to refer to the M3 as the "Grant", even though all of the M3s shipped to Russia were "Lee" variants. The official Soviet designation for it was the М3 средний (М3с), or "M3 Medium", to distinguish the Lee from the US-built M3 Stuart light tank, which was also acquired by the USSR under Lend-Lease and was officially known there as the М3 лёгкий (М3л), or "M3 Light". Due to the vehicle's petrol-fuelled engine, a high tendency to catch fire, and its vulnerability against most types of German armour the Soviet troops encountered from 1942 onwards, the tank was almost entirely unpopular with the Red Army since its induction into the Eastern Front. With almost 1,500 of their own T-34 tanks being built every month, Soviet use of the M3 medium tank declined soon after mid-1943. Soviet troops still fielded their Lee/Grant tanks on secondary and quieter/less-action fronts, such as in the Arctic region during the Red Army's Petsamo–Kirkenes Offensive against German forces in Norway in October 1944, where the obsolete US tanks faced mainly captured French tanks used by the Germans, such as the SOMUA S35, which to a limited extent was somewhat comparable to the Lee/Grant it fought against. Pacific War In the Pacific War, armored warfare played a relatively minor role for the Allies as well as for the Japanese, compared with that of naval, air, and infantry units. In the Pacific Ocean Theater and the Southwest Pacific Theater, the U.S. Army deployed none of its dedicated armored divisions and only a third of its 70 other separate tank battalions. A small number of M3 Lees saw action in the central Pacific Ocean Theater in 1943. While the US Marine Corps deployed all six of its tank battalions, none of these were equipped with the M3 Lee. (USMC tank battalions were equipped initially with M3 Stuarts, which were then replaced by M4 Shermans in mid-1944.) Some M3 Grants played an offensive role with the British Indian Army, in the Southeast Asian Theater. The Australian Army also used Grants during World War II, mainly for homeland defence and training purposes. Pacific Ocean Theater The only combat use of the M3 Lee by the US Army against Japanese forces occurred during the Gilbert and Marshall Islands campaign of 1943. Following the better-known landing at Tarawa, the US 27th Infantry Division made an amphibious assault on Makin Island with armoured support