The family of 105MM light howitzers (M1, M2, M2A1, M101, M102, and M119) traces its history from 1928. The M2A1 was first produced in 1940 and was renamed the M101 after World War II. Due to its ...

the M3 105MM howitzer is a modified version of the smaller 75MM pack howitzer. The design cannibalized the older M2 howitzer and used the barrel and split trail carriage of the 75MM pack howitzer.