World War II. But the US military obviously thinks further. Based on light weapons, the US military has built a series of air defense vehicles, and their owners are M45 air defense vehicles.
The history of American air defense vehicles can be traced back to M33 of 1942. Its main weapons are two M2 heavy machine guns with the caliber of12.7 mm. On this basis, the US military later developed a new type of semi-tracked air defense vehicle, the model of which is M 13/ 14. After the opening of the western front battlefield, it was obviously not enough to use only two M2 in the face of the strong firepower of the German army, so the US military simply added two M2 on it and derived the M45 air defense chariot.
In the face of the attack of German fighters, M45 can play a good anti-aircraft fire, and its four M2 can output 2300 rounds of fire to the Germans every minute, which can be said to be a great threat to German fighters flying at high speed. In actual combat, the US military found that M45 can be used not only for air defense operations, but also for ground attacks. During World War II, it was a panacea for infantry.
Facing the Germans who still had hope in the Western Front, M45 continuously exported astounding firepower, which shattered the last hope of the Germans. In the Battle of Ardennes and Operation Floor, M45 became a weapon to suppress the Germans. 1945 in March, during the decisive battle of the Ludendorff Bridge, the Germans dispatched a large number of fighters to try to stop the allies from crossing the Rhine. The main air defense weapon of the US military is M45. In the post-war statistics, M45 probably shot down more than 70 German fighters, which can be said to be the hero of the Allied victory in this campaign.
After the end of World War II, the jet era came quickly. In the face of these high-speed fighters, M45 gradually lost its function, but it still showed great strength in the ground attack. Until Vietnam War, we could see M45 was active.