Medium Mark III

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Medium Mark III was a British medium tank built in the late 1920s to replace older Mark II designs. It evolved from the A6 “16-tonner” prototypes, and three Mark IIIs (E1, E2, E3) were built and used by the British Army, but the project ended after few were made because of high costs.

Design and features
- Similar to the A6 but with a new turret, improved armor, and a radio bulge.
- The turret held a central two‑man crew and a 3-pounder gun, plus a coaxial machine gun; there were additional secondary machine-gun turrets moved forward for balance.
- Crew of seven; armor ranged from 9 to 14 mm.
- Main engine: Armstrong Siddeley air‑cooled V8 180 hp, with road speed up to about 30 mph (48 km/h).
- Suspension and off‑road performance were persistent problems, even as road speed increased.
- Specifications included a weight around 16 tons, length about 6.55 m (21 ft 6 in), width about 2.67 m (8 ft 9 in), and height about 2.79 m (9 ft 2 in); range ~120 miles (190 km).

Operational history
- Prototypes were tested in 1933–34; the tank was reliable as a gun platform but its suspension remained a drawback.
- No orders followed due to the high price.
- One Mark III was used as a command vehicle with an extra radio aerial during the 1934 Salisbury Plain exercises; E2 was lost to a fire.