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Valentine IX

2021-05-30T19:29:21Z

U109009388: /* General info */

{{Specs-Card
|code=uk_valentine_mk_9
|images={{Specs-Card-Image|GarageImage_{{PAGENAME}}.jpg}}
}}

== Description ==

The '''{{Specs|name}}''' is a rank {{Specs|rank}} British medium tank {{Battle-rating}}. It was introduced along with the initial British tree line in [[Update 1.55 "Royal Armour"]].

At 3.0 the Valentine's armour starts to let it down a bit, uptiers can bring guns powerfull enough to cut through the Valentine's armour anywhere.

Still protection is fairly good, especialy on the turret cheeks, the hull is somewhat weaker. Mobility like usualy with the Valentines is poor, very poor.

However the Mark. IX sports the formidable 6 pounder, which can reliably get through the weakspots on all vehicles, at any range, or just punch straight through them frontaly.

The Valentine's small profile also allows it to be "sneaky " as the engine is not too loud.

== General info ==
=== Survivability and armour ===
{{Specs-Tank-Armour}}

'''Armour type:'''

* Rolled homogeneous armour
* Cast homogeneous armour (Gun mantlet)

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Armour !! Front !! Sides !! Rear !! Roof
|-
| Hull || 60 mm (1°) ''Front plate'' 30 mm (65-67°) ''Front glacis'' 20 mm (73°), 60 mm (24°) ''Lower glacis'' || 50 mm || 17 mm (58-59°) ''Top'' 20 mm (65°), 60 mm (1°) ''Bottom'' || 20 mm
|-
| Turret || 65 mm (0-66°) ''Turret front'' 65 mm (0-62°) ''Gun mantlet'' || 60 mm || 65 mm (1-57°) || 20 mm
|-
|}
Flat on the Valentine's hull is pretty weak, it consists mainly of a flat 60mm front plate, with an even weaker driver's vision port, so even Rank I guns can punch through there. The sides are 50mm thick, so angling can be effectively done. The turret is a lot better, featuring both 60mm turret cheeks sloped forwards, there is still a breach weakspot, where the armour is flat, the sides of the turret are still pretty strong at 60mm but flat, however turret angling should not be done as it will normalize the cheeks.

As for post-pen survivabilty it is fairly poor, as there is only three crewmates, a driver in the hull, a gunner and a loader in the turret, so a hull pen will practicaly always result in a one shot, a turret armour breach might knock out only one of the turret crew, but can one shot as well.

The Valentine gets 2 smoke grenades, but for some reason they launch together and don't create a particularly impressive smoke screen.

'''Note:'''

* Suspension wheels, bogies, and tracks are 20 mm thick.
* Belly armour is 20 mm thick.

=== Mobility ===
{| class="wikitable"
! rowspan="2" |me Mode
! colspan="2" |Max Speed (km/h)
! rowspan="2" |Weight (tons)
! colspan="2" |Engine power (horsepower)
! colspan="2" |Power-to-weight ratio (hp/ton)
|-
!Forward
!Reverse
!Stock
!Upgraded
!Stock
!Upgraded
|-
!Arcade
|27
|4
| rowspan="2" |18
|256
|315
|14.22
|17.5
|-
!Realistic
|25
|3
|146
|165
|8.11
|9.17
|}
This is a british heavy tank so you aren't realy expecting any mobility from the Valentine, you can reach 23-4 kph on flat ground, on slopes though you will go much slower.Your reverse speed is the worst in the whole game at -2 kph, so don't reverse, rather turn around which is not exactly fast either, if you accelerate a little bit before that you will turn pretty quick though.

=== Modifications and economy ===

Here is a recomended order of mod research:

# Parts. Obviosly so you can repair.
# FPE. So you don't frie.
# Shot Mk. 4. A bit better performance the stock round
# Adjustment of Fire. The gun is quite inaccurate especialy without this mod.
# Shot Mk. 9. Your best and main round.
# Filters. Valentine is realy slow, this makes it a bit better.
# Elevation Mechanism. You depress and elevate your gun faster, which is not useless.
# Engine. Biggest mobility upgrade, get this one first at Tier IV.
# Transmisson. Also helps with mobility.
# Horizontal Drive. You can spin your turret faster. Pick it up.
# Smoke Grenades. Not realy usefull, as you only get one shot, but can save you sometimes.
# Crew replenishment. This way you can get a new loader to increase your reload, if he gets killed.
# Suspension. Keeps your gan more stable.
# Brake system. Reduces brake distance.
# Shot Mk. 5 HV Totally useless, research last just to get the reward.

== Armaments ==
{{Specs-Tank-Armaments}}
=== Main armament ===
{{Specs-Tank-Weapon|1}}

{{main|6pdr OQF Mk.III (57 mm)}}

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" width="100%"
|-
! colspan="5" | [[6pdr OQF Mk.III (57 mm)|57 mm 6pdr OQF Mk.III]] || colspan="5" | Turret rotation speed (°/s) || colspan="4" | Reloading rate (seconds)
|-
! Mode !! Capacity !! Vertical !! Horizontal !! Stabilizer
! Stock !! Upgraded !! Full !! Expert !! Aced
! Stock !! Full !! Expert !! Aced
|-
! ''Arcade''
| rowspan="2" | 53 || rowspan="2" | -12°/+20° || rowspan="2" | ±180° || rowspan="2" | N/A || 15.23 || 21.08 || 25.60 || 28.31 || 30.12 || rowspan="2" | 5.20 || rowspan="2" | 4.60 || rowspan="2" | 4.24 || rowspan="2" | 4.00
|-
! ''Realistic''
| 9.52 || 11.20 || 13.60 || 15.04 || 16.00
|-
|}

==== Ammunition ====
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center" width="100%"
! colspan="8" | Penetration statistics
|-
! rowspan="2" data-sort-type="text" | Ammunition
! rowspan="2" | Type of warhead
! colspan="6" | '''Penetration @ 0° Angle of Attack (mm)'''
|-
! 10 m !! 100 m !! 500 m !! 1,000 m !! 1,500 m !! 2,000 m
|-
| Shot Mk.5 || AP || 101 || 97 || 82 || 66 || 53 || 43
|-
| Shot Mk.5 HV || AP || 108 || 104 || 87 || 70 || 57 || 46
|-
| Shot Mk.8 || APC || 110 || 106 || 89 || 72 || 59 || 48
|-
| Shot Mk.9 || APCBC || 122 || 118 || 101 || 84 || 70 || 58
|-
| Shell Mk.10 || HE || 9 || 9 || 9 || 9 || 9 || 9
|-
|}
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center" width="100%"
! colspan="10" | Shell details
|-
! rowspan="2" data-sort-type="text" | Ammunition
! rowspan="2" | Type of warhead
! rowspan="2" | Velocity (m/s)
! rowspan="2" | Projectile Mass (kg)
! rowspan="2" | Fuse delay (m)
! rowspan="2" | Fuse sensitivity (mm)
! rowspan="2" | Explosive Mass (TNT equivalent) (g)
! colspan="3" | Ricochet
|-
! 0% !! 50% !! 100%
|-
| Shot Mk.5 || AP || 815 || 2.8 || N/A || N/A || N/A || 47° || 60° || 65°
|-
| Shot Mk.5 HV || AP || 853 || 2.8 || N/A || N/A || N/A || 47° || 60° || 65°
|-
| Shot Mk.8 || APC || 853 || 2.87 || N/A || N/A || N/A || 48° || 63° || 71°
|-
| Shot Mk.9 || APCBC || 801 || 3.23 || N/A || N/A || N/A || 48° || 63° || 71°
|-
| Shell Mk.10 || HE || 655 || 2.72 || 0 || 0.1 || 590 || 79° || 80° || 81°
|-
|}

==== [[Ammo racks]] ====
[[File:Ammoracks_{{PAGENAME}}.png|right|thumb|x250px|[[Ammo racks]] of the {{PAGENAME}}]]

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! Full ammo
! 1st rack empty
! 2nd rack empty
! 3rd rack empty
! 4th rack empty
! 5th rack empty
! Visual discrepancy
|-
| '''53''' || 43 ''(+10)'' || 32 ''(+21)'' || 21 ''(+32)'' || 11 ''(+42)'' || 1 ''(+52)'' || No
|-
|}

==== Optics ====

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" width="50%"
! colspan="3" | {{PAGENAME}} [[Optics]]
|-
! Which ones
! Default magnification
! Maximum magnification
|-
! Main Gun optics
| x1.85 || x3.5
|-
! Comparable optics
| colspan="2" | [[M4A1]]
|-
|}

== Usage in battles ==

'''Overview:'''

The Valentine IX is an interesting vehicle. The armour can be useful against most enemy cannons if you angle properly, but the mobility is sub par. The 6 pounder gun provides excellent penetration with a fast velocity, not to mention the reload rate and semi stabilization. The best way to play the Valentine IX is to play around cover and play carefully. The benefit of being slow is it gives Valentine commanders time to think before they act. The Valentine will be the last to the fight in most situations, so make sure to pay attention to your allies and enemy positions as they reveal themselves. With careful planning, the Valentine can preform very well. Because it is so slow, it is important to play with your team. Use the map to point out enemy positions and pay attention when your allies do the same. Also be careful not to push too far into enemy territory, your low speed will not let you get out quickly. You cannot rely on smoke cover for retreats either as you only get 2 smoke grenades that are launched together, which is far fewer than most British vehicles. Another weakness to consider with the Valentine IX specifically is the lack of a machine gun. While the MGs on most tanks are not often used, lacking one is still a disadvantage.

'''Notable Enemies:'''

The most notable enemies for the Valentine IX are the Panzer IV F2, and any T-34. The Panzer IV F2 will make short work of the Valentine, regardless of armour angling. The T-34 is very difficult to kill in the Valentine because the 6 pounder gun struggles against angled armour. Against the T-34, shoot for the turret or machine gun port. Against the Panzer IV F2, just make sure you shoot first.

'''Differences AB vs RB:'''

While the slow speed can be an advantage in RB, allowing Valentine commanders to play more cautiously, it AB it is a simple disadvantage. However the other qualities of the Valentine allow it to be a somewhat competitive front line medium tank in AB, using its angled armour and firepower to bounce a few shots and easily dispatch most enemy vehicles.

=== Pros and cons ===


'''Pros:'''

* 57 mm gun has decent penetration
* Upper glacis is sloped, can bounce a few shots
* Low profile allows it to hide behind obstacles
* Decent stock shells
* Turret is angled and can bounce some shots
* Fast reload speed

'''Cons:'''

* No machine gun
* Hull armour is unchanged from Valentine I, much less effective now due to increased BR.
* Slow top speed (22 km/h)
* Slow traverse speed, easily flanked
* Driver's port and the area around it is a major weak spot
* No explosive filler in shells
* Only 3 crew members (crew can be knocked out very easily)
* Thin top armour makes it vulnerable to air attacks
* Unlike many other British tanks, very few smoke grenades and all are released at once.

== History ==

===Development===
The experiences taken from the development of the A9, A10 cruiser tanks and the A11 infantry tank prompted Vickers-Armstrongs to begin development of a new tank. As a private venture, the design did not receive any designations from the British General Staff during its creation. The designing of the tank focused on the tank having the weight of a cruiser, but with the armour comparable to the infantry tanks. The basis was to have the vehicle with 60 mm of frontal armour and a 2-pounder gun in a two-man turret. To make it as light as possible, it was small and featured a cramped interior. The design used features taken from the A9 and A10 tanks so the design was easier to produce and cheaper to make. Vickers unveiled the design to War Office at February 10, 1938. While they initially viewed it unfavorably for its tiny two-man turret, they took it in April 1939 due to the growing tense situation in Europe with Nazi Germany, with the first order coming in May 1940 after the losses suffered by the British Expeditionary Forces in the Battle of France. The name '''Valentine''' was given to the tank sometime between its introduction to War Office and its adoption. The origin of the name is disputed, some say it was due to its introduction on February 14 in 1938 or 1940, other say it was the middle name of Sir John V. Carden, who helped design the Valentine's predecessors. Other sources say it is a name from the Vickers' company full name (Vickers-Armstrong Ltd Elswick & [Newcastle-upon] Tyne), and David Fletcher from Bovington Tank Museum say that "Valentine" was a code name used by the company for its development.

The Valentine was put into service as quickly as possible under the designation ''Tank, Infantry, Mk.III''. Vickers, Metropolitan-Cammell Carriage & Wagon, and Birmingham Railway Carriage & Wagon Company were all involved in the construction of this vehicle. During World War II, Canada was also contracted to build the Valentine to build up their own tank forces. The United Kingdom produced a total of 6,855 Valentines during the war between the three company while Canada built 1,420 Valentine tanks in their factories, for a total of 8,275 tanks produced, making the Valentine the most produced British tank in the entire war.

===Variants===
The Valentine is one of the most modified British tank in World War II, up to eleven variants were made during its entire production life.

#''[[Valentine I|Mark I]]'': The first one, it was built with a rivet construction, a 135 hp petrol engine, and a 2-pounder, but was not sent to combat due to mechanical problems.
#''Mark II'': Uses a 131 hp diesel engine and has an auxiliary fuel tank added to the left hull.
#''Mark III'': Has a slightly thinner side armour (60 mm to 50 mm) and a modified turret design, giving room for a loader in the tank, freeing the commander to do his job.
#''Mark IV'' A modified Mk.II using an American 138 hp GMC diesel engine and an American-produced transmission, making the tank more reliable.
#''Mark V'': The same as Mk.IV, except using the Mk.III as the basis.
#''Mark VI'': A Canadian built Valentine, using Canadian and American parts and a GMC diesel engine, plus later switching the BESA machine gun into a Browning machine gun.
#''Mark VII'': A Canadian Mk.VI with a new radio set and a modified interior. Another Mk.VII named the ''Mark VIIA'' has jettisonable fuel tanks and new tracks, oil cooler, and headlights.
# ''Mark VIII'': Uses a British AEC diesel engine and a modified turret to use the 6-pounder. The modification eliminated the coaxial machine gun from the design.
#''Mark IX'': A Mk.V modified to take the 6-pounder as well, but with an armour reduction. Later version also had a stronger 165 hp GMC diesel engine installed.
#''Mark X'': Features another modified turret design using the 6-pounder, but made it able to use a coaxial machine gun again and still uses the 165 hp diesel engine. Uses a welded construction
#''[[Valentine XI|Mark XI]]'': The Mk.X using the QF 75 mm gun instead of a 6-pounder, with the 210 hp diesel engine. However, these tanks only served as a command tank in the battlefield. Uses a welded construction

===Combat usage===
The Valentine mostly saw service in the North African Campaign, where the crew reported on it very favorable as a reliable and well-protected tank. The first unit who saw action with the Valentine was the 8th Royal Tank Regiment in Operation Crusader, where it was in the process of replacing the [[Matilda III]]. The reliability is expressed when some Valentine were reported to have traveled a distance of 4,800 kilometers by the time the British reached Tunisia. The Valentine tanks soon saw wide-spread use by mid-1941 when they were issued out widely to armoured regiments due to the lack of cruiser tanks available to fill in the ranks.

However, the biggest weakness of the Valentine tank is the lack of high-explosive rounds for the 2-pounder, a weakness suffered by every other tank using the 2-pounder. This and the 2-pounder's growing deficiency against tank armour was remedied by the usage of the 6-pounder on the Valentine after the Mark VIII version, and then the QF 75 mm gun. However, these larger guns were harder to mount on the small Valentine turret and made for a cramped interior, even removing the established loader's position made in an enlarge turret for the 2-pounder. By the time these larger guns were introduced for the tank, better tanks were being introduced, such as the [[Churchill III|Churchill heavy tanks]] from Britain and the [[M4|M4 Shermans]] from the Americans. Despite the better tanks, the Valentine's low height is able to exploit small cover on the battlefield and take up a good hull-down position behind hills.

Some Valentines were sent to the Soviet Union as part of the Lend-Lease program, most of the Valentines came from Canada's production lines. The Valentines saw use from the time of Battle of Moscow in 1941 all the way until the end of the war, though the Valentines saw use more as a second-line tank due to its relative weakness. It was criticized for its slow speed and weak gun, but was liked for its small size, reliability, and armour protection and thus the Soviet Supreme Command continue asking for it and its production to continue until the end of the war.

By 1944, the Valentine is mostly taken out from the front-line services and replaced by the newer tanks. A few were retained for special purposes and command vehicles for [[Archer|Archer]] units, which is a tank destroyer based off the Valentine chassis. The tank continue to see use in the Pacific in limited numbers until May 1945 in the 3rd New Zealand Division, some had their armaments changed to the larger 3-inch howitzer to use it stronger high-explosive ammunition against the Japanese. New Zealand kept the normal and modified Valentines all the way until 1955. The last known combat usage of the Valentine was on Cyprus in early 1960s when a turret-less Valentine was used by the Greek militia, added with a make-shift armour and a machine gunner position with a Bren gun.

===Survivors===
About forty Valentines and vehicles based off the Valentine chassis exist in various conditions in the world. Valentines in running condition exist in the Bovington Tank Museum and in private hands in New Zealand and United Kingdom. The Valentines survivors can be seen in UK, Canada, Belgium, France, Russia, Australia, and New Zealand.

== Media ==


;Skins

* [https://live.warthunder.com/feed/camouflages/?vehicleCountry=britain&vehicleType=tank&vehicleClass=medium_tank&vehicle=uk_valentine_mk_9 Skins and camouflages for the {{PAGENAME}} from live.warthunder.com.]

;Videos
{{Youtube-gallery|qfY_erhfnog|'''{{PAGENAME}} Tank Review''' - ''NUSensei''|xIrVVhdC9ac|'''Tank Chats #11 Valentine''' - ''The Tank Museum''}}

== See also ==

''Links to the articles on the War Thunder Wiki that you think will be useful for the reader, for example:''

* ''reference to the series of the vehicles;''
* ''links to approximate analogues of other nations and research trees.''

== External links ==

''Paste links to sources and external resources, such as:''

* ''topic on the official game forum;''
* ''other literature.''

{{Britain medium tanks}}

Valentine IX

2021-05-30T18:54:31Z

U109009388: /* Description */

{{Specs-Card
|code=uk_valentine_mk_9
|images={{Specs-Card-Image|GarageImage_{{PAGENAME}}.jpg}}
}}

== Description ==

The '''{{Specs|name}}''' is a rank {{Specs|rank}} British medium tank {{Battle-rating}}. It was introduced along with the initial British tree line in [[Update 1.55 "Royal Armour"]].

At 3.0 the Valentine's armour starts to let it down a bit, uptiers can bring guns powerfull enough to cut through the Valentine's armour anywhere.

Still protection is fairly good, especialy on the turret cheeks, the hull is somewhat weaker. Mobility like usualy with the Valentines is poor, very poor.

However the Mark. IX sports the formidable 6 pounder, which can reliably get through the weakspots on all vehicles, at any range, or just punch straight through them frontaly.

The Valentine's small profile also allows to be "sneaky " as the engine is not too loud.

== General info ==
=== Survivability and armour ===
{{Specs-Tank-Armour}}

'''Armour type:'''

* Rolled homogeneous armour
* Cast homogeneous armour (Gun mantlet)

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Armour !! Front !! Sides !! Rear !! Roof
|-
| Hull || 60 mm (1°) ''Front plate'' 30 mm (65-67°) ''Front glacis'' 20 mm (73°), 60 mm (24°) ''Lower glacis'' || 50 mm || 17 mm (58-59°) ''Top'' 20 mm (65°), 60 mm (1°) ''Bottom'' || 20 mm
|-
| Turret || 65 mm (0-66°) ''Turret front'' 65 mm (0-62°) ''Gun mantlet'' || 60 mm || 65 mm (1-57°) || 20 mm
|-
|}
Flat on the Valentine's hull is pretty weak, it consists mainly of a flat 60mm front plate, with an even weaker driver's vision port, so even Rank I guns can punch through there. The sides are 50mm thick, so angling can be effectively done. The turret is a lot better, featuring both 60 turret cheeks sloped forwards, there is still a breach weakspot, where the armour is flat, the sides of the turret are still pretty strong at 60mm but flat, however turret angling should not be done as it will normalize the cheeks.

'''Note:'''

* Suspension wheels, bogies, and tracks are 20 mm thick.
* Belly armour is 20 mm thick.

