The M46 proved to be capable against North Korean T-34 medium tanks. On 8 August 1950, the first M46 Patton tanks, belonging to the 6th Tank Battalion, landed in South Korea. The only American combat use of the M46 Patton was during the Korean War. Ī total of 1,160 M46s of all variants were built. Truman authorized funding for increased M46 production as part an expansion of heavy tank development program. In July 1950 Detroit Arsenal was producing Pershings and M46s at a rate of over a dozen a day. By December the Army had ordered several hundred. Upon completion of the first model of the Detroit Tank Arsenal production line in November 1948, the M46 was christened after the late General George S. The upgraded M26 received a new power plant and a main gun with a bore evacuator. This design was initially called the M26E2, but modifications continued to accumulate eventually, the Bureau of Ordnance decided that the tank needed its own unique designation, the M46. Work began in January 1948 on replacing the original power plant with the Continental AV1790-3 engine and Allison CD-850-1 cross-drive transmission. Its mobility, however, was deemed unsatisfactory for a medium tank, as it used the same engine as the much lighter M4A3 and was plagued with an unreliable transmission. The M26 was a significant improvement over the M4 Sherman in firepower and protection.

Designed initially as a heavy tank, the M26 Pershing tank was reclassified as a medium tank after the war. Army armored units were equipped with a mix of M4 Sherman and M26 Pershing tanks. Third Army during World War II and one of the earliest American advocates for the use of tanks in battle. The M46 was the first tank to be named after General George S. Cold War allies, being exported only to Belgium, and only in small numbers to train crews on the upcoming M47 Patton. It was one of the U.S Army's principal medium tanks of the early Cold War, with models in service from 1949 until the mid-1950s. The M46 Patton is an American medium tank designed to replace the M26 Pershing and M4 Sherman.

Cerberus pattern main battle tanks