Wikipedia:Today's featured article/September 3, 2014

The Tanque Argentino Mediano ("Argentine Medium Tank", or "TAM") is the main battle tank in service with the Argentine Army. Lacking the experience and resources to design a tank, the Argentine Ministry of Defense contracted German company Thyssen-Henschel. The vehicle was based on the chassis of the German Marder infantry fighting vehicle. The TAM met the Argentine Army's requirement for a modern light-weight and fast tank with a low silhouette and sufficient firepower to defeat contemporary armored threats. Development began in 1974, and full-scale production started in 1979. Economic difficulties halted production in 1983, but manufacturing began anew in 1994 until the army's order of 200 tanks was fulfilled. The TAM series includes seven different variants, such as a 155 mm (6.1 in) self-propelled howitzer and a self-propelled mortar vehicle. In total, over 280 such vehicles were built, including armored personnel carriers, artillery and mortar pieces. The TAM has never seen combat, although 17 VCTP (Infantry Fighting Vehicles based on the TAM chassis) were deployed to Croatia for the United Nations UNPROFOR peacekeeping mission.

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