=== Mobility ===
{| class="wikitable"
! rowspan="2" |Game Mode
! colspan="2" |Max Speed (km/h)
! rowspan="2" |Weight (tons)
! colspan="2" |Engine power (horsepower)
! colspan="2" |Power-to-weight ratio (hp/ton)
|-
!Forward
!Reverse
!Stock
!Upgraded
!Stock
!Upgraded
|-
!Arcade
|27
|4
| rowspan="2" |15.7
|209
|258
|13.31
|16.43
|-
!Realistic
|25
|3
|119
|135
|7.58
|8.6
|}

{{tankMobility|abMinHp=256|rbMinHp=146}}

=== Modifications and economy ===
{{Specs-Economy}}

== Armaments ==
{{Specs-Tank-Armaments}}
=== Main armament ===
{{Specs-Tank-Weapon|1}}

{{main|6pdr OQF Mk.III (57 mm)}}

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" width="100%"
|-
! colspan="5" | [[6pdr OQF Mk.III (57 mm)|57 mm 6pdr OQF Mk.III]] || colspan="5" | Turret rotation speed (°/s) || colspan="4" | Reloading rate (seconds)
|-
! Mode !! Capacity !! Vertical !! Horizontal !! Stabilizer
! Stock !! Upgraded !! Full !! Expert !! Aced
! Stock !! Full !! Expert !! Aced
|-
! ''Arcade''
| rowspan="2" | 53 || rowspan="2" | -12°/+20° || rowspan="2" | ±180° || rowspan="2" | N/A || 15.23 || 21.08 || 25.60 || 28.31 || 30.12 || rowspan="2" | 5.20 || rowspan="2" | 4.60 || rowspan="2" | 4.24 || rowspan="2" | 4.00
|-
! ''Realistic''
| 9.52 || 11.20 || 13.60 || 15.04 || 16.00
|-
|}

==== Ammunition ====
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center" width="100%"
! colspan="8" | Penetration statistics
|-
! rowspan="2" data-sort-type="text" | Ammunition
! rowspan="2" | Type of warhead
! colspan="6" | '''Penetration @ 0° Angle of Attack (mm)'''
|-
! 10 m !! 100 m !! 500 m !! 1,000 m !! 1,500 m !! 2,000 m
|-
| Shot Mk.5 || AP || 101 || 97 || 82 || 66 || 53 || 43
|-
| Shot Mk.5 HV || AP || 108 || 104 || 87 || 70 || 57 || 46
|-
| Shot Mk.8 || APC || 110 || 106 || 89 || 72 || 59 || 48
|-
| Shot Mk.9 || APCBC || 122 || 118 || 101 || 84 || 70 || 58
|-
| Shell Mk.10 || HE || 9 || 9 || 9 || 9 || 9 || 9
|-
|}
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center" width="100%"
! colspan="10" | Shell details
|-
! rowspan="2" data-sort-type="text" | Ammunition
! rowspan="2" | Type of warhead
! rowspan="2" | Velocity (m/s)
! rowspan="2" | Projectile Mass (kg)
! rowspan="2" | Fuse delay (m)
! rowspan="2" | Fuse sensitivity (mm)
! rowspan="2" | Explosive Mass (TNT equivalent) (g)
! colspan="3" | Ricochet
|-
! 0% !! 50% !! 100%
|-
| Shot Mk.5 || AP || 815 || 2.8 || N/A || N/A || N/A || 47° || 60° || 65°
|-
| Shot Mk.5 HV || AP || 853 || 2.8 || N/A || N/A || N/A || 47° || 60° || 65°
|-
| Shot Mk.8 || APC || 853 || 2.87 || N/A || N/A || N/A || 48° || 63° || 71°
|-
| Shot Mk.9 || APCBC || 801 || 3.23 || N/A || N/A || N/A || 48° || 63° || 71°
|-
| Shell Mk.10 || HE || 655 || 2.72 || 0 || 0.1 || 590 || 79° || 80° || 81°
|-
|}

==== [[Ammo racks]] ====
[[File:Ammoracks_{{PAGENAME}}.png|right|thumb|x250px|[[Ammo racks]] of the {{PAGENAME}}]]

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! Full ammo
! 1st rack empty
! 2nd rack empty
! 3rd rack empty
! 4th rack empty
! 5th rack empty
! Visual discrepancy
|-
| '''53''' || 43 ''(+10)'' || 32 ''(+21)'' || 21 ''(+32)'' || 11 ''(+42)'' || 1 ''(+52)'' || No
|-
|}

==== Optics ====

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" width="50%"
! colspan="3" | {{PAGENAME}} [[Optics]]
|-
! Which ones
! Default magnification
! Maximum magnification
|-
! Main Gun optics
| x1.85 || x3.5
|-
! Comparable optics
| colspan="2" | [[M4A1]]
|-
|}

== Usage in battles ==

'''Overview:'''

The Valentine IX is an interesting vehicle. The armour can be useful against most enemy cannons if you angle properly, but the mobility is sub par. The 6 pounder gun provides excellent penetration with a fast velocity, not to mention the reload rate and semi stabilization. The best way to play the Valentine IX is to play around cover and play carefully. The benefit of being slow is it gives Valentine commanders time to think before they act. The Valentine will be the last to the fight in most situations, so make sure to pay attention to your allies and enemy positions as they reveal themselves. With careful planning, the Valentine can preform very well. Because it is so slow, it is important to play with your team. Use the map to point out enemy positions and pay attention when your allies do the same. Also be careful not to push too far into enemy territory, your low speed will not let you get out quickly. You cannot rely on smoke cover for retreats either as you only get 2 smoke grenades that are launched together, which is far fewer than most British vehicles. Another weakness to consider with the Valentine IX specifically is the lack of a machine gun. While the MGs on most tanks are not often used, lacking one is still a disadvantage.

'''Notable Enemies:'''

The most notable enemies for the Valentine IX are the Panzer IV F2, and any T-34. The Panzer IV F2 will make short work of the Valentine, regardless of armour angling. The T-34 is very difficult to kill in the Valentine because the 6 pounder gun struggles against angled armour. Against the T-34, shoot for the turret or machine gun port. Against the Panzer IV F2, just make sure you shoot first.

'''Differences AB vs RB:'''

While the slow speed can be an advantage in RB, allowing Valentine commanders to play more cautiously, it AB it is a simple disadvantage. However the other qualities of the Valentine allow it to be a somewhat competitive front line medium tank in AB, using its angled armour and firepower to bounce a few shots and easily dispatch most enemy vehicles.

=== Pros and cons ===


'''Pros:'''

* 57 mm gun has decent penetration
* Upper glacis is sloped, can bounce a few shots
* Low profile allows it to hide behind obstacles
* Decent stock shells
* Turret is angled and can bounce some shots
* Fast reload speed

'''Cons:'''

* No machine gun
* Hull armour is unchanged from Valentine I, much less effective now due to increased BR.
* Slow top speed (22 km/h)
* Slow traverse speed, easily flanked
* Driver's port and the area around it is a major weak spot
* No explosive filler in shells
* Only 3 crew members (crew can be knocked out very easily)
* Thin top armour makes it vulnerable to air attacks
* Unlike many other British tanks, very few smoke grenades and all are released at once.

== History ==

===Development===
The experiences taken from the development of the A9, A10 cruiser tanks and the A11 infantry tank prompted Vickers-Armstrongs to begin development of a new tank. As a private venture, the design did not receive any designations from the British General Staff during its creation. The designing of the tank focused on the tank having the weight of a cruiser, but with the armour comparable to the infantry tanks. The basis was to have the vehicle with 60 mm of frontal armour and a 2-pounder gun in a two-man turret. To make it as light as possible, it was small and featured a cramped interior. The design used features taken from the A9 and A10 tanks so the design was easier to produce and cheaper to make. Vickers unveiled the design to War Office at February 10, 1938. While they initially viewed it unfavorably for its tiny two-man turret, they took it in April 1939 due to the growing tense situation in Europe with Nazi Germany, with the first order coming in May 1940 after the losses suffered by the British Expeditionary Forces in the Battle of France. The name '''Valentine''' was given to the tank sometime between its introduction to War Office and its adoption. The origin of the name is disputed, some say it was due to its introduction on February 14 in 1938 or 1940, other say it was the middle name of Sir John V. Carden, who helped design the Valentine's predecessors. Other sources say it is a name from the Vickers' company full name (Vickers-Armstrong Ltd Elswick & [Newcastle-upon] Tyne), and David Fletcher from Bovington Tank Museum say that "Valentine" was a code name used by the company for its development.

The Valentine was put into service as quickly as possible under the designation ''Tank, Infantry, Mk.III''. Vickers, Metropolitan-Cammell Carriage & Wagon, and Birmingham Railway Carriage & Wagon Company were all involved in the construction of this vehicle. During World War II, Canada was also contracted to build the Valentine to build up their own tank forces. The United Kingdom produced a total of 6,855 Valentines during the war between the three company while Canada built 1,420 Valentine tanks in their factories, for a total of 8,275 tanks produced, making the Valentine the most produced British tank in the entire war.

===Variants===
The Valentine is one of the most modified British tank in World War II, up to eleven variants were made during its entire production life.

#''[[Valentine I|Mark I]]'': The first one, it was built with a rivet construction, a 135 hp petrol engine, and a 2-pounder, but was not sent to combat due to mechanical problems.
#''Mark II'': Uses a 131 hp diesel engine and has an auxiliary fuel tank added to the left hull.
#''Mark III'': Has a slightly thinner side armour (60 mm to 50 mm) and a modified turret design, giving room for a loader in the tank, freeing the commander to do his job.
#''Mark IV'' A modified Mk.II using an American 138 hp GMC diesel engine and an American-produced transmission, making the tank more reliable.
#''Mark V'': The same as Mk.IV, except using the Mk.III as the basis.
#''Mark VI'': A Canadian built Valentine, using Canadian and American parts and a GMC diesel engine, plus later switching the BESA machine gun into a Browning machine gun.
#''Mark VII'': A Canadian Mk.VI with a new radio set and a modified interior. Another Mk.VII named the ''Mark VIIA'' has jettisonable fuel tanks and new tracks, oil cooler, and headlights.
# ''Mark VIII'': Uses a British AEC diesel engine and a modified turret to use the 6-pounder. The modification eliminated the coaxial machine gun from the design.
#''Mark IX'': A Mk.V modified to take the 6-pounder as well, but with an armour reduction. Later version also had a stronger 165 hp GMC diesel engine installed.
#''Mark X'': Features another modified turret design using the 6-pounder, but made it able to use a coaxial machine gun again and still uses the 165 hp diesel engine. Uses a welded construction
#''[[Valentine XI|Mark XI]]'': The Mk.X using the QF 75 mm gun instead of a 6-pounder, with the 210 hp diesel engine. However, these tanks only served as a command tank in the battlefield. Uses a welded construction

===Combat usage===
The Valentine mostly saw service in the North African Campaign, where the crew reported on it very favorable as a reliable and well-protected tank. The first unit who saw action with the Valentine was the 8th Royal Tank Regiment in Operation Crusader, where it was in the process of replacing the [[Matilda III]]. The reliability is expressed when some Valentine were reported to have traveled a distance of 4,800 kilometers by the time the British reached Tunisia. The Valentine tanks soon saw wide-spread use by mid-1941 when they were issued out widely to armoured regiments due to the lack of cruiser tanks available to fill in the ranks.

However, the biggest weakness of the Valentine tank is the lack of high-explosive rounds for the 2-pounder, a weakness suffered by every other tank using the 2-pounder. This and the 2-pounder's growing deficiency against tank armour was remedied by the usage of the 6-pounder on the Valentine after the Mark VIII version, and then the QF 75 mm gun. However, these larger guns were harder to mount on the small Valentine turret and made for a cramped interior, even removing the established loader's position made in an enlarge turret for the 2-pounder. By the time these larger guns were introduced for the tank, better tanks were being introduced, such as the [[Churchill III|Churchill heavy tanks]] from Britain and the [[M4|M4 Shermans]] from the Americans. Despite the better tanks, the Valentine's low height is able to exploit small cover on the battlefield and take up a good hull-down position behind hills.

Some Valentines were sent to the Soviet Union as part of the Lend-Lease program, most of the Valentines came from Canada's production lines. The Valentines saw use from the time of Battle of Moscow in 1941 all the way until the end of the war, though the Valentines saw use more as a second-line tank due to its relative weakness. It was criticized for its slow speed and weak gun, but was liked for its small size, reliability, and armour protection and thus the Soviet Supreme Command continue asking for it and its production to continue until the end of the war.

By 1944, the Valentine is mostly taken out from the front-line services and replaced by the newer tanks. A few were retained for special purposes and command vehicles for [[Archer|Archer]] units, which is a tank destroyer based off the Valentine chassis. The tank continue to see use in the Pacific in limited numbers until May 1945 in the 3rd New Zealand Division, some had their armaments changed to the larger 3-inch howitzer to use it stronger high-explosive ammunition against the Japanese. New Zealand kept the normal and modified Valentines all the way until 1955. The last known combat usage of the Valentine was on Cyprus in early 1960s when a turret-less Valentine was used by the Greek militia, added with a make-shift armour and a machine gunner position with a Bren gun.

===Survivors===
About forty Valentines and vehicles based off the Valentine chassis exist in various conditions in the world. Valentines in running condition exist in the Bovington Tank Museum and in private hands in New Zealand and United Kingdom. The Valentines survivors can be seen in UK, Canada, Belgium, France, Russia, Australia, and New Zealand.

== Media ==


;Skins

* [https://live.warthunder.com/feed/camouflages/?vehicleCountry=britain&vehicleType=tank&vehicleClass=medium_tank&vehicle=uk_valentine_mk_9 Skins and camouflages for the {{PAGENAME}} from live.warthunder.com.]

;Videos
{{Youtube-gallery|qfY_erhfnog|'''{{PAGENAME}} Tank Review''' - ''NUSensei''|xIrVVhdC9ac|'''Tank Chats #11 Valentine''' - ''The Tank Museum''}}

== See also ==

''Links to the articles on the War Thunder Wiki that you think will be useful for the reader, for example:''

* ''reference to the series of the vehicles;''
* ''links to approximate analogues of other nations and research trees.''

== External links ==

''Paste links to sources and external resources, such as:''

* ''topic on the official game forum;''
* ''other literature.''

{{Britain medium tanks}}

ASU-57

2021-05-21T11:34:11Z

U109009388: /* Ammunition */

{{Specs-Card
|code=ussr_asu_57
|images={{Specs-Card-Image|GarageImage_{{PAGENAME}}.jpg}}
}}

== Description ==

The '''{{Specs|name}}''' is a rank {{Specs|rank}} Soviet tank destroyer {{Battle-rating}}. It was introduced in [[Update 1.59 "Flaming Arrows"]]. It was designed as an airborne self-propelled gun to provide fire support and anti-tank capability for the VDV (''Vozdushno-Desantnye Voyska''), the Soviet airborne forces.

== General info ==
=== Survivability and armour ===
{{Specs-Tank-Armour}}

Due to the weight restrictions necessary for air portability, the ASU-57 has nearly no armour to speak of, and the side armour can be penetrated by even rifle-calibre machine guns. It has no armoured roof, and is thus extremely vulnerable to strafing runs by aircraft.

'''Armour type:'''

* Rolled homogeneous armour

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Armour !! Front (Slope angle) !! Sides !! Rear (Slope angle) !! Roof !! Belly
|-
| Body || 6 mm (21-65°) ''Front Plate'' 6 mm (38°) ''Lower glacis'' || 4 mm || 6 mm (9°) || 5 mm || 6 mm
|-
|}
'''Notes:'''

* Suspension wheels are 10 mm thick, tracks are 15 mm thick

=== Mobility ===
{{Specs-Tank-Mobility}}


{{tankMobility|abMinHp=78|rbMinHp=49}}

While the ASU-57 has a top speed below 50 km/h, it has an excellent power/weight ratio that allows the vehicle to accelerate very quickly to reach its top speed. It is thus very mobile and turns very quickly. However, it has a poor reverse speed of only 5 km/h, which makes it hard to back up into cover or away from a threat.

=== Modifications and economy ===
{{Specs-Economy}}

== Armaments ==
{{Specs-Tank-Armaments}}
=== Main armament ===
{{Specs-Tank-Weapon|1}}

{{main|Ch-51M (57 mm)}}

The ASU-57 is armed with the '''57 mm Ch-51M''', a derivative of the 57 mm ZiS-2 anti-tank gun encountered previously on the [[ZiS-30]]. The mounting has a very limited amount of gun depression and traverse due to the small size of the ASU-57. The gun itself has a fairly fast reload, which is a good thing since it is not uncommon for the first penetrating hit to not completely destroy the target.

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" width="100%"
|-
! colspan="5" | [[Ch-51M (57 mm)|57 mm Ch-51M]] || colspan="5" | Turret rotation speed (°/s) || colspan="4" | Reloading rate (seconds)
|-
! Mode !! Capacity !! Vertical !! Horizontal !! Stabilizer
! Stock !! Upgraded !! Full !! Expert !! Aced
! Stock !! Full !! Expert !! Aced
|-
! ''Arcade''
| rowspan="2" | 30 || rowspan="2" | -5°/+12° || rowspan="2" | ±8° || rowspan="2" | N/A || 10.57 || 14.63 || 17.76 || 19.64 || 20.89 || rowspan="2" | 6.50 || rowspan="2" | 5.75 || rowspan="2" | 5.30 || rowspan="2" | 5.00
|-
! ''Realistic''
| 7.14 || 8.40 || 10.20 || 11.28 || 12.00
|-
|}

==== Ammunition ====

* '''BR-271SP''': APBC; a solid shot with a good penetration but no explosive filler. It is your stock shell, use it until you unlock BR-271M.
* '''BR-271M''': APCBC; an armour-piercing round with ballistic cap and explosive filler. It will punch through most targets frontally and its explosive filler will take out most targets in a single shot. This should be your main shell once you unlock it.
* '''BR-271N''': APCR; a composite round with a slightly increased penetration but no explosive filler and will only penetrate flat vertical surfaces. The small added penetration (a few mm) does not make a viable ammo choice to deal with heavily armoured targets.
* '''O-271''': HE; a slow round with a high explosive mass useful for taking out the crew of open-topped vehicles. As it won't consistently kill SPAAGs due to the small calibre and low explosive mass, don't try to hunt these vehicles as they will kill you much faster than you will.

{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center" width="100%"
! colspan="8" | Penetration statistics
|-
! rowspan="2" data-sort-type="text" | Ammunition
! rowspan="2" | Type of warhead
! colspan="6" | '''Penetration @ 0° Angle of Attack (mm)'''
|-
! 10 m !! 100 m !! 500 m !! 1,000 m !! 1,500 m !! 2,000 m
|-
| BR-271SP || APBC || 142 || 139 || 126 || 111 || 98 || 87
|-
| BR-271M || APCBC || 155 || 151 || 135 || 118 || 102 || 89
|-
| O-271 || HE || 5 || 5 || 5 || 5 || 5 || 5
|-
| BR-271N || APCR || 159 || 155 || 140 || 123 || 108 || 94
|-
|}

{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center" width="100%"
! colspan="10" | Shell details
|-
! rowspan="2" data-sort-type="text" | Ammunition
! rowspan="2" | Type of warhead
! rowspan="2" | Velocity (m/s)
! rowspan="2" | Projectile Mass (kg)
! rowspan="2" | Fuse delay (m)
! rowspan="2" | Fuse sensitivity (mm)
! rowspan="2" | Explosive Mass (TNT equivalent) (g)
! colspan="3" | Ricochet
|-
! 0% !! 50% !! 100%
|-
| BR-271SP || APBC || 975 || 3.14 || N/A || N/A || N/A || 48° || 63° || 71°
|-
| BR-271M || APCBC || 1,020 || 2.8 || 1.2 || 9 || 20.02 || 48° || 63° || 71°
|-
| O-271 || HE || 695 || 3.72 || 0.4 || 0.01 || 220 || 79° || 80° || 81°
|-
| BR-271N || APCR || 1,125 || 2.4 || N/A || N/A || N/A || 66° || 70° || 72°
|-
|}

==== [[Ammo racks]] ====
[[File:Ammoracks_{{PAGENAME}}.png|right|thumb|x250px|[[Ammo racks]] of the {{PAGENAME}}]]
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! Full ammo
! 1st rack empty
! 2nd rack empty
! 3rd rack empty
! Visual discrepancy
|-
| '''30''' || 25 ''(+5)'' || 19 ''(+11)'' || 1 ''(+29)'' || No
|-
|}

Right side empty: 19 ''(+11)''

== Usage in battles ==


One of the smallest tracked vehicles in the game, weighing only 3.3 tons, the ASU-57's complete lack of armour makes it extremely vulnerable. Its only defense is its small size, making it extremely difficult to notice, let alone hit. It accelerates quickly and is very nimble for a turretless tank destroyer.

