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The T24 3in Gun Motor Carriage was an early attempt to produce a tank destroyer by mounting a 3in anti-aircraft gun on the chassis of the Medium Tank M3.
The Ordnance department had first suggested mounting the 3in anti-aircraft gun M3 on a modified M3 chassis in September 1941, and the project was approved on 23 October. This came just as the US Army was developing its Tank Destroyer doctrine, in which tanks were to be used for the exploitation of breakthroughs, while enemy tanks would be dealt with by specialist vehicles. The time was thus right for the development of the T24.
The T24 used the engine, power train, suspension and lower hull of the M3 medium tank, but with a new superstructure with an open topped octagonal fighting compartment. The gun was mounted on a modified M2A2 anti-aircraft mount. The gun could traverse across 33 degrees, and could be elevated from -2 to +15 degrees. The anti-aircraft mount was readily available, but it did mean that the gun was rather high.
The T24 underwent tests late in 1941. The gun was found to be stable in use, but the vehicle was felt to be too high for use as a tank destroyer, and the movement of the gun too restrictive. At the start of 1942 the gun was removed, and the prototype was used as the basis of the T40 3in Gun Motor Carriage, which was standardized as the M9 3in gun motor carriage before being cancelled on 20 August 1942. The T24 was cancelled in April 1942.