tank and the heavier Tiger I; specifically, the French Army was looking for a tank with the protection of the former and the firepower of the latter. Although the design borrowed from German tanks, including the Maybach engine, based on an earlier model, and the torsion bar sprung road wheels, the AMX 50 also included a number of unique features. For example, it included an oscillating turret, mounted on trunnions, which was the first of its kind. The oscillating turret consisted of two parts, one of which was mounted on the trunnions of the lower part, attached to the turret ring. The main gun was attached to the upper part, facilitating gun elevation and depression, as well as simplifying the fire control equipment and the installation of the automatic loading system. Of the three contractors, Renault withdrew from the program, while in early 1946 the French government selected AMX and SOMUA to continue the development. The prototypes were designated M4s, and AMX completed its prototype in 1949, while SOMUA would not be finished until 1956. AMX's first prototype was armed with a cannon, although a second prototype was fitted with a larger gun in July 1950 Although it was intended to put the AMX 50 into production as the standard medium tank of the Western European Union, financial reasons and the arrival of military aid from the United States in the form of 856 M47 Patton tanks caused the original program to be abandoned. In 1951 it was decided to turn the program into a heavy tank project with an even larger tank gun; though three prototypes were built, this too was abandoned in 1956, mainly due to a failure to design a powerful enough engine. With the demise of the AMX 50 program in 1951, France temporarily officially abandoned the thought of producing a medium tank. It was expected that West Germany would soon be allowed to rearm, and the Germans had appeared to entertain the concept of equipping their forces with a host of low-cost light, but relatively powerfully armed tanks, their quantity compensating for a lack of full armament parity with the latest medium tanks. The prospect of delivering many thousands of these to the Germans induced the French to adopt the idea and plan to create light tank "Type 67" armoured divisions, for which the AMX-13/105 was specially designed. A private enterprise design aimed at fulfilling