The ASU-57 is very difficult but can be very rewarding and fun to play. It is not recommended for arcade battles, as its primary advantage, stealth, is lost. The ASU-57 is a master of stealth, famed and beloved by the community for its ability to sneak up on tanks using its extremely small size. When using the ASU-57, objects that other tanks would ignore or simply drive over are capable of completely hiding the vehicle, making ambushes and surprise attacks the specialty of the ASU-57. This size comes at a cost, however, as the ASU-57 is extremely vulnerable to almost anything that can shoot at it. Aircraft are especially dangerous due to the open crew compartment.

The ASU-57 is best used as an ambusher/flanker, executing surprise attacks from unexpected locations other vehicles would struggle or be unable to reach. The ASU-57 is incredibly short, and by driving up next to an enemy it can render the enemy tank completely helpless, as almost no vehicle has enough gun depression to reach it. For this reason, it is recommended to only go after isolated vehicles, as an enemy teammate will be able to assist their ally by destroying the ASU-57. For the maximum efficiency of this tactic, knock out the driver of the enemy vehicle, then rush up to their side before they can bring their gun to bear.

Sniping can also be a very good tactic, thanks to the amazing velocity of BR-271M (over 1,000 m/s) and consequently penetration, also thanks to your very low profile you are very hard to spot/hit at far range. Be careful though when engaging American vehicles as they can just spray their .50 cals at you, knocking your crew out even at long range.

Note that the ASU-57 is the lowest ranked vehicle in the game with access to night vision devices, a useful feature in night battles.

;<nowiki>Enemies worth noting:</nowiki>:

As the ASU-57 can be easily knocked out by most enemies, it does not makes sense to list all opponents. However, some foes are more dangerous than others as they may survive your shots.

* [[Panther D]], [[Tiger H1]]: in uptiers you can see those two big cats. The Panther's UFP is immune to all your rounds, so better aim for the left side (right when facing it) of the gun mantlet, this will usualy knock out gunner, commander and with some luck the gun breach. For the Tiger, aim for the front hull if it is not angled as you can punch right through. If it is angled, in this situation it is better to just retreat and relocate. The best is still to get a side shot on both of them. An important note is that with their enormous size and your rounds small explosive mass, you can and will struggle to destroy them; actualy a shot to the middle of the Tiger's UFP wont take out a single crew member, only damage them.
* KV-1B/C (germany). Those can be realy tricky even side shots can non-pen, treat similarly as a Tiger, the armour layout is very similar, especially on the hull.

=== Pros and cons ===


'''Pros:'''

* Tiny size; difficult to spot and hit
* Smallest of bushes are able to hide the tank
* Armour is too thin to trigger APHE fuses
* Excellent mobility
* Most powerful 57 mm gun in the game
* Lowest ranked vehicle that has access to NVDs
* Given all the abilities of a light tank (scouting, help repair)
* Very short; so most tanks can't kill it with their main gun up close

'''Cons:'''

* Virtually no armour, can be hull-broken, and 12.7 mm will chew right through it
* Even 7.62 machine guns can penetrate the armor at close range.
* Low ammunition capacity
* Extremely vulnerable to aircraft
* 57 mm gun rarely destroys vehicles with one shot
* Zero stabilisation and extremely bouncy suspension, making quick shoot and scoots difficult
* Poor gun depression and horizontal traverse
* Gun located at the bottom of the vehicle, meaning in order to fire the whole tank must be exposed
* NVDs are only available in 3rd person or in the Commander's view

== History ==

===Development===
In mid-1940s, sometime either late in World War II or post-war, a proposal was made to develop a vehicle for the airborne troops. The vehicle was to be a lightweight assault gun able to support the paratroopers by being transportable by air. The task was given to two design bureaus, OKB-40 headed by Nikolaj Astrov in Mytischi and the other to Anatoly Karvtsev in Moscow. Astrov designed his vehicle as the ''ASU-76'', armed with a 76 mm D-56T gun. The design ended up being too heavy and its armour way too thin for adequate protection and was cancelled. Kartsev's project was the ''K-73'' which was amphibious and used a 57 mm Ch-51 anti-tank gun as its armament. This was even more thinly armoured than the ASU-76 and was also cancelled.

In 1949, Astrov was able to continue work on his design, but with specifications that the vehicle be made lighter and use the 57 mm Ch-51 gun instead due to its anti-tank performances. The redesigned vehicle was labeled ''Object 572'' and passed the test phases in 1949. It was formally accepted for service as the '''ASU-57''' in 1951 and production lasted from 1950 to 1952 with amounts produced up to a thousand.

===Usage===
The ASU-57, as an airborne vehicle, was made to be air-dropped from planes and land via a rocket-assisted parachute. It was then crewed by its airborne crew and support the airborne troops in their operation. Each airborne division had 54 vehicles at its disposal. It proved successful despite its weak armour and small caliber as this type of vehicle was invaluable in the hands of airborne troops, able to use a mobile artillery vehicle behind enemy lines. The ASU-57 stayed in service in the Soviet Airborne Forces for around 20 years before being replaced by the [[ASU-85]].

The ASU-57 was also given out to the Soviet Union's allies from 1960s to 70s. Such included Egypt, East Germany, North Korea, Poland, Sahrawi Republic, Vietnam, Yugoslavia, and Ethiopia.

== Media ==


;Skins

* [https://live.warthunder.com/feed/camouflages/?vehicleCountry=ussr&vehicleType=tank&vehicleClass=tank_destroyer&vehicle=ussr_asu_57 Skins and camouflages for the {{PAGENAME}} from live.warthunder.com.]

;Videos
{{Youtube-gallery|YuBjyMQLRy0|'''Airmobile tanks''' discusses the {{PAGENAME}} at 1:18 - ''War Thunder Official Channel''|W1VPU4wqfkI|'''{{PAGENAME}} Tank Review''' - ''NUSensei''|i-V5rB5UOgA|'''ASU-57 Soviet Airborne Tank Destroyer''' - ''yolkhere''}}

== See also ==


;Other vehicles of similar configuration and role

* [[SU-57B]]
* [[ASU-85]]

== External links ==


* [[wt:en/news/3724-development-asu-57-air-delivery-en/|[Devblog] ASU-57: Air Delivery]]
* [[Wikipedia:ASU-57|[Wikipedia] ASU-57]]

{{USSR tank destroyers}}

ZSU-57-2

2021-05-12T09:49:38Z

U109009388: /* Ammunition */

{{Specs-Card
|code=ussr_zsu_57_2
|images={{Specs-Card-Image|GarageImage_{{PAGENAME}}.jpg}}
}}

== Description ==

The '''{{Specs|name}}''' is a rank {{Specs|rank}} Soviet self-propelled anti-aircraft vehicle {{Battle-rating}}. It was introduced in [[Update 1.43]]. Two 57 mm cannons placed in an anti-aircraft format on a T-54 chassis, the ZSU-57-2 has proven to be more of a menace to ground vehicles than aircraft with its high-velocity cannons, but low sustained rate of fire.

== General info ==
=== Survivability and armour ===
{{Specs-Tank-Armour}}


'''Armour type:'''

* Rolled homogeneous armour

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Armour !! Front !! Sides !! Rear !! Roof
|-
| Hull || 13.5 mm (61°) ''Front glacis'' 15 mm (53°) ''Lower glacis'' || 15 mm || 10 mm (17-49°) ''Top'' 6 mm (73°) ''Bottom'' || 15 mm
|-
| Turret || 15 mm (14-57°) ''Turret front'' 15 mm (25-64°) ''Gun mantlet'' || 13.5 mm (9-61°) || 13.5 mm (4-59°) || N/A
|-
|}
'''Notes:'''

* Suspension wheels and tracks are 20 mm thick.
* Belly armour is 13.5 mm thick.
* A 6 mm RHA plate separates the engine compartment from the crew.
* Hatches and air intake are 6 mm thick.

=== Mobility ===
{{Specs-Tank-Mobility}}


{{tankMobility|abMinHp=739|rbMinHp=460}}

=== Modifications and economy ===
{{Specs-Economy}}

== Armaments ==
{{Specs-Tank-Armaments}}
=== Main armament ===
{{Specs-Tank-Weapon|1}}

{{main|S-68 (57 mm)}}

Although this is an AA vehicle, its twin 57 mm cannons are still equally deadly against ground units. When stock, their accuracy isn't good so the shells fly all over the place as the distance increases, and the belt is made up of half AP, half HE, meaning it is not efficient when dealing with either planes or tanks. Therefore the best tactic for a fully stock ZSU-57-2 is to shoot the enemies' side up close or to target low-flying helicopters.

When the BR-281 belt (full APHE) is available, the player can go into full anti-tank mode as this shell packs quite a punch, and it can penetrate pretty much any tank's side armour (excluding the Maus, in which case take out its gun barrel) and some tanks' frontal armour. In a flank the ZSU-57-2 can finish off a group of opponents at an unbelievable speed. Two shells will slice through their side armour and explode, so theoretically one clip is enough to wipe out four tanks in a row (aiming at the crew compartment only, of course). A few seconds later, another clip will be loaded, ready to hunt more prey. Be aware that each clip only contains 8 rounds (4 for each of the two cannons), so do not waste your shots.

This shell also performs alright in the AA role, since its calibre is quite large for planes, and a direct hit usually critically damages the plane, if not killing it instantly. However, unlike its Chinese brother, WZ305, the ZSU-57-2 does not have access to any VT shells so it is always beneficial to lead with extra care and only open fire if the plane is close enough.

The BR-281U belt does not offer any extra penetration and thus should not be used. Its efficiency decreases as half the belt is made up of HE shells with no anti-armor potential.

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" width="100%"
|-
! colspan="6" | [[S-68 (57 mm)|57 mm S-68]] (x2) || colspan="5" | Turret rotation speed (°/s) || colspan="4" | Reloading rate (seconds)
|-
! Mode !! Capacity (Belt) !! Fire rate !! Vertical !! Horizontal !! Stabilizer
! Stock !! Upgraded !! Full !! Expert !! Aced
! Stock !! Full !! Expert !! Aced
|-
! ''Arcade''
| rowspan="2" | 296 (4) || rowspan="2" | 120 || rowspan="2" | -5°/+85° || rowspan="2" | ±180° || rowspan="2" | N/A || 52.80 || 73.10 || 88.80 || 98.20 ||104.50|| rowspan="2" | 2.60 || rowspan="2" | 2.30 || rowspan="2" | 2.10 || rowspan="2" |2.00
|-
! ''Realistic''
| 35.70 || 42.00 || 51.00 || 56.40 || 60.00
|-
|}

==== Ammunition ====

* '''Default:''' {{Annotation|HE|High-explosive fragmentation}}{{-}}{{Annotation|APCBC|Armour-piercing capped ballistic capped}} - 50% of this belt are useless against tanks or planes. However, against other SPAA this belt can reliably take out crew, armament, ammo and engine. Having one belt in reserve does not hurt.
* '''BR-281:''' {{Annotation|APCBC|Armour-piercing capped ballistic capped}} - This will be your main anti-tank belt, it is comprised of fully APCBC shells that can penetrate most tanks from the side.
* '''BR-281U:''' {{Annotation|APCBC|Armour-piercing capped ballistic capped}}{{-}}{{Annotation|HE|High-explosive fragmentation}} - A mix of AP and HE shells, it is not recommended to use this belt as there is no extra penetration and the mix of AP and HE is extremely detrimental compared to BR-281 belt.
* '''OR-281U:''' {{Annotation|HE|High-explosive fragmentation}} - Versus planes. One or two hits usually gets the job done. Heavy armoured attackers and bombers may require more though.

{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center" width="100%"
! colspan="7" | Penetration statistics
|-
! rowspan="2" data-sort-type="text" | Belt
! colspan="6" | '''Penetration @ 0° Angle of Attack (mm)'''
|-
! 10 m !! 100 m !! 500 m !! 1,000 m !! 1,500 m !! 2,000 m
|-
| Default || 151 || 147 || 132 || 114 || 100 || 87
|-
| BR-281 || 151 || 147 || 132 || 114 || 100 || 87
|-
| OR-281U || 5 || 5 || 5 || 5 || 5 || 5
|-
| BR-281U || 151 || 147 || 132 || 114 || 100 || 87
|-
|}
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center" width="100%"
! colspan="10" | Shell details
|-
! rowspan="2" data-sort-type="text" | Ammunition
! rowspan="2" | Type of warhead
! rowspan="2" | Velocity (m/s)
! rowspan="2" | Projectile Mass (kg)
! rowspan="2" | Fuse delay (m)
! rowspan="2" | Fuse sensitivity (mm)
! rowspan="2" | Explosive Mass (TNT equivalent) (g)
! colspan="3" | Ricochet
|-
! 0% !! 50% !! 100%
|-
| BR-281 || APCBC || 1,000 || 2.8 || 1.2 || 9.0 || 20.02 || 48° || 63° || 71°
|-
| OR-281U || HE || 1,000 || 2.8 || 0.4 || 0.1 || 153 || 79° || 80° || 81°
|-
|}

==== [[Ammo racks]] ====
[[File:Ammoracks_{{PAGENAME}}.png|right|thumb|x250px|[[Ammo racks]] of the {{PAGENAME}}]]
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! Full ammo
! 1st rack empty
! 2nd rack empty
! 3rd rack empty
! 4th rack empty
! 5th rack empty
! 6th rack empty
! 7th rack empty
! 8th rack empty
! Visual discrepancy
|-
| '''74''' || 74 ''(+0)'' || 70 ''(+4)'' || 38 ''(+36)'' || 32 ''(+42)'' || 28 ''(+46)'' || 24 ''(+50)'' || 18 ''(+56)'' || N/A || Yes
|-
|}
'''Notes''':

* Visual discrepancy: the 8th ammo rack never empties, even with all ammunition spent.

== Usage in battles ==

Versatile in the anti-aircraft and anti-tank role this heavily modified [[T-54 (1947)|T-54]] chassis delivers two heavy 57 mm punches. The ZSU-57-2 can be used for two roles.

;Anti-air role

Even though the ZSU-57-2 was designed as an SPAA, it is not very good at destroying planes compared to other SPAA vehicles at similar battle ratings, which often have a significantly higher rate of fire or even radar. However, this is compensated for by its comparatively massive firepower compared to similar SPAA platforms. The large 57mm cannons will often disable, or more likely destroy a plane with its first hit. It is also extremely effective in an anti-helicopter role, as helicopters are much slower than planes.

;Tank Destroyer

Using the 57 mm cannons in an anti-tank role is possible and have been exploited by many players. Using BR-281 ammo, the guns can effectively pierce the sides and rear of any tank (excluding the Maus). Remember the ZSU-57-2's armour does not compare to other tanks armour so one shot could be the end of the SPAA. Play cat-and-mouse and wait for the enemy to go into an engagement with another target and then jump out into the open and fire upon them while they are distracted. It is recommended to the first aim for their rear to disable their engine and cause a fire, they will have to stop what they are doing and put it out. During this time they won't be able to move or fire upon the ZSU-57-2, allowing a chance to finish off the crewmen inside by unloading the 57 mm cannons into the side of the enemy tank. Any shot from the 57 mm cannons into an enemies' ammo load will also instantly kill them. Almost all British tanks have very weak side armour, and your BR-281U ammo will easily rip through even at an angle. Aim for the front portion of their tank, where their driver is. Their ammo rack is located right next to the driver, meaning that you can easily ammo rack them.

=== Pros and cons ===


'''Pros:'''

* Effective multi-role weaponry (able to fight both planes and tanks)
* Excellent turret rotation speed
* 57 mm guns will destroy or cripple aircraft with one hit, and can easily take out tanks from the sides too
* Very high Penetration for SPAA (approximately 147 mm using default ammunition)
* Very effective against lightly armoured German vehicles and other similar vehicles in general

'''Cons:'''

* Large vehicle size
* Very vulnerable turret (ammo on all sides of turret+very thin armour)
* Crew is very crowded in the turret (1 shot has the potential to knock out 5 crew members with ease)
* Reverse is only decent
* Shells have bad accuracy in consecutive shots when "Adjustment of fire" modification is not researched
* Sub-par anti-air capability due to low rate of fire

== History ==

===Development===
The course of World War II revealed to the Soviets how dangerous the air power has become to their ground forces. It was determined that the best method of fighting these aircraft was to have ready vehicles in the front-lines with dedicated anti-aircraft roles to take out these assault aircraft. Experiences from other countries, such as the United States with their [[M13 MGMC|M3]] [[M16 MGMC|half-]][[M15A1 CGMC|tracks]] equipped with anti-aircraft armament and Germany with their [[Wirbelwind]] and [[Ostwind|Ostwind]] anti-aircraft vehicles showed that the role of the self-propelled anti-aircraft gun (SPAAG) makes a positive effect on the battlefield for the protection of the ground forces. The Soviet development of SPAAGs came as simple, truck-mounted weapons and armoured variants of SPAAG were scarce to begin. The first put into production was the [[ZSU-37]], which did not see the majority of World War II as it was put into production on February 1945, with production lasted only until 1948 and retired not long after that. The single 37 mm gun on the ZSU-37 was also reported on no longer being efficient against aircraft, so a major development project was initiated for a new SPAAG in Soviet service.

Few projects were started on the SPAAG concept following right after World War II. One was just a BTR-152 armoured personnel carrier armed with two or four 14.5 mm KPV heavy machine guns. About two different vehicle development was made for the SPAAG role, designated the ZTPU-2 and ZTPU-4. Development, while slow at first, took up a large focus after the realization that the Soviet Union's enemy, the United States, posses a large air force power that could take the air supremacy of the battlefield anywhere. This causes the Soviets to begin investing in a SPAAG in order to fight against this. The first of such was in February 1946 where the design bureau at Works No. 174 at Omsk along with Research Institute No. 58 at Kaliningrad submitted their joint design of a SPAAG based off the [[T-34 (1942)|T-34]] chassis. The design had four 37 mm AA guns attached, but the design did not proceed as new tank production at the time had the High Command prioritize on the new tank chassis that was going to be produced.

Research Institute No. 58 during this time developed a twin 57 mm anti-aircraft gun under the guidance of Vasiliy G. Grabin. The 57 mm gun was based off the previous 57 mm S-60 gun from 1947 and the new one was called the S-68, which was ready by 1948. This armament is then chosen to be mounted onto the new SPAAG project currently known as ''Object 500'', but the designation for such vehicle would be called '''ZSU-57-2''' ("57" for the armament calibre and "2" for the twin armament). The project design finished in 1948 with the S-68 gun mounted onto the new [[T-54 (1949)|T-54]] tank chassis. The first prototype was completed in June 1950 and testings for the vehicle lasted from 27 January 1951 to 15 March 1951, which had the vehicle drive 1,500 km and fire 2,000 rounds. More prototypes were built for testings and had improvements built into their design such as more ammunition storage. Service update tests started in 1954 after much delays in deliveries of the S-68 guns and parts for it, but the ZSU-57-2 was finally put into service on 14 February 1955. First vehicles were completed by 1957 and a total of 2,023 ZSU-57-2s were completed by the time production ended at the end of the 1950s.

===Design===
The ZSU-57-2 used a modified T-54 chassis for its basis, the T-54 chassis uses four road wheels per side rather than five and uses thinner armour. However, the interior is nearly the same as the T-54, with more space due to the thinned armour. There are three crew compartments in the tank, the driver in the front, the fighting in the middle, and the engine in the back. The driver's position has been moved slightly forward and to the left and has accommodations for an infrared vision device. The vehicle has a maximum road speed of 50 km/h and is considerably much faster than the T-54 due to the lighter weight while still powered by the same V-54 4-stroke diesel V12 engine.

