M551 Sheridan

A You Tube video here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YMidg_WYyMU

No officially a “light tank,” but whatever.

From comments: "BAD ARMOR, BUT WE CORRECTED THE PROBLEM WITH THE GUN. IF YOU FIRED A CONVENTIONAL ROUND, YOU COULD NOT GET A MISSLE GO LIGHT. SOLUTION--WAS TO PLACE A PIECE OF CARDBOARD OFF A C-RATION BOX ON TOP OF THE PRINTED CIRCUIT BOARDS CLOSE THE LID, YOU WERE GOOD TO GO AFTER THAT. THE PRINTED CIRCUIT BOARDS WOULD VIBRATE LOOSE IF YOU DID NOT HAVE THE CARDBOARD IN PLACE. THAT IS HOW 1/9 CAV KEPT ALL 27 OF THEIR OPERATIONAL 77-80.” – CLIFFORD BOXLEY.

An 11th Armored Cavalry Sheridan crew member in Vietnam said his vehicle had a problem with the joy stick firing mechanism; i.e., it didn’t work. Rather than take the vehicle out of the bush and back to maintenance, the crew fixed the problem in a typical American GI way. They removed the bulb from an interior light and ran a piece of commo wire from the light box to the electrical mechanism at the gun breech. To fire the main gun, a crewmember turned on the light switch.

I had a Sheridan for about 10 months in 1968, with F Troop, 6th Armored Cavalry at Fort Meade, Md. That sucker would run like a scalded cat.