Tanks in the Cold War Korean War M24 Chaffee's were the first U.S. tanks to fight the North Korean T-34-85s. The Chaffee fared poorly against these much better-armed and armored medium tanks. Chaffees were more successful later in the war in their reconnaissance role, supported by heavier tanks such as the M4 Sherman, M26 Pershing, and M46 Patton. The heavier but older Pershing was deemed unsatisfactory due to its inferior mobility, which was unsuitable for a medium tank role as it used the same engine that powered the much lighter M4 Sherman, and 1949, the upgraded M26 received a new power plant and a main
US signals intelligence in the Cold War evidence that a significant event was imminent, much less a North Korean invasion of the South. In 1952, when personnel levels and a more static war allowed some retrospective analysis, AFSA reviewed unprocessed intercept from the June 1950 period. Analysts could not find any message which would have given advance warning of the North Korean invasion. One of the earliest, if not the earliest, messages relating to the war, dated June 27 but not translated until October, referred to division level movement by North Korean forces. UN forces in the Korean War had an assortment of SIGINT units from the