The fighting compartment uses an open-topped turret that mounted the dual 57 mm S-68 gun. The gun is aimed via a sighting system that is adjusted based on the target's speed, direction, and range by the sight adjuster crew member. While the speed and direction must be estimated, the range can be found via a rangefinder or estimated. Two loaders are needed to load the two gun and a gunner fires using a trigger that fires both barrels or one of the two-foot pedals that fire either barrel independently. The gun is able to reach a firing rate of 240 rounds per minute with, but the practical rate of fire is about 140 rpm to maximize the barrel cooling rate and firing sustainability. Shells available for the gun are fragmentation and armour-piercing tracer, the fragmentation comes with a safety-destructor that causes the shell to explode after a certain amount of time so the rounds do not come back to the surface and do harm. The 57 mm shells were considered to be the most powerful anti-aircraft armament at the time and can very quickly destroy an aircraft if a shell connects.

A huge disadvantage of the ZSU-57-2 was the lack of fire-control radar, so it must rely on optical vision in order to find and eliminate targets. A ZSU-57-2 battery of four vehicles was less effective than a battery of six towed 57 mm S-60 anti-aircraft guns due to the latter having a fire control radar. The reliance on radar has been due to the increased proficiency of jets, which makes an estimation of distance and speed a very difficult process. Other disadvantages were its low firing rate due to the manual loading by loaders per gun, the air-cooled barrels heated up too quickly, and the turret traverse could not keep up with the newer and faster jet aeroplanes as well.

===Combat usage===
Entering service in 1955, the ZSU-57-2 replaced the older BTR-40As and BTR-152As in 1957 and was revealed to the public in November 1958 during a military parade. The ZSU-57-2 was issued out to tank regiments in one battery, which contained four ZSU-57-2s. This was later changed to two batteries per regiment, increasing the number of SPAAGs available. Some ZSU-57-2s saw service in motor rifle regiments as well as one battery. Despite its superior armament, the ZSU-57-2's performance among the newer aircraft technology along with jets causes the ZSU-57-2 to be considered unsatisfactory and obsolete by early 1960s but stayed until early 1970s as it was replaced by the ZSU-23-4 Shikas, which has radar-guided abilities. The remaining ZSU-57-2s were put into reserves, storage, repurposed into other roles, or scrapped.

Like much of the Soviet hardware, the ZSU-57-2 was also given out to the Soviet allies in the Warsaw Pact. Countries that bought the ZSU-57-2 range from Poland, East Germany, Hungary, Bulgaria, Romania, Cuba, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Syria, North Korea, and North Vietnam. These countries used the ZSU-57-2 to a greater extent than the Soviets did. East Germany was the first foreign operator to own the ZSU-57-2, who received 129 vehicles. Poland also received 129 units as well. Yugoslavia ordered 100 units, Slovenia owned a few for the 44th Armoured-mechanized battalion, Finland imported 12 unit, and Cuba received 25 units during the missile crisis in 1962. Iraq, Iran, and Egypt ordered 100 units for deliveries, their use in conflicts would also end with the Israelis owning a few as well. North Korea developed its own units by using the Chinese Type 59 (copy of the Soviet T-54) tank chassis and bought the turrets to mount on them, about 250 were made like this. China attempted to make a copy of the ZSU-57-2 for Iraq by their request, which became the Type 80 SPAAG, though China is more well known for modernizing the S-68 ammunition.

The ZSU-57-2 saw use in many Cold-War conflicts in the hands of foreign operators. It saw action in the Vietnam War by the North Vietnamese and was used as air-defence for tank regiments and against ground targets. The ZSU-57-2 also saw conflicts in the Middle East such as in the Six Day War and Yom Kippur War against Israel by Syria and Egypt. These were used to defend the El-Arish airstrip, but they were not very successful and many were captured by the Israelis. Syria also used the vehicle again in the Lebanon War of 1982 against Israel, where they failed against the Israeli air force, but fair much better against ground targets. Iraq and Iran used the ZSU-57-2 against each other in the Iran-Iraq War, though Iraqi forces had access to Chinese copies and the benefit of radio information for their vehicles. Iraqi ZSU-57-2s also saw use in the Gulf War against the United States coalition where it manages to successfully shoot down a Tornado GR1 aircraft by the British, three more were reported to be heavily damaged as well. The Iraqi still used them up until the Second Gulf War. The ZSU-57-2s were used by many factions in the Yugoslav Wars and had air defence roles against the NATO air raids. The most recent usage of the ZSU-57-2 is in the Syrian Civil War, where 10 are still active in the Syrian Army, these are probably used exclusively against ground targets today.

=== In-game description ===
In 1947 at NII-58 research institute plans were made under the direction of B.G. Grabin to pair a 57 mm automatic cannon with a C-68 anti-air cannon on the basis of the C-60. It was intended to be installed on either a track-based chassis or a body with wheels.

The track-based chassis was based on aggregates of the T-54 medium tank. The self-propelled version of the vehicle received the factory designation of Object 500 and the military designation of ZSU-57-2.

The ZSU-57-2 underwent comprehensive testing from 1950-1954. In 1955 the ZSU-57-2 was accepted into the arsenal of the Soviet Army. It was produced at factory #174 in Omsk from 1955 to 1960. A total of 857 ZSU-57-2s were produced.

== Media ==


;Skins

* [https://live.warthunder.com/feed/camouflages/?vehicleCountry=ussr&vehicleType=tank&vehicleClass=spaa&vehicle=ussr_zsu_57_2 Skins and camouflages for the {{PAGENAME}} from live.warthunder.com.]

;Videos
{{Youtube-gallery|HdY1bQ65ih4|'''SPAA versus TANK. Is there a place for such vehicles in War Thunder at all? {{PAGENAME}}''' - ''HowToPlay1337''|MPhCs636KNE|'''{{PAGENAME}} Tank Review''' - ''NUSensei''}}

== See also ==


;Vehicles equipped with the same chassis

* [[WZ305]]

== External links ==


* [[wikipedia:ZSU-57-2|[Wikipedia] ZSU-57-2]]
* [https://www.tanks-encyclopedia.com/coldwar/USSR/ZSU-57-2.php <nowiki>[Tanks Encyclopedia]</nowiki> ZSU-57-2]

{{USSR anti-aircraft vehicles}}

ASU-57

2021-05-05T14:48:36Z

U109009388: /* Usage in battles */

{{Specs-Card
|code=ussr_asu_57
|images={{Specs-Card-Image|GarageImage_{{PAGENAME}}.jpg}}
}}

== Description ==

The '''{{Specs|name}}''' is a rank {{Specs|rank}} Soviet tank destroyer {{Battle-rating}}. It was introduced in [[Update 1.59 "Flaming Arrows"]]. It was designed as an airborne self-propelled gun to provide fire support and anti-tank capability for the VDV (''Vozdushno-Desantnye Voyska''), the Soviet airborne forces.

== General info ==
=== Survivability and armour ===
{{Specs-Tank-Armour}}

Due to the weight restrictions necessary for air portability, the ASU-57 has nearly no armour to speak of, and the side armour can be penetrated by even rifle-calibre machine guns. It has no armoured roof, and is thus extremely vulnerable to strafing runs by aircraft.

'''Armour type:'''

* Rolled homogeneous armour

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Armour !! Front (Slope angle) !! Sides !! Rear (Slope angle) !! Roof !! Belly
|-
| Body || 6 mm (21-65°) ''Front Plate'' 6 mm (38°) ''Lower glacis'' || 4 mm || 6 mm (9°) || 5 mm || 6 mm
|-
|}
'''Notes:'''

* Suspension wheels are 10 mm thick, tracks are 15 mm thick

=== Mobility ===
{{Specs-Tank-Mobility}}


{{tankMobility|abMinHp=78|rbMinHp=49}}

While the ASU-57 has a top speed below 50 km/h, it has an excellent power/weight ratio that allows the vehicle to accelerate very quickly to reach its top speed. It is thus very mobile and turns very quickly. However, it has a poor reverse speed of only 5 km/h, which makes it hard to back up into cover or away from a threat.

=== Modifications and economy ===
{{Specs-Economy}}

== Armaments ==
{{Specs-Tank-Armaments}}
=== Main armament ===
{{Specs-Tank-Weapon|1}}

{{main|Ch-51M (57 mm)}}

The ASU-57 is armed with the '''57 mm Ch-51M''', a derivative of the 57 mm ZiS-2 anti-tank gun encountered previously on the [[ZiS-30]]. The mounting has a very limited amount of gun depression and traverse due to the small size of the ASU-57. The gun itself has a fairly fast reload, which is a good thing since it is not uncommon for the first penetrating hit to not completely destroy the target.

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" width="100%"
|-
! colspan="5" | [[Ch-51M (57 mm)|57 mm Ch-51M]] || colspan="5" | Turret rotation speed (°/s) || colspan="4" | Reloading rate (seconds)
|-
! Mode !! Capacity !! Vertical !! Horizontal !! Stabilizer
! Stock !! Upgraded !! Full !! Expert !! Aced
! Stock !! Full !! Expert !! Aced
|-
! ''Arcade''
| rowspan="2" | 30 || rowspan="2" | -5°/+12° || rowspan="2" | ±8° || rowspan="2" | N/A || 10.57 || 14.63 || 17.76 || 19.64 || 20.89 || rowspan="2" | 6.50 || rowspan="2" | 5.75 || rowspan="2" | 5.30 || rowspan="2" | 5.00
|-
! ''Realistic''
| 7.14 || 8.40 || 10.20 || 11.28 || 12.00
|-
|}

==== Ammunition ====

* '''BR-271SP''': APBC; a solid shot with a good penetration but no explosive filler. It is your stock shell, use it until you unlock the BR-271M.
* '''BR-271M''': APCBC; an armour-piercing round with ballistic cap and explosive filler. It will punch through most targets frontally and its explosive filler will take out most targets in a single shot. This should be your main shell once you unlock it.
* '''BR-271N''': APCR; a composite round with a slightly increased penetration but no explosive filler and will only penetrate flat vertical surfaces. The small added penetration (a few mm) does not make a viable ammo choice to deal with heavily armoured targets.
* '''O-271''': HE; a slow round with a high explosive mass useful for taking out the crew of open-topped vehicles. As it won't consistently kill SPAAGs due to the small calibre and low explosive mass, don't try to hunt these vehicles as they will kill you much faster than you will.

{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center" width="100%"
! colspan="8" | Penetration statistics
|-
! rowspan="2" data-sort-type="text" | Ammunition
! rowspan="2" | Type of warhead
! colspan="6" | '''Penetration @ 0° Angle of Attack (mm)'''
|-
! 10 m !! 100 m !! 500 m !! 1,000 m !! 1,500 m !! 2,000 m
|-
| BR-271SP || APBC || 142 || 139 || 126 || 111 || 98 || 87
|-
| BR-271M || APCBC || 155 || 151 || 135 || 118 || 102 || 89
|-
| O-271 || HE || 5 || 5 || 5 || 5 || 5 || 5
|-
| BR-271N || APCR || 159 || 155 || 140 || 123 || 108 || 94
|-
|}

{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center" width="100%"
! colspan="10" | Shell details
|-
! rowspan="2" data-sort-type="text" | Ammunition
! rowspan="2" | Type of warhead
! rowspan="2" | Velocity (m/s)
! rowspan="2" | Projectile Mass (kg)
! rowspan="2" | Fuse delay (m)
! rowspan="2" | Fuse sensitivity (mm)
! rowspan="2" | Explosive Mass (TNT equivalent) (g)
! colspan="3" | Ricochet
|-
! 0% !! 50% !! 100%
|-
| BR-271SP || APBC || 975 || 3.14 || N/A || N/A || N/A || 48° || 63° || 71°
|-
| BR-271M || APCBC || 1,020 || 2.8 || 1.2 || 9 || 20.02 || 48° || 63° || 71°
|-
| O-271 || HE || 695 || 3.72 || 0.4 || 0.01 || 220 || 79° || 80° || 81°
|-
| BR-271N || APCR || 1,125 || 2.4 || N/A || N/A || N/A || 66° || 70° || 72°
|-
|}

==== [[Ammo racks]] ====
[[File:Ammoracks_{{PAGENAME}}.png|right|thumb|x250px|[[Ammo racks]] of the {{PAGENAME}}]]
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! Full ammo
! 1st rack empty
! 2nd rack empty
! 3rd rack empty
! Visual discrepancy
|-
| '''30''' || 25 ''(+5)'' || 19 ''(+11)'' || 1 ''(+29)'' || No
|-
|}

Right side empty: 19 ''(+11)''

== Usage in battles ==


One of the smallest tracked vehicles in the game, weighing only 3.3 tons, the ASU-57's complete lack of armour makes it extremely vulnerable. Its only defense is its small size, making it extremely difficult to notice, let alone hit. It accelerates quickly and is very nimble for a turretless tank destroyer.

The ASU-57 is very difficult but can be very rewarding and fun to play. It is not recommended for arcade battles, as its primary advantage, stealth, is lost. The ASU-57 is a master of stealth, famed and beloved by the community for its ability to sneak up on tanks using its extremely small size. When using the ASU-57, objects that other tanks would ignore or simply drive over are capable of completely hiding the vehicle, making ambushes and surprise attacks the specialty of the ASU-57. This size comes at a cost, however, as the ASU-57 is extremely vulnerable to almost anything that can shoot at it. Aircraft are especially dangerous due to the open crew compartment.

The ASU-57 is best used as an ambusher/flanker, executing surprise attacks from unexpected locations other vehicles would struggle or be unable to reach. The ASU-57 is incredibly short, and by driving up next to an enemy it can render the enemy tank completely helpless, as almost no vehicle has enough gun depression to reach it. For this reason, it is recommended to only go after isolated vehicles, as an enemy teammate will be able to assist their ally by destroying the ASU-57. For the maximum efficiency of this tactic, knock out the driver of the enemy vehicle, then rush up to their side before they can bring their gun to bear.

Sniping can also be a very good tactic, thanks to the amazing velocity of BR-271M (over 1000m/s) and consequently penetration, also thanks to your very low profile you are very hard to spot/hit at far range. Be carefull though when versing american vehicles as they can just spray their .50 cals at you, shredding you even at long range.

Enemies worth noting:

As the ASU-57 can penetrate most enemies frontaly, it does not makes much of a difference what youre facing- it can kill you, you can kill it. There still are some enemies more dangerous than others.

* Panther D, Tiger H1: in uptiers you can see those two big cats. The Panthers UFP is immune to all your rounds, aim for the gun mantlet. For the Tiger aim for front hull if flat as you can punch right through, if angled aim for the turret and hope for pen, even though in this situation you better just retreat.

It is also interesting to note that the ASU-57 is the lowest ranked vehicle in the game with access to night vision devices.

=== Pros and cons ===


'''Pros:'''

* Tiny size; difficult to spot and hit
* Smallest of bushes are able to hide the tank
* Armour is too thin to trigger APHE fuses
* Excellent mobility
* Most powerful 57 mm gun in the game
* Lowest ranked vehicle that has access to NVDs
* Given all the abilities of a light tank (scouting, help repair)
* Very short; so most tanks can't kill it with their main gun up close

'''Cons:'''

* Virtually no armour, can be hull-broken, and 12.7 mm will chew right through it
* Even 7.62 machine guns can penetrate the armor at close range.
* Low ammunition capacity
* Extremely vulnerable to aircraft
* 57 mm gun rarely destroys vehicles with one shot
* Zero stabilisation and extremely bouncy suspension, making quick shoot and scoots difficult
* Poor gun depression and horizontal traverse
* Gun located at the bottom of the vehicle, meaning in order to fire the whole tank must be exposed
* NVDs are only available in 3rd person or in the Commander's view

== History ==

===Development===
In mid-1940s, sometime either late in World War II or post-war, a proposal was made to develop a vehicle for the airborne troops. The vehicle was to be a lightweight assault gun able to support the paratroopers by being transportable by air. The task was given to two design bureaus, OKB-40 headed by Nikolaj Astrov in Mytischi and the other to Anatoly Karvtsev in Moscow. Astrov designed his vehicle as the ''ASU-76'', armed with a 76 mm D-56T gun. The design ended up being too heavy and its armour way too thin for adequate protection and was cancelled. Kartsev's project was the ''K-73'' which was amphibious and used a 57 mm Ch-51 anti-tank gun as its armament. This was even more thinly armoured than the ASU-76 and was also cancelled.

In 1949, Astrov was able to continue work on his design, but with specifications that the vehicle be made lighter and use the 57 mm Ch-51 gun instead due to its anti-tank performances. The redesigned vehicle was labeled ''Object 572'' and passed the test phases in 1949. It was formally accepted for service as the '''ASU-57''' in 1951 and production lasted from 1950 to 1952 with amounts produced up to a thousand.

===Usage===
The ASU-57, as an airborne vehicle, was made to be air-dropped from planes and land via a rocket-assisted parachute. It was then crewed by its airborne crew and support the airborne troops in their operation. Each airborne division had 54 vehicles at its disposal. It proved successful despite its weak armour and small caliber as this type of vehicle was invaluable in the hands of airborne troops, able to use a mobile artillery vehicle behind enemy lines. The ASU-57 stayed in service in the Soviet Airborne Forces for around 20 years before being replaced by the [[ASU-85]].

The ASU-57 was also given out to the Soviet Union's allies from 1960s to 70s. Such included Egypt, East Germany, North Korea, Poland, Sahrawi Republic, Vietnam, Yugoslavia, and Ethiopia.

== Media ==


;Skins

* [https://live.warthunder.com/feed/camouflages/?vehicleCountry=ussr&vehicleType=tank&vehicleClass=tank_destroyer&vehicle=ussr_asu_57 Skins and camouflages for the {{PAGENAME}} from live.warthunder.com.]

;Videos
{{Youtube-gallery|YuBjyMQLRy0|'''Airmobile tanks''' discusses the {{PAGENAME}} at 1:18 - ''War Thunder Official Channel''|W1VPU4wqfkI|'''{{PAGENAME}} Tank Review''' - ''NUSensei''|i-V5rB5UOgA|'''ASU-57 Soviet Airborne Tank Destroyer''' - ''yolkhere''}}

== See also ==


;Other vehicles of similar configuration and role

* [[SU-57B]]
* [[ASU-85]]

== External links ==


* [[wt:en/news/3724-development-asu-57-air-delivery-en/|[Devblog] ASU-57: Air Delivery]]
* [[Wikipedia:ASU-57|[Wikipedia] ASU-57]]

{{USSR tank destroyers}}

ASU-57

2021-05-05T14:33:57Z

U109009388: /* Main armament */

{{Specs-Card
|code=ussr_asu_57
|images={{Specs-Card-Image|GarageImage_{{PAGENAME}}.jpg}}
}}

== Description ==

The '''{{Specs|name}}''' is a rank {{Specs|rank}} Soviet tank destroyer {{Battle-rating}}. It was introduced in [[Update 1.59 "Flaming Arrows"]]. It was designed as an airborne self-propelled gun to provide fire support and anti-tank capability for the VDV (''Vozdushno-Desantnye Voyska''), the Soviet airborne forces.

== General info ==
=== Survivability and armour ===
{{Specs-Tank-Armour}}

Due to the weight restrictions necessary for air portability, the ASU-57 has nearly no armour to speak of, and the side armour can be penetrated by even rifle-calibre machine guns. It has no armoured roof, and is thus extremely vulnerable to strafing runs by aircraft.

'''Armour type:'''

* Rolled homogeneous armour

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Armour !! Front (Slope angle) !! Sides !! Rear (Slope angle) !! Roof !! Belly
|-
| Body || 6 mm (21-65°) ''Front Plate'' 6 mm (38°) ''Lower glacis'' || 4 mm || 6 mm (9°) || 5 mm || 6 mm
|-
|}
'''Notes:'''

* Suspension wheels are 10 mm thick, tracks are 15 mm thick

=== Mobility ===
{{Specs-Tank-Mobility}}


{{tankMobility|abMinHp=78|rbMinHp=49}}

While the ASU-57 has a top speed below 50 km/h, it has an excellent power/weight ratio that allows the vehicle to accelerate very quickly to reach its top speed. It is thus very mobile and turns very quickly. However, it has a poor reverse speed of only 5 km/h, which makes it hard to back up into cover or away from a threat.

