This article was published in September of last year at the Vintage News website. We didn’t notice it at the time, but it came to our attention today when the Tank Museum shared it on their facebook page. It’s a fun article and should prove entertaining to anyone with an interest in post-war Sherman tank history. Those familiar with the Surviving Panzers website will recognize a good many of these photos.
So what happened to the 450 Argentine Shermans? 40 images may just tell the story
In the late 1940’s, Argentina bought nearly 450 M4 Sherman’s from Belgium in many British variants, over 250 of them were the Firefly version, with the long barrelled 17pdr gun that could take on the Tiger 1.
In the late 1970’s, the Argentinian Army needed to modernize their armoured units. The TAM project was under way, but the border crisis with Chile required an urgent reinforcement until the TAM was operational and the Army ordered the modernization of 250 Shermans, mainly the Firefly version then in service.
This program included a new engine and a new armament. Many versions of M4 in the Argentinian service were used, and the Repotenciado (Lit; Upgraded) was born. Most of the Sherman Repotenciado are the British Sherman Hybrid Firefly IC, but it`s not the only version. The principal advantage in using the Firefly was the easy adaptation of the internal configuration to the new 105mm ammunition storage.
Tank and AFV News 
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