=== Modifications and economy ===
{{Specs-Economy}}

== Armaments ==
{{Specs-Tank-Armaments}}
=== Main armament ===
{{Specs-Tank-Weapon|1}}

{{main|Ch-51M (57 mm)}}

The ASU-57 is armed with the '''57 mm Ch-51M''', a derivative of the 57 mm ZiS-2 anti-tank gun encountered previously on the [[ZiS-30]]. The mounting has a very limited amount of gun depression and traverse due to the small size of the ASU-57. The gun itself has a fairly fast reload, which is a good thing since it is not uncommon for the first penetrating hit to not completely destroy the target.

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" width="100%"
|-
! colspan="5" | [[Ch-51M (57 mm)|57 mm Ch-51M]] || colspan="5" | Turret rotation speed (°/s) || colspan="4" | Reloading rate (seconds)
|-
! Mode !! Capacity !! Vertical !! Horizontal !! Stabilizer
! Stock !! Upgraded !! Full !! Expert !! Aced
! Stock !! Full !! Expert !! Aced
|-
! ''Arcade''
| rowspan="2" | 30 || rowspan="2" | -5°/+12° || rowspan="2" | ±8° || rowspan="2" | N/A || 10.57 || 14.63 || 17.76 || 19.64 || 20.89 || rowspan="2" | 6.50 || rowspan="2" | 5.75 || rowspan="2" | 5.30 || rowspan="2" | 5.00
|-
! ''Realistic''
| 7.14 || 8.40 || 10.20 || 11.28 || 12.00
|-
|}

==== Ammunition ====

* '''BR-271SP''': APBC; a solid shot with a good penetration but no explosive filler. It is your stock shell, use it until you unlock the BR-271M.
* '''BR-271M''': APCBC; an armour-piercing round with ballistic cap and explosive filler. It will punch through most targets frontally and its explosive filler will take out most targets in a single shot. This should be your main shell once you unlock it.
* '''BR-271N''': APCR; a composite round with a slightly increased penetration but no explosive filler and will only penetrate flat vertical surfaces. The small added penetration (a few mm) does not make a viable ammo choice to deal with heavily armoured targets.
* '''O-271''': HE; a slow round with a high explosive mass useful for taking out the crew of open-topped vehicles. As it won't consistently kill SPAAGs due to the small calibre and low explosive mass, don't try to hunt these vehicles as they will kill you much faster than you will.

{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center" width="100%"
! colspan="8" | Penetration statistics
|-
! rowspan="2" data-sort-type="text" | Ammunition
! rowspan="2" | Type of warhead
! colspan="6" | '''Penetration @ 0° Angle of Attack (mm)'''
|-
! 10 m !! 100 m !! 500 m !! 1,000 m !! 1,500 m !! 2,000 m
|-
| BR-271SP || APBC || 142 || 139 || 126 || 111 || 98 || 87
|-
| BR-271M || APCBC || 155 || 151 || 135 || 118 || 102 || 89
|-
| O-271 || HE || 5 || 5 || 5 || 5 || 5 || 5
|-
| BR-271N || APCR || 159 || 155 || 140 || 123 || 108 || 94
|-
|}

{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center" width="100%"
! colspan="10" | Shell details
|-
! rowspan="2" data-sort-type="text" | Ammunition
! rowspan="2" | Type of warhead
! rowspan="2" | Velocity (m/s)
! rowspan="2" | Projectile Mass (kg)
! rowspan="2" | Fuse delay (m)
! rowspan="2" | Fuse sensitivity (mm)
! rowspan="2" | Explosive Mass (TNT equivalent) (g)
! colspan="3" | Ricochet
|-
! 0% !! 50% !! 100%
|-
| BR-271SP || APBC || 975 || 3.14 || N/A || N/A || N/A || 48° || 63° || 71°
|-
| BR-271M || APCBC || 1,020 || 2.8 || 1.2 || 9 || 20.02 || 48° || 63° || 71°
|-
| O-271 || HE || 695 || 3.72 || 0.4 || 0.01 || 220 || 79° || 80° || 81°
|-
| BR-271N || APCR || 1,125 || 2.4 || N/A || N/A || N/A || 66° || 70° || 72°
|-
|}

==== [[Ammo racks]] ====
[[File:Ammoracks_{{PAGENAME}}.png|right|thumb|x250px|[[Ammo racks]] of the {{PAGENAME}}]]
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! Full ammo
! 1st rack empty
! 2nd rack empty
! 3rd rack empty
! Visual discrepancy
|-
| '''30''' || 25 ''(+5)'' || 19 ''(+11)'' || 1 ''(+29)'' || No
|-
|}

Right side empty: 19 ''(+11)''

== Usage in battles ==


One of the smallest tracked vehicles in the game, weighing only 3.3 tons, the ASU-57's complete lack of armour makes it extremely vulnerable. Its only defense is its small size, making it extremely difficult to notice, let alone hit. It accelerates quickly and is very nimble for a turretless tank destroyer.

The ASU-57 is very difficult but can be very rewarding and fun to play. It is not recommended for arcade battles, as its primary advantage, stealth, is lost. The ASU-57 is a master of stealth, famed and beloved by the community for its ability to sneak up on tanks using its extremely small size. When using the ASU-57, objects that other tanks would ignore or simply drive over are capable of completely hiding the vehicle, making ambushes and surprise attacks the specialty of the ASU-57. This size comes at a cost, however, as the ASU-57 is extremely vulnerable to almost anything that can shoot at it. Aircraft are especially dangerous due to the open crew compartment.

The ASU-57 is best used as an ambusher/flanker, executing surprise attacks from unexpected locations other vehicles would struggle or be unable to reach. The ASU-57 is incredibly short, and by driving up next to an enemy it can render the enemy tank completely helpless, as almost no vehicle has enough gun depression to reach it. For this reason, it is recommended to only go after isolated vehicles, as an enemy teammate will be able to assist their ally by destroying the ASU-57. For the maximum efficiency of this tactic, knock out the driver of the enemy vehicle, then rush up to their side before they can bring their gun to bear.

It is also interesting to note that the ASU-57 is the lowest ranked vehicle in the game with access to night vision devices.

=== Pros and cons ===


'''Pros:'''

* Tiny size; difficult to spot and hit
* Smallest of bushes are able to hide the tank
* Armour is too thin to trigger APHE fuses
* Excellent mobility
* Most powerful 57 mm gun in the game
* Lowest ranked vehicle that has access to NVDs
* Given all the abilities of a light tank (scouting, help repair)
* Very short; so most tanks can't kill it with their main gun up close

'''Cons:'''

* Virtually no armour, can be hull-broken, and 12.7 mm will chew right through it
* Even 7.62 machine guns can penetrate the armor at close range.
* Low ammunition capacity
* Extremely vulnerable to aircraft
* 57 mm gun rarely destroys vehicles with one shot
* Zero stabilisation and extremely bouncy suspension, making quick shoot and scoots difficult
* Poor gun depression and horizontal traverse
* Gun located at the bottom of the vehicle, meaning in order to fire the whole tank must be exposed
* NVDs are only available in 3rd person or in the Commander's view

== History ==

===Development===
In mid-1940s, sometime either late in World War II or post-war, a proposal was made to develop a vehicle for the airborne troops. The vehicle was to be a lightweight assault gun able to support the paratroopers by being transportable by air. The task was given to two design bureaus, OKB-40 headed by Nikolaj Astrov in Mytischi and the other to Anatoly Karvtsev in Moscow. Astrov designed his vehicle as the ''ASU-76'', armed with a 76 mm D-56T gun. The design ended up being too heavy and its armour way too thin for adequate protection and was cancelled. Kartsev's project was the ''K-73'' which was amphibious and used a 57 mm Ch-51 anti-tank gun as its armament. This was even more thinly armoured than the ASU-76 and was also cancelled.

In 1949, Astrov was able to continue work on his design, but with specifications that the vehicle be made lighter and use the 57 mm Ch-51 gun instead due to its anti-tank performances. The redesigned vehicle was labeled ''Object 572'' and passed the test phases in 1949. It was formally accepted for service as the '''ASU-57''' in 1951 and production lasted from 1950 to 1952 with amounts produced up to a thousand.

===Usage===
The ASU-57, as an airborne vehicle, was made to be air-dropped from planes and land via a rocket-assisted parachute. It was then crewed by its airborne crew and support the airborne troops in their operation. Each airborne division had 54 vehicles at its disposal. It proved successful despite its weak armour and small caliber as this type of vehicle was invaluable in the hands of airborne troops, able to use a mobile artillery vehicle behind enemy lines. The ASU-57 stayed in service in the Soviet Airborne Forces for around 20 years before being replaced by the [[ASU-85]].

The ASU-57 was also given out to the Soviet Union's allies from 1960s to 70s. Such included Egypt, East Germany, North Korea, Poland, Sahrawi Republic, Vietnam, Yugoslavia, and Ethiopia.

== Media ==


;Skins

* [https://live.warthunder.com/feed/camouflages/?vehicleCountry=ussr&vehicleType=tank&vehicleClass=tank_destroyer&vehicle=ussr_asu_57 Skins and camouflages for the {{PAGENAME}} from live.warthunder.com.]

;Videos
{{Youtube-gallery|YuBjyMQLRy0|'''Airmobile tanks''' discusses the {{PAGENAME}} at 1:18 - ''War Thunder Official Channel''|W1VPU4wqfkI|'''{{PAGENAME}} Tank Review''' - ''NUSensei''|i-V5rB5UOgA|'''ASU-57 Soviet Airborne Tank Destroyer''' - ''yolkhere''}}

== See also ==


;Other vehicles of similar configuration and role

* [[SU-57B]]
* [[ASU-85]]

== External links ==


* [[wt:en/news/3724-development-asu-57-air-delivery-en/|[Devblog] ASU-57: Air Delivery]]
* [[Wikipedia:ASU-57|[Wikipedia] ASU-57]]

{{USSR tank destroyers}}

ASU-57

2021-04-06T10:30:36Z

U109009388: /* Ammunition */

{{Specs-Card
|code=ussr_asu_57
|images={{Specs-Card-Image|GarageImage_{{PAGENAME}}.jpg}}
}}

== Description ==

The '''{{Specs|name}}''' is a rank {{Specs|rank}} Soviet tank destroyer {{Battle-rating}}. It was introduced in [[Update 1.59 "Flaming Arrows"]]. It was designed as an airborne self-propelled gun to provide fire support and anti-tank capability for the VDV (''Vozdushno-Desantnye Voyska''), the Soviet airborne forces.

== General info ==
=== Survivability and armour ===
{{Specs-Tank-Armour}}

Due to the weight restrictions necessary for air portability, the ASU-57 has nearly no armour to speak of, and the side armour can be penetrated by even rifle-calibre machine guns. It has no armoured roof, and is thus extremely vulnerable to strafing runs by aircraft.

'''Armour type:'''

* Rolled homogeneous armour

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Armour !! Front (Slope angle) !! Sides !! Rear (Slope angle) !! Roof !! Belly
|-
| Body || 6 mm (21-65°) ''Front Plate'' 6 mm (38°) ''Lower glacis'' || 4 mm || 6 mm (9°) || 5 mm || 6 mm
|-
|}
'''Notes:'''

* Suspension wheels are 10 mm thick, tracks are 15 mm thick

=== Mobility ===
{{Specs-Tank-Mobility}}


{{tankMobility|abMinHp=78|rbMinHp=49}}

While the ASU-57 has a top speed below 50 km/h, it has an excellent power/weight ratio that allows the vehicle to accelerate very quickly to reach its top speed. It is thus very mobile and turns very quickly. However, it has a poor reverse speed of only 5 km/h, which makes it hard to back up into cover or away from a threat.

=== Modifications and economy ===
{{Specs-Economy}}

== Armaments ==
{{Specs-Tank-Armaments}}
=== Main armament ===
{{Specs-Tank-Weapon|1}}

{{main|Ch-51M (57 mm)}}

The ASU-57 is armed with the '''57 mm Ch-51M''', a derivative of the 57 mm ZiS-2 anti-tank gun encountered previously on the [[ZiS-30]]. The mounting has a very limited amount of gun depression and traverse due to the small size of the ASU-57. The gun itself has a fairly fast reload, which is a good thing since it is not uncommon for the first penetrating hit to not completely destroy the target.

The gun starts off with the '''BR-271SP''' APBC shot. This round has no explosive filler, but has a respectable amount of penetration and surprisingly decent post-penetration damage due to spalling. The '''BR-271M''' APCBC shell does have an explosive filler, but at the cost of lower penetration than the stock APBC round. The '''BR-271N''' APCR shot has the best penetration, but also does a pitiful amount of damage upon penetration and also performs very poorly against sloped armour.

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" width="100%"
|-
! colspan="5" | [[Ch-51M (57 mm)|57 mm Ch-51M]] || colspan="5" | Turret rotation speed (°/s) || colspan="4" | Reloading rate (seconds)
|-
! Mode !! Capacity !! Vertical !! Horizontal !! Stabilizer
! Stock !! Upgraded !! Full !! Expert !! Aced
! Stock !! Full !! Expert !! Aced
|-
! ''Arcade''
| rowspan="2" | 30 || rowspan="2" | -5°/+12° || rowspan="2" | ±8° || rowspan="2" | N/A || 10.57 || 14.63 || 17.76 || 19.64 || 20.89 || rowspan="2" | 6.50 || rowspan="2" | 5.75 || rowspan="2" | 5.30 || rowspan="2" | 5.00
|-
! ''Realistic''
| 7.14 || 8.40 || 10.20 || 11.28 || 12.00
|-
|}

==== Ammunition ====
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center" width="100%"
! colspan="8" | Penetration statistics
|-
! rowspan="2" data-sort-type="text" | Ammunition
! rowspan="2" | Type of warhead
! colspan="6" | '''Penetration @ 0° Angle of Attack (mm)'''
|-
! 10 m !! 100 m !! 500 m !! 1,000 m !! 1,500 m !! 2,000 m
|-
| BR-271SP || APBC || 142 || 139 || 126 || 111 || 98 || 87
|-
| BR-271M || APCBC || 155 || 151 || 135 || 118 || 102 || 89
|-
| O-271 || HE || 5 || 5 || 5 || 5 || 5 || 5
|-
| BR-271N || APCR || 159 || 155 || 140 || 123 || 108 || 94
|-
|}

* BR-271SP: Your stock shell. Pens well but has subpar post-pen damage. Use it until you unlock the, in every way better BR-271M.
* BR-271M- This shell will punch through most targets frontaly, 20g of TNT equivalent will make one-shots common, but not guaranteed. Will also detonate ammo much better than BR-271SP. This one should be your main shell once you unlock it.
* BR-271N- Pretty much useless, brings only 4-5mm of pen, and a mere 100m/s more velocity more then BR-271M, but loses explosive filler, and has awfull dealing with angles.
* O-271- Your HE round, usefull against AA, but it won't consistently kill AA down the small calibre, and explosive mass. Don't try to hunt AA with that- they will kill you much faster the you will them, you should rather avoid them.

{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center" width="100%"
! colspan="10" | Shell details
|-
! rowspan="2" data-sort-type="text" | Ammunition
! rowspan="2" | Type of warhead
! rowspan="2" | Velocity (m/s)
! rowspan="2" | Projectile Mass (kg)
! rowspan="2" | Fuse delay (m)
! rowspan="2" | Fuse sensitivity (mm)
! rowspan="2" | Explosive Mass (TNT equivalent) (g)
! colspan="3" | Ricochet
|-
! 0% !! 50% !! 100%
|-
| BR-271SP || APBC || 975 || 3.14 || N/A || N/A || N/A || 48° || 63° || 71°
|-
| BR-271M || APCBC || 1,020 || 2.8 || 1.2 || 9 || 20.02 || 48° || 63° || 71°
|-
| O-271 || HE || 695 || 3.72 || 0.4 || 0.01 || 220 || 79° || 80° || 81°
|-
| BR-271N || APCR || 1,125 || 2.4 || N/A || N/A || N/A || 66° || 70° || 72°
|-
|}

==== [[Ammo racks]] ====
[[File:Ammoracks_{{PAGENAME}}.png|right|thumb|x250px|[[Ammo racks]] of the {{PAGENAME}}]]
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! Full ammo
! 1st rack empty
! 2nd rack empty
! 3rd rack empty
! Visual discrepancy
|-
| '''30''' || 25 ''(+5)'' || 19 ''(+11)'' || 1 ''(+29)'' || No
|-
|}

Right side empty: 19 ''(+11)''

== Usage in battles ==


One of the smallest tracked vehicles in the game, weighing only 3.3 tons, the ASU-57's complete lack of armour makes it extremely vulnerable. Its only defense is its small size, making it extremely difficult to notice, let alone hit. It accelerates quickly and is very nimble for a turretless tank destroyer.

The ASU-57 is very difficult but can be very rewarding and fun to play. It is not recommended for arcade battles, as its primary advantage, stealth, is lost. The ASU-57 is a master of stealth, famed and beloved by the community for its ability to sneak up on tanks using its extremely small size. When using the ASU-57, objects that other tanks would ignore or simply drive over are capable of completely hiding the vehicle, making ambushes and surprise attacks the specialty of the ASU-57. This size comes at a cost, however, as the ASU-57 is extremely vulnerable to almost anything that can shoot at it. Aircraft are especially dangerous due to the open crew compartment.

The ASU-57 is best used as an ambusher/flanker, executing surprise attacks from unexpected locations other vehicles would struggle or be unable to reach. The ASU-57 is incredibly short, and by driving up next to an enemy it can render the enemy tank completely helpless, as almost no vehicle has enough gun depression to reach it. For this reason, it is recommended to only go after isolated vehicles, as an enemy teammate will be able to assist their ally by destroying the ASU-57. For the maximum efficiency of this tactic, knock out the driver of the enemy vehicle, then rush up to their side before they can bring their gun to bear.

It is also interesting to note that the ASU-57 is the lowest ranked vehicle in the game with access to night vision devices.

=== Pros and cons ===


'''Pros:'''

* Tiny size; difficult to spot and hit
* Smallest of bushes are able to hide the tank
* Armour is too thin to trigger APHE fuses
* Excellent mobility
* Most powerful 57 mm gun in the game
* Lowest ranked vehicle that has access to NVDs
* Given all the abilities of a light tank (scouting, help repair)
* Very short; so most tanks can't kill it with their main gun up close

'''Cons:'''

* Virtually no armour, can be hull-broken, and 12.7 mm will chew right through it
* Even 7.62 machine guns can penetrate the armor at close range.
* Low ammunition capacity
* Extremely vulnerable to aircraft
* 57 mm gun rarely destroys vehicles with one shot
* Prone to hull break
* Zero stabilisation and extremely bouncy suspension, making quick shoot and scoots difficult
* Poor gun depression and horizontal traverse
* Gun located at the bottom of the vehicle, meaning in order to fire the whole tank must be exposed
* NVDs are only available in 3rd person or in the Commander's view

== History ==

===Development===
In mid-1940s, sometime either late in World War II or post-war, a proposal was made to develop a vehicle for the airborne troops. The vehicle was to be a lightweight assault gun able to support the paratroopers by being transportable by air. The task was given to two design bureaus, OKB-40 headed by Nikolaj Astrov in Mytischi and the other to Anatoly Karvtsev in Moscow. Astrov designed his vehicle as the ''ASU-76'', armed with a 76 mm D-56T gun. The design ended up being too heavy and its armour way too thin for adequate protection and was cancelled. Kartsev's project was the ''K-73'' which was amphibious and used a 57 mm Ch-51 anti-tank gun as its armament. This was even more thinly armoured than the ASU-76 and was also cancelled.

In 1949, Astrov was able to continue work on his design, but with specifications that the vehicle be made lighter and use the 57 mm Ch-51 gun instead due to its anti-tank performances. The redesigned vehicle was labeled ''Object 572'' and passed the test phases in 1949. It was formally accepted for service as the '''ASU-57''' in 1951 and production lasted from 1950 to 1952 with amounts produced up to a thousand.

===Usage===
The ASU-57, as an airborne vehicle, was made to be air-dropped from planes and land via a rocket-assisted parachute. It was then crewed by its airborne crew and support the airborne troops in their operation. Each airborne division had 54 vehicles at its disposal. It proved successful despite its weak armour and small caliber as this type of vehicle was invaluable in the hands of airborne troops, able to use a mobile artillery vehicle behind enemy lines. The ASU-57 stayed in service in the Soviet Airborne Forces for around 20 years before being replaced by the [[ASU-85]].

The ASU-57 was also given out to the Soviet Union's allies from 1960s to 70s. Such included Egypt, East Germany, North Korea, Poland, Sahrawi Republic, Vietnam, Yugoslavia, and Ethiopia.

== Media ==


;Skins

* [https://live.warthunder.com/feed/camouflages/?vehicleCountry=ussr&vehicleType=tank&vehicleClass=tank_destroyer&vehicle=ussr_asu_57 Skins and camouflages for the {{PAGENAME}} from live.warthunder.com.]

;Videos
{{Youtube-gallery|YuBjyMQLRy0|'''Airmobile tanks''' discusses the {{PAGENAME}} at 1:18 - ''War Thunder Official Channel''|i-V5rB5UOgA|'''ASU-57 Soviet Airborne Tank Destroyer''' - ''yolkhere''}}

== See also ==


;Other vehicles of similar configuration and role

* [[SU-57B]]
* [[ASU-85]]

== External links ==


* [[wt:en/news/3724-development-asu-57-air-delivery-en/|[Devblog] ASU-57: Air Delivery]]
* [[Wikipedia:ASU-57|[Wikipedia] ASU-57]]

{{USSR tank destroyers}}

Object 268

2021-04-03T19:39:51Z

U109009388: /* Usage in battles */

{{Specs-Card
|code=ussr_object_268
|images={{Specs-Card-Image|GarageImage_{{PAGENAME}}.jpg}}
}}

== Description ==

The '''{{Specs|name}}''' is a rank {{Specs|rank}} Soviet tank destroyer {{Battle-rating}}. It was introduced in [[Update 1.69 "Regia Aeronautica"]]. The Object 268 is a self-propelled gun based on the T-10M heavy tank featuring a 152 mm M-64 cannon.

== General info ==
=== Survivability and armour ===
{{Specs-Tank-Armour}}

Overall, the armour protection of the hull, as it is a T-10 hull, has very good protection for most rounds it will face at the battle-rating, most of this being APDS and APCBC. When not angled, the pike is able to deflect and stop APDS and full calibre kinetic rounds. However, chemical rounds such as HEAT and ATGM will have no issues penetrating the hull. Moving to the turret, it is poorly armoured even against APDS, it may stop APCBC shells but should not be relied on to stop HEAT and ATGM.

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Armour !! Front !! Sides !! Rear !! Roof
|-
| Hull || 120 mm (57°) ''Front glacis''
120 mm (49°) ''Lower glacis''
40/60 mm (78-79°) ''Driver's port''
| 80 mm (0-42°)
| 60 mm (52-56°)
| 30 mm (84-90°) ''Engine Deck''
5 mm (13-14°) ''Vents''
|-
| Superstructure || 187 mm (0-27°) ''Turret front''
157 mm (50-61°) ''Gun mantlet''
| 100 mm (20°) || 50 mm (13-14°) || 30 mm (81-89°)
|-
| Cupola || 40 mm || 40 mm
|40 mm
|40 mm
|}

=== Mobility ===
{{Specs-Tank-Mobility}}


Mobility-wise, as it is a T-10 with a heavier gun and turret, it lacks speed as well as agility. However, the horsepower generated by the engine makes this a beast when moving obstacles and even dead tanks. The mass can be seen as a pro and a con. Due to heavy mass, it has more traction and will not be flipped by explosions or pushed so easily by tanks. However, the mass drastically reduces the top speed as well as the acceleration. Overall, it is a heavier, slower and less agile T-10.

{{tankMobility|abMinHp=1,065|rbMinHp=663}}

=== Modifications and economy ===
{{Specs-Economy}}

== Armaments ==
{{Specs-Tank-Armaments}}
=== Main armament ===
{{Specs-Tank-Weapon|1}}

{{main|M-64 (152 mm)}}

The Object 268 is fitted with the 152 mm M-64 cannon, a very fearsome weapon at this BR with three potent rounds that are capable of destroying virtually any vehicle in the game, as long as the operator is skilled in its use. The ammunition loadout consists of HE, APHEBC and HEAT, all three of which are excellent solutions to various situations in a battle.

This 152 mm cannon has an excellent reload speed at 22.2s stock and 17.1s with an Ace crew, which means it has massively increased firepower compared to the similarly-tiered IS-3, which has a reload rate of 27.7s stock and 24.0s Aced.

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" width="100%"
|-
! colspan="5" | [[M-64 (152 mm)|152 mm M-64]] || colspan="5" | Turret rotation speed (°/s) || colspan="4" | Reloading rate (seconds)
|-
! Mode !! Capacity !! Vertical !! Horizontal !! Stabilizer
! Stock !! Upgraded !! Full !! Expert !! Aced
! Stock !! Full !! Expert !! Aced
|-
! ''Arcade''
| rowspan="2" | 35 || rowspan="2" | -5°/+15° || rowspan="2" | ±6° || rowspan="2" | N/A || 7.0 || 8.26 ||11.8||13.1||13.9|| rowspan="2" | 22.3 || rowspan="2" | 19.7 || rowspan="2" | 18.2 || rowspan="2" | 17.1
|-
! ''Realistic''
| 4.8 || 5.6 ||6.8||7.5|| 8.0
|-
|}

==== Ammunition ====
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center" width="100%"
! colspan="8" | Penetration statistics
|-
! rowspan="2" data-sort-type="text" | Ammunition
! rowspan="2" | Type of warhead
! colspan="6" | '''Penetration @ 0° Angle of Attack (mm)'''
|-
! 10 m !! 100 m !! 500 m !! 1,000 m !! 1,500 m !! 2,000 m
|-
| OF-540 || HE || 49 || 49 || 49 || 49 || 49 || 49
|-
| BR-540B || APHEBC || 233 || 230 || 220 || 208 || 197 || 186
|-
| BP-540 || HEAT || 250 || 250 || 250 || 250 || 250 || 250
|-
|}
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center" width="100%"
! colspan="10" | Shell details
|-
! rowspan="2" data-sort-type="text" | Ammunition
! rowspan="2" | Type of warhead
! rowspan="2" | Velocity (m/s)
! rowspan="2" | Projectile Mass (kg)
! rowspan="2" | Fuse delay (m)
! rowspan="2" | Fuse sensitivity (mm)
! rowspan="2" | Explosive Mass (TNT equivalent) (g)
! colspan="3" | Ricochet
|-
! 0% !! 50% !! 100%
|-
| OF-540 || HE || 750 || 43.56 || 0.1 || 0.5 || 5,900 || 79° || 80° || 81°
|-
| BR-540B || APHEBC || 760 || 48.96 || 1.2 || 19.0 || 1,020 || 48° || 63° || 71°
|-
| BP-540 || HEAT || 770 || 27.67 || 0.0 || 0.1 || 5,910 || 62° || 69° || 73°
|-
|}

==== [[Ammo racks]] ====

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! Full ammo
! Ammo type
! 1st rack empty
! 2nd rack empty
! 3rd rack empty
! 4th rack empty
! 5th rack empty
! 6th rack empty
! Visual discrepancy
|-
| '''35''' || ''Projectiles'' ''Propellants'' || 29 ''(+6)'' 33 ''(+2)'' || 27 ''(+8)'' 30 ''(+5)'' || 18 ''(+17)'' 27 ''(+8)'' || 1 ''(+34)'' 18 ''(+17)'' || ''N/A'' 13 ''(+22)'' || ''N/A'' 1 ''(+34)'' || No
|-
|}
[[File:Ammoracks_{{PAGENAME}}.png|right|thumb|x250px|[[Ammo racks]] of the {{PAGENAME}}]]
'''Notes''':

* The {{PAGENAME}} uses two-piece ammunition, composed of projectiles (yellow) and propellant bags (orange). Both have separate racks.
* Projectiles and propellant bags are modeled individually and disappear after having been shot or loaded.
* For the projectiles:
** Rack 4 is a first stage ammo rack. It totals 17 projectiles and gets filled first when loading up the tank.
** This rack is also emptied early: the rack depletion order at full capacity is: 4 - 1 - 2 - 3.
* For the propellant bags:
** Racks 5 and 6 are first stage ammo racks. They total 17 charges and get filled first when loading up the tank.
** These racks are also emptied early: the rack depletion order at full capacity is: 6 - 5 - 1 - 2 - 3 - 4.
* Simply not firing when the gun is loaded will move ammunition from other racks into ready racks. Firing will interrupt the restocking of the ready racks.

=== Machine guns ===
{{Specs-Tank-Weapon|2}}

{{main|KPVT (14.5 mm)}}

The Object 268 is armed with a single 14.5 mm KPVT heavy machine gun manned by the commander. It is highly effective in dispatching lightly armoured vehicles and defending from air attacks. It can even potentially damage or destroy enemy gun barrels. However, this machine gun is loaded with 50 round belts, which only allows for a few short bursts punctuated with a lengthy reload.

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! colspan="5" | [[KPVT (14.5 mm)|14.5 mm KPVT]]
|-
! Mount
! Capacity (Belt capacity)
! Fire rate (shots/minute)
! Vertical guidance
! Horizontal guidance
|-
| Pintle || 500 (50) || 600 || -5°/+85° || ±180°
|-
|}

== Usage in battles ==

The Object 268 is far from being a frontline tank '''when in uptier''', meaning it has to stay away from the enemy LoS (line of sight) due to the long reload and relatively. This does not mean it should be taken all the way through the outskirts of a map to get into position (can be done but not recommended on all maps). It should be used as a sniper in long range maps and a support vehicle in the rest. It is able to defend itself pretty well if a good defensive position is found or set. All CQC (close quarters combat) should be avoided as the lack of turret invites enemy tanks to flank you from all sides but frontally which is the only side you can defend yourself from. Some places in CQC environments (urban areas, city ravines, etc) can be used as stroke point (holding a full street waiting for someone to push if that street is the only access point) due to its powerful gun and decent armour. This tank faces almost nothing that can be a hard cookie to crack.

'''List of opponents important notes when facing frontally:'''

* [[Panzer V Panther (Family)|Panther]]/[[M48 Patton (Family)|M48]]/[[M26 (Family)|Pershing]]: all front can be penetrated by both rounds
* [[M60 (Family)|M60]]: gun mantlet can be penetrated by '''BR540B.'''
* [[Tiger II (Family)|Tiger II]]: gun mantlet can be penetrated by all rounds as well as hull (aim at right side of the turret if the tank is facing at you for a safe reload)
* [[Centurion (Family)|Centurion]]: all front can be penetrated with all rounds
* [[M103]]: hull has to be penetrated by BP540, center of mass shot has to be done frontally as the hull and turret are curvy, hull is unpenetrable by all rounds
* [[T32]]/[[T32E1]]: gun mantlet and hull have to be penetrated by BP540, aim at lower half of the frontal glacis to fire at ammunition rack
* [[Maus]]/[[E-100]]: gun mantlet has to be penetrated by BP540 hull is inpenetrable by all rounds.
* [[Jagdtiger]]: gun mantlet has to be penetrated by BP540, hull can be penetrated by both rounds
* [[Leopard 1 (Family)|Leopard 1]]/[[AMX-30 (Family)|AMX-30]]: all front can be penetrated with '''BR540B''' and higher penetration rounds
* [[T95]]: gun mantlet and hull have to be penetrated by BP540

=== Pros and cons ===


'''Pros:'''

* Excellent frontal protection, the armour is more than 250 mm thick in most places and can deflect virtually any kinetic energy projectile at its BR with ease.
* Single frontal weakspot is relatively small and easy to conceal with bushes.
* Excellent firepower, with a fast-firing 152 mm and a 14.5 mm machine gun, which is perfect for dealing with light tanks and dissuading enemy air support.
* Impressive mobility in a straight line.
* All ammunition types remain effective at long ranges, solving an issue that persists with many Russian tanks at this BR.
* Side armour of the casemate is an excellent 100 mm, which can afford you to engage targets from multiple directions without having to worry about exposing weaker side armour.
* The original reload speed is retained with the loss of one loader.
* Has access to a unlockable Rangefinder modification, increasing its already impressive performance at longer ranges.

'''Cons:'''

* Large and boxy profile makes the Object 268 relatively easy to spot.
* Unimpressive turning ability makes it difficult to deal with flanking enemies at closer ranges, and nearly impossible to counter targets directly behind the vehicle.
* Large ammo racks on the sides and rear of the vehicle's casemate make flanking shots extremely lethal and usually unforgiving.
* Firing the cannon kicks up a massive dust cloud, making the vehicle easy to spot when its firing from a concealed position.
* The 14.5 mm KPV machine gun cannot point directly to the vehicle's left side, as its traverse is blocked by the rangefinder and cupola.
* Small weakspot next to the gun is a flat 187 mm area, and is usually lethal if penetrated.
* Shells have low velocity for its battle rating

== History ==


=== Development ===
The '''Object 268''' self-propelled gun was one of the many derivative designs of the ''T-10'' heavy tank. The concept began on 2 July 1952 at the Leningrad Kirov Plant on the order of the Council of Ministers USSR.<ref name="Kinnear1" /> The Object 268 would follow in the same line of doctrine as had the earlier Soviet self-propelled guns of World War II, the ''SU-100'', ''-122'', and ''-152''. This contrasted with the Western concept of a self-propelled gun being used as an artillery piece rather than the Soviet usage as a tank destroyer.<ref name="Kinnear1" /> There had been earlier attempts at converting a heavy tank to a self-propelled gun, using the chassis of the ''IS-4'' and ''IS-7'', but those had not been fully developed and were cancelled. The IS-4 production was running too slowly and the IS-7 had been too complex to manufacture in large numbers.<ref name="Kinnear2" /> The Leningrad Kirov Plant worked to produce an SPG on the T-10 chassis by combining it with the 152 mm M-48 cannon, which had high velocity and was much more powerful than earlier 152 mm cannons. Drawing work led to the ''Object 730'' SPG which would be paired with the M-53 cannon, a parallel development to the M-48.<ref name="Kinnear3" />

The Object 730 SPG had five different variants drawn up with each one being unique. Version No.1 was a front mounted casemate design which would be developed into the Object 268. Version No.2 had a rear casemate with the main armament using a drum magazine at the rear of the fighting compartment and the engine at the front of the vehicle.<ref name="Kinnear4" /> Version No.3 abandoned the casemate design and used a conventional turret with all ammunition being stored in the rear of the turret.<ref name="Kinnear4" /> Version No.4 was a slightly modified No.2 with a lengthened hull, addition of a second loader (bringing the crew to five) and a new cupola with a rangefinder and machine gun.<ref name="Kinnear5" /> Version No.5, likewise, was a reworked No.3 to also bring the crew to five and the addition of a 14.5 mm KPV machine gun, along with it using the same engine as would be used in the T-10M.<ref name="Kinnear6" /> Versions No.4 and 5 were rejected due to being too drastic of changes to the base design, and it was decided to go with a slightly modified Version No.1 with the same engine as the T-10M.<ref name="Kinnear7" />

=== Final Design and Prototype ===
The final design for the Object 268 was presented to the committee in June 1953 using technical drawings and a scale model, which was approved on 25 August by A.I. Radzievsky.<ref name="Kinnear7" /> This would be armed with the 152 mm M-64 cannon along with a 14.5 mm KPVT machine gun on the roof of the casemate, along with a stereoscopic rangefinder. While the crew was kept at five (having two loaders), it was intended to have a crew of four as soon as an automated loading mechanism could be made for the M-64 cannon.<ref name="Kinnear7" /> The main armament was being slowly developed due to being lower priority than 122 mm development, but the M-64 was created by taking the M-53 cannon and slightly shortening it while still maintaining a muzzle velocity of 750 m/s.<ref name="Kinnear8" /> The final drawings for the Object 268 were finalized in June 1954, reviewed in August and construction on prototypes had begun in March 1955.

Work continued on the M-64 cannon, with the prototype being completed in December 1955 and one being sent to Leningrad for installation into the Object 268 in February 1956. The prototype Object 268 was finally completed in March 1956 and was also still modified from the final drawings, as it was decided to use flat steel plates for the roof and rear of the casemate rather than the originally planned rounded plates as well modifications to allow the main armament to be installed and removed.<ref name="Kinnear9" />

=== Completed Vehicle and Cancellation ===
The completed Object 268 prototype was armed with the 152.4 mm M-64 cannon, built at the Leningrad plant, using the TSh-2A "Sharik" sight for direct fire and the ZiS-3 panoramic sight.<ref name="Kinnear10" /> A TKD-09 stereoscopic rangefinder was mounted on the roof of the casemate along with a 14.5 mm KPVT heavy machine gun in a rotating ring above the gunner's hatch.<ref name="Kinnear10" /> Full ammunition load was 35 rounds, with AP and HE-FRAG being available. The range at which a target could be engaged in direct fire was 900 meters with a maximum indirect fire range of 13,000 meters.<ref name="Kinnear10" /> The hull of the Object 268 was 120 mm thick of RHA and the casemate was 187 mm. The engine used was the V-12-6 generating 750 HP, as well as using the same transmission as the T-10. Weight of the tank was 50 tonnes with a maximum speed of 48 km/h.

The Object 268 was ultimately cancelled, largely due to internal problems associated with the development of Soviet tanks. By the time the prototype was completed and trials had finished it was approaching the end of 1957 and even further development had been done. These designs had specifications and characteristics that were more advanced that the Object 268 and would have been so well protected that the M-64 cannon would have difficulty in taking them out.<ref name="Kinnear11" /> It was expected that the Western tank development would also be able to defend against the Object 268, and the T-10 heavy tank had already begun production which could have caused issues if tank plants were made to manufacture a different version at the same time. In addition, a major shift in Soviet doctrine to incorporate more usage of anti-tank guided missiles, which had just been created in the Soviet Union in 1956.<ref name="Kinnear11" /> The Object 268 was not accepted for mass production and further development of the Object 268 was halted, with only the single prototype having been made. It remains in the Kubinka tank polygon and museum.

== Media ==


;Skins

* [https://live.warthunder.com/feed/camouflages/?vehicleCountry=ussr&vehicleType=tank&vehicleClass=tank_destroyer&vehicle=ussr_object_268 Skins and camouflages for the {{PAGENAME}} from live.warthunder.com.]

;Videos
{{Youtube-gallery|xF4-TcnyWw0|'''Best tank destroyers''' discusses the {{PAGENAME}} at 2:35 - ''War Thunder Official Channel''|zgrD_zQYWpc|'''{{PAGENAME}} Tank Review''' - ''NUSensei''|JXG_ov-Prr0|'''{{PAGENAME}}- Tank Review''' - ''Napalmratte''}}

== See also ==


* [[T-10M]] - Object 268 was developed on the hull of the T-10
* [[ISU-152]] - Object 268 was intended as the successor to the ISU-152

== External links ==


* Kinnear, James and Stephen L. Sewell. ''Soviet T-10 Heavy Tank and Variants.'' Oxford: Osprey Publishing, 2017.

=== References ===
<references>
<ref name="Kinnear1">James Kinnear and Stephen L. Sewell, ''Soviet T-10 Heavy Tank and Variants'' (Oxford: Osprey Publishing, 2017), p. 113.</ref>
<ref name="Kinnear2">ibid. p. 114.</ref>
<ref name="Kinnear3">ibid. p. 114-115.</ref>
<ref name="Kinnear4">ibid. p. 115.</ref>
<ref name="Kinnear5">ibid. p. 116.</ref>
<ref name="Kinnear6">ibid. p. 117.</ref>
<ref name="Kinnear7">ibid. p. 118.</ref>
<ref name="Kinnear8">ibid. p. 119.</ref>
<ref name="Kinnear9">ibid. p. 121.</ref>
<ref name="Kinnear10">ibid. p. 122-123.</ref>
<ref name="Kinnear11">ibid. p. 124-125.</ref>
</references>

{{USSR tank destroyers}}

Object 268

2021-04-03T19:39:00Z

U109009388: /* Usage in battles */

{{Specs-Card
|code=ussr_object_268
|images={{Specs-Card-Image|GarageImage_{{PAGENAME}}.jpg}}
}}

== Description ==

The '''{{Specs|name}}''' is a rank {{Specs|rank}} Soviet tank destroyer {{Battle-rating}}. It was introduced in [[Update 1.69 "Regia Aeronautica"]]. The Object 268 is a self-propelled gun based on the T-10M heavy tank featuring a 152 mm M-64 cannon.

== General info ==
=== Survivability and armour ===
{{Specs-Tank-Armour}}

Overall, the armour protection of the hull, as it is a T-10 hull, has very good protection for most rounds it will face at the battle-rating, most of this being APDS and APCBC. When not angled, the pike is able to deflect and stop APDS and full calibre kinetic rounds. However, chemical rounds such as HEAT and ATGM will have no issues penetrating the hull. Moving to the turret, it is poorly armoured even against APDS, it may stop APCBC shells but should not be relied on to stop HEAT and ATGM.

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Armour !! Front !! Sides !! Rear !! Roof
|-
| Hull || 120 mm (57°) ''Front glacis''
120 mm (49°) ''Lower glacis''
40/60 mm (78-79°) ''Driver's port''
| 80 mm (0-42°)
| 60 mm (52-56°)
| 30 mm (84-90°) ''Engine Deck''
5 mm (13-14°) ''Vents''
|-
| Superstructure || 187 mm (0-27°) ''Turret front''
157 mm (50-61°) ''Gun mantlet''
| 100 mm (20°) || 50 mm (13-14°) || 30 mm (81-89°)
|-
| Cupola || 40 mm || 40 mm
|40 mm
|40 mm
|}

=== Mobility ===
{{Specs-Tank-Mobility}}


Mobility-wise, as it is a T-10 with a heavier gun and turret, it lacks speed as well as agility. However, the horsepower generated by the engine makes this a beast when moving obstacles and even dead tanks. The mass can be seen as a pro and a con. Due to heavy mass, it has more traction and will not be flipped by explosions or pushed so easily by tanks. However, the mass drastically reduces the top speed as well as the acceleration. Overall, it is a heavier, slower and less agile T-10.

{{tankMobility|abMinHp=1,065|rbMinHp=663}}

=== Modifications and economy ===
{{Specs-Economy}}

== Armaments ==
{{Specs-Tank-Armaments}}
=== Main armament ===
{{Specs-Tank-Weapon|1}}

{{main|M-64 (152 mm)}}

The Object 268 is fitted with the 152 mm M-64 cannon, a very fearsome weapon at this BR with three potent rounds that are capable of destroying virtually any vehicle in the game, as long as the operator is skilled in its use. The ammunition loadout consists of HE, APHEBC and HEAT, all three of which are excellent solutions to various situations in a battle.

This 152 mm cannon has an excellent reload speed at 22.2s stock and 17.1s with an Ace crew, which means it has massively increased firepower compared to the similarly-tiered IS-3, which has a reload rate of 27.7s stock and 24.0s Aced.

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" width="100%"
|-
! colspan="5" | [[M-64 (152 mm)|152 mm M-64]] || colspan="5" | Turret rotation speed (°/s) || colspan="4" | Reloading rate (seconds)
|-
! Mode !! Capacity !! Vertical !! Horizontal !! Stabilizer
! Stock !! Upgraded !! Full !! Expert !! Aced
! Stock !! Full !! Expert !! Aced
|-
! ''Arcade''
| rowspan="2" | 35 || rowspan="2" | -5°/+15° || rowspan="2" | ±6° || rowspan="2" | N/A || 7.0 || 8.26 ||11.8||13.1||13.9|| rowspan="2" | 22.3 || rowspan="2" | 19.7 || rowspan="2" | 18.2 || rowspan="2" | 17.1
|-
! ''Realistic''
| 4.8 || 5.6 ||6.8||7.5|| 8.0
|-
|}

==== Ammunition ====
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center" width="100%"
! colspan="8" | Penetration statistics
|-
! rowspan="2" data-sort-type="text" | Ammunition
! rowspan="2" | Type of warhead
! colspan="6" | '''Penetration @ 0° Angle of Attack (mm)'''
|-
! 10 m !! 100 m !! 500 m !! 1,000 m !! 1,500 m !! 2,000 m
|-
| OF-540 || HE || 49 || 49 || 49 || 49 || 49 || 49
|-
| BR-540B || APHEBC || 233 || 230 || 220 || 208 || 197 || 186
|-
| BP-540 || HEAT || 250 || 250 || 250 || 250 || 250 || 250
|-
|}
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center" width="100%"
! colspan="10" | Shell details
|-
! rowspan="2" data-sort-type="text" | Ammunition
! rowspan="2" | Type of warhead
! rowspan="2" | Velocity (m/s)
! rowspan="2" | Projectile Mass (kg)
! rowspan="2" | Fuse delay (m)
! rowspan="2" | Fuse sensitivity (mm)
! rowspan="2" | Explosive Mass (TNT equivalent) (g)
! colspan="3" | Ricochet
|-
! 0% !! 50% !! 100%
|-
| OF-540 || HE || 750 || 43.56 || 0.1 || 0.5 || 5,900 || 79° || 80° || 81°
|-
| BR-540B || APHEBC || 760 || 48.96 || 1.2 || 19.0 || 1,020 || 48° || 63° || 71°
|-
| BP-540 || HEAT || 770 || 27.67 || 0.0 || 0.1 || 5,910 || 62° || 69° || 73°
|-
|}

==== [[Ammo racks]] ====

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! Full ammo
! Ammo type
! 1st rack empty
! 2nd rack empty
! 3rd rack empty
! 4th rack empty
! 5th rack empty
! 6th rack empty
! Visual discrepancy
|-
| '''35''' || ''Projectiles'' ''Propellants'' || 29 ''(+6)'' 33 ''(+2)'' || 27 ''(+8)'' 30 ''(+5)'' || 18 ''(+17)'' 27 ''(+8)'' || 1 ''(+34)'' 18 ''(+17)'' || ''N/A'' 13 ''(+22)'' || ''N/A'' 1 ''(+34)'' || No
|-
|}
[[File:Ammoracks_{{PAGENAME}}.png|right|thumb|x250px|[[Ammo racks]] of the {{PAGENAME}}]]
'''Notes''':

* The {{PAGENAME}} uses two-piece ammunition, composed of projectiles (yellow) and propellant bags (orange). Both have separate racks.
* Projectiles and propellant bags are modeled individually and disappear after having been shot or loaded.
* For the projectiles:
** Rack 4 is a first stage ammo rack. It totals 17 projectiles and gets filled first when loading up the tank.
** This rack is also emptied early: the rack depletion order at full capacity is: 4 - 1 - 2 - 3.
* For the propellant bags:
** Racks 5 and 6 are first stage ammo racks. They total 17 charges and get filled first when loading up the tank.
** These racks are also emptied early: the rack depletion order at full capacity is: 6 - 5 - 1 - 2 - 3 - 4.
* Simply not firing when the gun is loaded will move ammunition from other racks into ready racks. Firing will interrupt the restocking of the ready racks.

=== Machine guns ===
{{Specs-Tank-Weapon|2}}

{{main|KPVT (14.5 mm)}}

The Object 268 is armed with a single 14.5 mm KPVT heavy machine gun manned by the commander. It is highly effective in dispatching lightly armoured vehicles and defending from air attacks. It can even potentially damage or destroy enemy gun barrels. However, this machine gun is loaded with 50 round belts, which only allows for a few short bursts punctuated with a lengthy reload.

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! colspan="5" | [[KPVT (14.5 mm)|14.5 mm KPVT]]
|-
! Mount
! Capacity (Belt capacity)
! Fire rate (shots/minute)
! Vertical guidance
! Horizontal guidance
|-
| Pintle || 500 (50) || 600 || -5°/+85° || ±180°
|-
|}

== Usage in battles ==

The Object 268 is far from being a frontline tank '''when in uptier''', meaning it has to stay away from the enemy LoS (line of sight) due to the long reload and relatively. This does not mean it should be taken all the way through the outskirts of a map to get into position (can be done but not recommended on all maps). It should be used as a sniper in long range maps and a support vehicle in the rest. It is able to defend itself pretty well if a good defensive position is found or set. All CQC (close quarters combat) should be avoided as the lack of turret invites enemy tanks to flank you from all sides but frontally which is the only side you can defend yourself from. Some places in CQC environments (urban areas, city ravines, etc) can be used as stroke point (holding a full street waiting for someone to push if that street is the only access point) due to its powerful gun and decent armour. This tank faces almost nothing that can be a hard cookie to crack.

'''List of opponents important notes when facing frontally:'''

* [[Panzer V Panther (Family)|Panther]]/[[M48 Patton (Family)|M48]]/[[M26 (Family)|Pershing]]: all front can be penetrated by both rounds
* [[M60 (Family)|M60]]: gun mantlet can be penetrated by '''BR540B.'''
* [[Tiger II (Family)|Tiger II]]: gun mantlet can be penetrated by all rounds as well as hull (aim at right side of the turret if the tank is facing at you for a safe reload)
* [[Centurion (Family)|Centurion]]: all front can be penetrated with all rounds
* [[M103]]: hull has to be penetrated by BP540, center of mass shot has to be done frontally as the hull and turret are curvy, hull is unpenetrable by all rounds
* [[T32]]/[[T32E1]]: gun mantlet and hull have to be penetrated by BP540, aim at lower half of the frontal glacis to fire at ammunition rack
* [[Maus]]/[[E-100]]: gun mantlet has to be penetrated by BP540 hull is inpenetrable by all rounds.
* [[Jagdtiger]]: gun mantlet has to be penetrated by BP540, hull can be penetrated by both rounds
* [[Leopard 1 (Family)|Leopard 1]]/[[AMX-30 (Family)|AMX-30]]: all front can be penetrated with '''BR540B''' and higher penetration rounds
* [[T95]]: gun mantlet and hull have to be penetrated by BR540

=== Pros and cons ===


'''Pros:'''

* Excellent frontal protection, the armour is more than 250 mm thick in most places and can deflect virtually any kinetic energy projectile at its BR with ease.
* Single frontal weakspot is relatively small and easy to conceal with bushes.
* Excellent firepower, with a fast-firing 152 mm and a 14.5 mm machine gun, which is perfect for dealing with light tanks and dissuading enemy air support.
* Impressive mobility in a straight line.
* All ammunition types remain effective at long ranges, solving an issue that persists with many Russian tanks at this BR.
* Side armour of the casemate is an excellent 100 mm, which can afford you to engage targets from multiple directions without having to worry about exposing weaker side armour.
* The original reload speed is retained with the loss of one loader.
* Has access to a unlockable Rangefinder modification, increasing its already impressive performance at longer ranges.

'''Cons:'''

* Large and boxy profile makes the Object 268 relatively easy to spot.
* Unimpressive turning ability makes it difficult to deal with flanking enemies at closer ranges, and nearly impossible to counter targets directly behind the vehicle.
* Large ammo racks on the sides and rear of the vehicle's casemate make flanking shots extremely lethal and usually unforgiving.
* Firing the cannon kicks up a massive dust cloud, making the vehicle easy to spot when its firing from a concealed position.
* The 14.5 mm KPV machine gun cannot point directly to the vehicle's left side, as its traverse is blocked by the rangefinder and cupola.
* Small weakspot next to the gun is a flat 187 mm area, and is usually lethal if penetrated.
* Shells have low velocity for its battle rating

== History ==


=== Development ===
The '''Object 268''' self-propelled gun was one of the many derivative designs of the ''T-10'' heavy tank. The concept began on 2 July 1952 at the Leningrad Kirov Plant on the order of the Council of Ministers USSR.<ref name="Kinnear1" /> The Object 268 would follow in the same line of doctrine as had the earlier Soviet self-propelled guns of World War II, the ''SU-100'', ''-122'', and ''-152''. This contrasted with the Western concept of a self-propelled gun being used as an artillery piece rather than the Soviet usage as a tank destroyer.<ref name="Kinnear1" /> There had been earlier attempts at converting a heavy tank to a self-propelled gun, using the chassis of the ''IS-4'' and ''IS-7'', but those had not been fully developed and were cancelled. The IS-4 production was running too slowly and the IS-7 had been too complex to manufacture in large numbers.<ref name="Kinnear2" /> The Leningrad Kirov Plant worked to produce an SPG on the T-10 chassis by combining it with the 152 mm M-48 cannon, which had high velocity and was much more powerful than earlier 152 mm cannons. Drawing work led to the ''Object 730'' SPG which would be paired with the M-53 cannon, a parallel development to the M-48.<ref name="Kinnear3" />

The Object 730 SPG had five different variants drawn up with each one being unique. Version No.1 was a front mounted casemate design which would be developed into the Object 268. Version No.2 had a rear casemate with the main armament using a drum magazine at the rear of the fighting compartment and the engine at the front of the vehicle.<ref name="Kinnear4" /> Version No.3 abandoned the casemate design and used a conventional turret with all ammunition being stored in the rear of the turret.<ref name="Kinnear4" /> Version No.4 was a slightly modified No.2 with a lengthened hull, addition of a second loader (bringing the crew to five) and a new cupola with a rangefinder and machine gun.<ref name="Kinnear5" /> Version No.5, likewise, was a reworked No.3 to also bring the crew to five and the addition of a 14.5 mm KPV machine gun, along with it using the same engine as would be used in the T-10M.<ref name="Kinnear6" /> Versions No.4 and 5 were rejected due to being too drastic of changes to the base design, and it was decided to go with a slightly modified Version No.1 with the same engine as the T-10M.<ref name="Kinnear7" />

=== Final Design and Prototype ===
The final design for the Object 268 was presented to the committee in June 1953 using technical drawings and a scale model, which was approved on 25 August by A.I. Radzievsky.<ref name="Kinnear7" /> This would be armed with the 152 mm M-64 cannon along with a 14.5 mm KPVT machine gun on the roof of the casemate, along with a stereoscopic rangefinder. While the crew was kept at five (having two loaders), it was intended to have a crew of four as soon as an automated loading mechanism could be made for the M-64 cannon.<ref name="Kinnear7" /> The main armament was being slowly developed due to being lower priority than 122 mm development, but the M-64 was created by taking the M-53 cannon and slightly shortening it while still maintaining a muzzle velocity of 750 m/s.<ref name="Kinnear8" /> The final drawings for the Object 268 were finalized in June 1954, reviewed in August and construction on prototypes had begun in March 1955.

Work continued on the M-64 cannon, with the prototype being completed in December 1955 and one being sent to Leningrad for installation into the Object 268 in February 1956. The prototype Object 268 was finally completed in March 1956 and was also still modified from the final drawings, as it was decided to use flat steel plates for the roof and rear of the casemate rather than the originally planned rounded plates as well modifications to allow the main armament to be installed and removed.<ref name="Kinnear9" />

=== Completed Vehicle and Cancellation ===
The completed Object 268 prototype was armed with the 152.4 mm M-64 cannon, built at the Leningrad plant, using the TSh-2A "Sharik" sight for direct fire and the ZiS-3 panoramic sight.<ref name="Kinnear10" /> A TKD-09 stereoscopic rangefinder was mounted on the roof of the casemate along with a 14.5 mm KPVT heavy machine gun in a rotating ring above the gunner's hatch.<ref name="Kinnear10" /> Full ammunition load was 35 rounds, with AP and HE-FRAG being available. The range at which a target could be engaged in direct fire was 900 meters with a maximum indirect fire range of 13,000 meters.<ref name="Kinnear10" /> The hull of the Object 268 was 120 mm thick of RHA and the casemate was 187 mm. The engine used was the V-12-6 generating 750 HP, as well as using the same transmission as the T-10. Weight of the tank was 50 tonnes with a maximum speed of 48 km/h.

The Object 268 was ultimately cancelled, largely due to internal problems associated with the development of Soviet tanks. By the time the prototype was completed and trials had finished it was approaching the end of 1957 and even further development had been done. These designs had specifications and characteristics that were more advanced that the Object 268 and would have been so well protected that the M-64 cannon would have difficulty in taking them out.<ref name="Kinnear11" /> It was expected that the Western tank development would also be able to defend against the Object 268, and the T-10 heavy tank had already begun production which could have caused issues if tank plants were made to manufacture a different version at the same time. In addition, a major shift in Soviet doctrine to incorporate more usage of anti-tank guided missiles, which had just been created in the Soviet Union in 1956.<ref name="Kinnear11" /> The Object 268 was not accepted for mass production and further development of the Object 268 was halted, with only the single prototype having been made. It remains in the Kubinka tank polygon and museum.

== Media ==


;Skins

* [https://live.warthunder.com/feed/camouflages/?vehicleCountry=ussr&vehicleType=tank&vehicleClass=tank_destroyer&vehicle=ussr_object_268 Skins and camouflages for the {{PAGENAME}} from live.warthunder.com.]

;Videos
{{Youtube-gallery|xF4-TcnyWw0|'''Best tank destroyers''' discusses the {{PAGENAME}} at 2:35 - ''War Thunder Official Channel''|zgrD_zQYWpc|'''{{PAGENAME}} Tank Review''' - ''NUSensei''|JXG_ov-Prr0|'''{{PAGENAME}}- Tank Review''' - ''Napalmratte''}}

== See also ==


* [[T-10M]] - Object 268 was developed on the hull of the T-10
* [[ISU-152]] - Object 268 was intended as the successor to the ISU-152

== External links ==


* Kinnear, James and Stephen L. Sewell. ''Soviet T-10 Heavy Tank and Variants.'' Oxford: Osprey Publishing, 2017.

=== References ===
<references>
<ref name="Kinnear1">James Kinnear and Stephen L. Sewell, ''Soviet T-10 Heavy Tank and Variants'' (Oxford: Osprey Publishing, 2017), p. 113.</ref>
<ref name="Kinnear2">ibid. p. 114.</ref>
<ref name="Kinnear3">ibid. p. 114-115.</ref>
<ref name="Kinnear4">ibid. p. 115.</ref>
<ref name="Kinnear5">ibid. p. 116.</ref>
<ref name="Kinnear6">ibid. p. 117.</ref>
<ref name="Kinnear7">ibid. p. 118.</ref>
<ref name="Kinnear8">ibid. p. 119.</ref>
<ref name="Kinnear9">ibid. p. 121.</ref>
<ref name="Kinnear10">ibid. p. 122-123.</ref>
<ref name="Kinnear11">ibid. p. 124-125.</ref>
</references>

{{USSR tank destroyers}}

SARC MkVI (6pdr)

2021-03-24T13:18:07Z

U109009388: /* Mobility */

{{Specs-Card
|code=uk_marmon_herrington_mk_6_6pdr
|images={{Specs-Card-Image|GarageImage_{{PAGENAME}}.jpg}}
}}

== Description ==

The '''{{Specs|name}}''' is a rank {{Specs|rank}} British light tank {{Battle-rating}}. It was introduced in [[Update "Ixwa Strike"]].

With an improvement in firepower and yet very fast, this latter SARC variant covers most of the cons of the earlier 2-pounder version, almost without new disadvantages; perfect for admirers of fast or scouting vehicles such as the [[Cromwell I]] and [[Crusader III]].

While externally the SARC MkVI 6-pounder might not seem intimidating to some players, the potential of these light tanks should not be undervalued under any circumstances. The well-known 57 mm QF gun is capable of precisely and quickly dispatching even the heaviest of the tanks at the battle rating, such as the mighty KV-1 series.

The less advantageous aspect remains the sacrifices in the armour of the SARC chassis and the reduced crew inside the fighting compartment. This shortage of armour sends the tank straight to flanking and ambushing tactics, away from prolonged frontal engagements. It only takes a well-aimed shot to the turret to be back on the garage.

== General info ==
=== Survivability and armour ===
Being a light tank, one probably won't expect much from the SARC in terms of armour and overall survivability, and rightfully so-

while it can survive some MG fire from the front, HMGs will pen the sides, quickly destroying the SARC , autocannoms are even more dangerous, they will shred through it, tearing the SARC to pieces. Shots fired from non-automatic weaponry will sometimes just pass through the vehicle knocking out only a crewmember or two, don't rely on that though. The SARC is not a vehicle to be shot at in.

'''Armour type:'''


{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Armour !! Front (Slope angle) !! Sides !! Rear !! Roof
|-
| Hull || ___ mm || ___ mm ''Top'' ___ mm ''Bottom'' || ___ mm || ___ - ___ mm
|-
| Turret || ___ - ___ mm ''Turret front'' ___ mm ''Gun mantlet'' || ___ - ___ mm || ___ - ___ mm || ___ - ___ mm
|-
| Cupola || ___ mm || ___ mm || ___ mm || ___ mm
|-
|}

'''Notes:''' 


=== Mobility ===
Having a good power to weight ratio of 17 hp/ton, allowing it to reach a respectable top speed of over 60kph fairly quickly- on roads, that is,

off road, however being wheeled, light and lacking an impressively powerfull engine the SARC will struggle progressing through mud, snow

or over hills, furthermore as to its lightweight the SARC can get slowed down considerably or even stopped by minor obstacles (walls, trees, though fences...) which contemporary Medium Tanks would just run through, with next to no loss of speed. Thanks to its good acceleration that speed can be regained fairly quickly. Of course wheels don't turn on the spot, so that maneuvering in confined spaces can be difficult and time consuming. {{Specs-Tank-Mobility}}


{{tankMobility|abMinHp=294|rbMinHp=168}}

=== Modifications and economy ===
{{Specs-Economy}}

== Armaments ==
{{Specs-Tank-Armaments}}
=== Main armament ===
{{Specs-Tank-Weapon|1}}

{{main|6pdr OQF Mk.III (57 mm)}}

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" width="100%"
|-
! colspan="5" | [[6pdr OQF Mk.III (57 mm)|57 mm 6pdr OQF Mk.III]] || colspan="5" | Turret rotation speed (°/s) || colspan="4" | Reloading rate (seconds)
|-
! Mode !! Capacity !! Vertical !! Horizontal !! Stabilizer
! Stock !! Upgraded !! Full !! Expert !! Aced
! Stock !! Full !! Expert !! Aced
|-
! ''Arcade''
| rowspan="2" | 60 || rowspan="2" | -10°/+20° || rowspan="2" | ±180° || rowspan="2" | Shoulder || 34.3 || 47.4 || 57.6 || 63.7 || 67.8 || rowspan="2" | 5.20 || rowspan="2" | 4.60 || rowspan="2" | 4.24 || rowspan="2" | 4.00
|-
! ''Realistic''
| 21.4 || 25.2 || 30.6 || 33.8 || 36.0
|-
|}

==== Ammunition ====
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center" width="100%"
! colspan="8" | Penetration statistics
|-
! rowspan="2" data-sort-type="text" | Ammunition
! rowspan="2" | Type of warhead
! colspan="6" | Penetration @ 0° Angle of Attack (mm)
|-
! 10 m !! 100 m !! 500 m !! 1,000 m !! 1,500 m !! 2,000 m
|-
| Shot Mk.5 || AP || 101 || 97 || 82 || 66 || 53 || 43
|-
| Shell Mk.10 || HE || 9 || 9 || 9 || 9 || 9 || 9
|-
| Shot Mk.5 HV || AP || 108 || 104 || 87 || 70 || 57 || 46
|-
| Shot Mk.8 || APC || 110 || 106 || 89 || 72 || 59 || 48
|-
| Shot Mk.9 || APCBC || 122 || 118 || 101 || 84 || 70 || 58
|-
|}
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center" width="100%"
! colspan="10" | Shell details
|-
! rowspan="2" data-sort-type="text" | Ammunition
! rowspan="2" | Type of warhead
! rowspan="2" | Velocity (m/s)
! rowspan="2" | Projectile Mass (kg)
! rowspan="2" | Fuse delay (m)
! rowspan="2" | Fuse sensitivity (mm)
! rowspan="2" | Explosive Mass (TNT equivalent) (g)
! colspan="3" | Ricochet
|-
! 0% !! 50% !! 100%
|-
| Shot Mk.5 || AP || 815 || 2.8 || N/A || N/A || N/A || 47° || 60° || 65°
|-
| Shell Mk.10 || HE || 655 || 2.72 || 0 || 0.1 || 590 || 79° || 80° || 81°
|-
| Shot Mk.5 HV || AP || 853 || 2.8 || N/A || N/A || N/A || 47° || 60° || 65°
|-
| Shot Mk.8 || APC || 853 || 2.87 || N/A || N/A || N/A || 48° || 63° || 71°
|-
| Shot Mk.9 || APCBC || 801 || 3.23 || N/A || N/A || N/A || 48° || 63° || 71°
|-
|}

==== [[Ammo racks]] ====


{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! Full ammo
! 1st rack empty
! 2nd rack empty
! 3rd rack empty
! 4th rack empty
! 5th rack empty
! 6th rack empty
! Visual discrepancy
|-
| '''60''' || __ ''(+__)'' || __ ''(+__)'' || __ ''(+__)'' || __ ''(+__)'' || __ ''(+__)'' || __ ''(+__)'' || __
|-
|}

=== Machine guns ===
{{Specs-Tank-Weapon|2}}
{{Specs-Tank-Weapon|3}}

{{main|M2HB (12.7 mm)|BESA (7.92 mm)}}

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" width="50%"
|-
! colspan="5" | [[M2HB (12.7 mm)|12.7 mm M2HB]]
|-
! Mount !! Capacity (Belt) !! Fire rate !! Vertical !! Horizontal
|-
| Pintle || 500 (200) || 577 || -5°/+40° || ±180°
|-
|}
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" width="50%"
|-
! colspan="5" | [[BESA (7.92 mm)|7.92 mm BESA]]
|-
! Mount !! Capacity (Belt) !! Fire rate !! Vertical !! Horizontal
|-
| Coaxial || 2,000 (225) || 600 || N/A || N/A
|-
|}

== Usage in battles ==

''Describe the tactics of playing in the vehicle, the features of using vehicles in the team and advice on tactics. Refrain from creating a "guide" - do not impose a single point of view but instead give the reader food for thought. Describe the most dangerous enemies and give recommendations on fighting them. If necessary, note the specifics of the game in different modes (AB, RB, SB).''

=== Pros and cons ===


'''Pros:'''

* Effective firepower with the 6-pdr gun and 12.7 mm HMG
* Fast SARC chassis upon optimal terrains (roads, fields, slopes and cities)
* Frontal turret armour can withstand heavy machine gun with some distance
* Useful amount of smoke grenades (26)
* Advantageous rate of fire of the 57 mm gun, amongst the best at the rank

'''Cons:'''

* Unreliable armour on the sides and open-top
* Just 3 crew members; the vehicle can be easily taken out
* Tall profile + pintle heavy machine gun can give away tank's location
* Limited off-road mobility on snow, mud and sand; typical of most wheeled cars
* Recoil of the 57 mm gun can hinder target acquisition; more notable when firing from the sides

== History ==

''Describe the history of the creation and combat usage of the vehicle in more detail than in the introduction. If the historical reference turns out to be too long, take it to a separate article, taking a link to the article about the vehicle and adding a block "/History" (example: <nowiki>https://wiki.warthunder.com/(Vehicle-name)/History</nowiki>) and add a link to it here using the <code>main</code> template. Be sure to reference text and sources by using <code><nowiki><ref></ref></nowiki></code>, as well as adding them at the end of the article with <code><nowiki><references /></nowiki></code>. This section may also include the vehicle's dev blog entry (if applicable) and the in-game encyclopedia description (under <code><nowiki>=== In-game description ===</nowiki></code>, also if applicable).''

== Media ==

''Excellent additions to the article would be video guides, screenshots from the game, and photos.''

== See also ==


;Related development

* [[SARC MkVI (2pdr)]]

;Tanks equipped with the same gun

* [[Cromwell I]]
* [[Crusader III]]
* [[M4A5]]
* [[Valentine IX]]

== External links ==

''Paste links to sources and external resources, such as:''

* ''topic on the official game forum;''
* ''other literature.''

{{Britain light tanks}}
[[Category:Wheeled ground vehicles]]

SARC MkVI (6pdr)

2021-03-24T13:04:26Z

U109009388: /* Survivability and armour */

{{Specs-Card
|code=uk_marmon_herrington_mk_6_6pdr
|images={{Specs-Card-Image|GarageImage_{{PAGENAME}}.jpg}}
}}

== Description ==

The '''{{Specs|name}}''' is a rank {{Specs|rank}} British light tank {{Battle-rating}}. It was introduced in [[Update "Ixwa Strike"]].

With an improvement in firepower and yet very fast, this latter SARC variant covers most of the cons of the earlier 2-pounder version, almost without new disadvantages; perfect for admirers of fast or scouting vehicles such as the [[Cromwell I]] and [[Crusader III]].

While externally the SARC MkVI 6-pounder might not seem intimidating to some players, the potential of these light tanks should not be undervalued under any circumstances. The well-known 57 mm QF gun is capable of precisely and quickly dispatching even the heaviest of the tanks at the battle rating, such as the mighty KV-1 series.

The less advantageous aspect remains the sacrifices in the armour of the SARC chassis and the reduced crew inside the fighting compartment. This shortage of armour sends the tank straight to flanking and ambushing tactics, away from prolonged frontal engagements. It only takes a well-aimed shot to the turret to be back on the garage.

== General info ==
=== Survivability and armour ===
Being a light tank, one probably won't expect much from the SARC in terms of armour and overall survivability, and rightfully so-

while it can survive some MG fire from the front, HMGs will pen the sides, quickly destroying the SARC , autocannoms are even more dangerous, they will shred through it, tearing the SARC to pieces. Shots fired from non-automatic weaponry will sometimes just pass through the vehicle knocking out only a crewmember or two, don't rely on that though. The SARC is not a vehicle to be shot at in.

'''Armour type:'''


{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Armour !! Front (Slope angle) !! Sides !! Rear !! Roof
|-
| Hull || ___ mm || ___ mm ''Top'' ___ mm ''Bottom'' || ___ mm || ___ - ___ mm
|-
| Turret || ___ - ___ mm ''Turret front'' ___ mm ''Gun mantlet'' || ___ - ___ mm || ___ - ___ mm || ___ - ___ mm
|-
| Cupola || ___ mm || ___ mm || ___ mm || ___ mm
|-
|}

'''Notes:''' 


=== Mobility ===
{{Specs-Tank-Mobility}}


{{tankMobility|abMinHp=294|rbMinHp=168}}

=== Modifications and economy ===
{{Specs-Economy}}

== Armaments ==
{{Specs-Tank-Armaments}}
=== Main armament ===
{{Specs-Tank-Weapon|1}}

{{main|6pdr OQF Mk.III (57 mm)}}

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" width="100%"
|-
! colspan="5" | [[6pdr OQF Mk.III (57 mm)|57 mm 6pdr OQF Mk.III]] || colspan="5" | Turret rotation speed (°/s) || colspan="4" | Reloading rate (seconds)
|-
! Mode !! Capacity !! Vertical !! Horizontal !! Stabilizer
! Stock !! Upgraded !! Full !! Expert !! Aced
! Stock !! Full !! Expert !! Aced
|-
! ''Arcade''
| rowspan="2" | 60 || rowspan="2" | -10°/+20° || rowspan="2" | ±180° || rowspan="2" | Shoulder || 34.3 || 47.4 || 57.6 || 63.7 || 67.8 || rowspan="2" | 5.20 || rowspan="2" | 4.60 || rowspan="2" | 4.24 || rowspan="2" | 4.00
|-
! ''Realistic''
| 21.4 || 25.2 || 30.6 || 33.8 || 36.0
|-
|}

==== Ammunition ====
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center" width="100%"
! colspan="8" | Penetration statistics
|-
! rowspan="2" data-sort-type="text" | Ammunition
! rowspan="2" | Type of warhead
! colspan="6" | Penetration @ 0° Angle of Attack (mm)
|-
! 10 m !! 100 m !! 500 m !! 1,000 m !! 1,500 m !! 2,000 m
|-
| Shot Mk.5 || AP || 101 || 97 || 82 || 66 || 53 || 43
|-
| Shell Mk.10 || HE || 9 || 9 || 9 || 9 || 9 || 9
|-
| Shot Mk.5 HV || AP || 108 || 104 || 87 || 70 || 57 || 46
|-
| Shot Mk.8 || APC || 110 || 106 || 89 || 72 || 59 || 48
|-
| Shot Mk.9 || APCBC || 122 || 118 || 101 || 84 || 70 || 58
|-
|}
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center" width="100%"
! colspan="10" | Shell details
|-
! rowspan="2" data-sort-type="text" | Ammunition
! rowspan="2" | Type of warhead
! rowspan="2" | Velocity (m/s)
! rowspan="2" | Projectile Mass (kg)
! rowspan="2" | Fuse delay (m)
! rowspan="2" | Fuse sensitivity (mm)
! rowspan="2" | Explosive Mass (TNT equivalent) (g)
! colspan="3" | Ricochet
|-
! 0% !! 50% !! 100%
|-
| Shot Mk.5 || AP || 815 || 2.8 || N/A || N/A || N/A || 47° || 60° || 65°
|-
| Shell Mk.10 || HE || 655 || 2.72 || 0 || 0.1 || 590 || 79° || 80° || 81°
|-
| Shot Mk.5 HV || AP || 853 || 2.8 || N/A || N/A || N/A || 47° || 60° || 65°
|-
| Shot Mk.8 || APC || 853 || 2.87 || N/A || N/A || N/A || 48° || 63° || 71°
|-
| Shot Mk.9 || APCBC || 801 || 3.23 || N/A || N/A || N/A || 48° || 63° || 71°
|-
|}

==== [[Ammo racks]] ====


{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! Full ammo
! 1st rack empty
! 2nd rack empty
! 3rd rack empty
! 4th rack empty
! 5th rack empty
! 6th rack empty
! Visual discrepancy
|-
| '''60''' || __ ''(+__)'' || __ ''(+__)'' || __ ''(+__)'' || __ ''(+__)'' || __ ''(+__)'' || __ ''(+__)'' || __
|-
|}

=== Machine guns ===
{{Specs-Tank-Weapon|2}}
{{Specs-Tank-Weapon|3}}

{{main|M2HB (12.7 mm)|BESA (7.92 mm)}}

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" width="50%"
|-
! colspan="5" | [[M2HB (12.7 mm)|12.7 mm M2HB]]
|-
! Mount !! Capacity (Belt) !! Fire rate !! Vertical !! Horizontal
|-
| Pintle || 500 (200) || 577 || -5°/+40° || ±180°
|-
|}
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" width="50%"
|-
! colspan="5" | [[BESA (7.92 mm)|7.92 mm BESA]]
|-
! Mount !! Capacity (Belt) !! Fire rate !! Vertical !! Horizontal
|-
| Coaxial || 2,000 (225) || 600 || N/A || N/A
|-
|}

== Usage in battles ==

''Describe the tactics of playing in the vehicle, the features of using vehicles in the team and advice on tactics. Refrain from creating a "guide" - do not impose a single point of view but instead give the reader food for thought. Describe the most dangerous enemies and give recommendations on fighting them. If necessary, note the specifics of the game in different modes (AB, RB, SB).''

=== Pros and cons ===


'''Pros:'''

* Effective firepower with the 6-pdr gun and 12.7 mm HMG
* Fast SARC chassis upon optimal terrains (roads, fields, slopes and cities)
* Frontal turret armour can withstand heavy machine gun with some distance
* Useful amount of smoke grenades (26)
* Advantageous rate of fire of the 57 mm gun, amongst the best at the rank

'''Cons:'''

* Unreliable armour on the sides and open-top
* Just 3 crew members; the vehicle can be easily taken out
* Tall profile + pintle heavy machine gun can give away tank's location
* Limited off-road mobility on snow, mud and sand; typical of most wheeled cars
* Recoil of the 57 mm gun can hinder target acquisition; more notable when firing from the sides

== History ==

''Describe the history of the creation and combat usage of the vehicle in more detail than in the introduction. If the historical reference turns out to be too long, take it to a separate article, taking a link to the article about the vehicle and adding a block "/History" (example: <nowiki>https://wiki.warthunder.com/(Vehicle-name)/History</nowiki>) and add a link to it here using the <code>main</code> template. Be sure to reference text and sources by using <code><nowiki><ref></ref></nowiki></code>, as well as adding them at the end of the article with <code><nowiki><references /></nowiki></code>. This section may also include the vehicle's dev blog entry (if applicable) and the in-game encyclopedia description (under <code><nowiki>=== In-game description ===</nowiki></code>, also if applicable).''

== Media ==

''Excellent additions to the article would be video guides, screenshots from the game, and photos.''

== See also ==


;Related development

* [[SARC MkVI (2pdr)]]

;Tanks equipped with the same gun

* [[Cromwell I]]
* [[Crusader III]]
* [[M4A5]]
* [[Valentine IX]]

== External links ==

''Paste links to sources and external resources, such as:''

* ''topic on the official game forum;''
* ''other literature.''

{{Britain light tanks}}
[[Category:Wheeled ground vehicles]]

SARC MkVI (2pdr)

2021-03-24T12:52:55Z

U109009388: /* Pros and cons */

{{Specs-Card
|code=uk_marmon_herrington_mk_6_2pdr
|images={{Specs-Card-Image|GarageImage_{{PAGENAME}}.jpg}}
}}

== Description ==

The '''{{Specs|name}}''' is a rank {{Specs|rank}} British light tank {{Battle-rating}}. It was introduced in [[Update "Ixwa Strike"]].

The SARC (''South African Reconnaissance Car'') also known as the Marmon-Herrington is an armoured car developed by South Africa during World War II, now present in the game as an entry vehicle on the South African ground forces sub-tree.

The 2-Pounder variant present in the game features a Quick Firing 2-pounder gun of 40 mm, several light machine guns and a variety of auxiliary abilities as scouting and smoke charges - An excellent vehicle for adept teamplayers. The SARC is not just decently equipped but is also highly mobile on most grounds. This pleasant high mobility is the distinction of both of the SARCs presents in the game and certainly, of most following South African vehicles.

To recap, the balanced mix of firepower and speed brings to tankers of the British ground forces, a very competent early light car.

== General info ==
=== Survivability and armour ===
{{Specs-Tank-Armour}}


Overall the vehicle is very lightly armoured, although it will not hull break when facing the German 75 mm or American 105 mm HEAT shells which are commonly found around the same rank, it does not have enough side armour to stop anything above a small-calibre machine gun. There are some places on the rear where even a 7.62 mm machine gun will find its way through; the ''most reliable armour is the frontal armour'' thanks to the angled plates and the gun mantlet.

For its misfortune, It is also open-topped, and with one of the 4 crew members partially exposed. The SARC will find itself getting strafed out by planes very frequently. However, sometimes the side armour might not cause APHE fuses to go off, successfully saving the vehicle from any damage, although this is inconsistent and in no way reliable. Overall, it's not very well armoured considering its turret is also exposed, and thus comparably worse than the Axis analogue, the [[Sd.Kfz.234/2]] (Puma).

Aside from the unreliability of the armour, the vehicle might hold off some poorly aimed shots to areas as the gun mantlet and the lower powertrain. The 30 mm gun mantlet features < 150 mm in angling on some areas capable of bouncing off shells, while the tall profile might increase survivability in some situations as careless shots are likely to pass under the vehicle without major damage to fighting modules or the crew. On close-quarters battles, self-propelled assault tanks like the low-profile [[StuG III A]] or [[StuH 42 G]] might hastily aim at this area, causing most likely the immobilization of the SARC yet with intact crew members.

But being tall is also an unfavourable trait for survivability since on plain maps like the [[Carpathians (Ground Forces)|Carpathians]], the SARC or the commander atop will be easily spotted; using the spare set of stock smoke grenades might help overcome these encounters.

'''Armour type:'''

* Rolled Homogeneous armour (hull, turret)
* Cast Homogeneous armour (gun mantlet)
* Wheel (tires)

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Armour !! Front (Slope angle) !! Sides !! Rear !! Roof
|-
| Hull || 30 mm (20-30°) || 8 mm ''Top'' 8 mm ''Bottom'' || 10 mm || 5 mm
|-
| Turret || 30 mm ''Turret front'' 50 mm ''Gun mantlet'' || 14.5 mm || 14.5 mm || 8 mm
|-
|}

'''Notes:'''

* Wheels are only 10mm thick
* The transmission is 10mm of structural steel, which equates to about 5mm of actual protection
* The gun mantlet is the thickest frontal armour (30 mm)

=== Mobility ===
{{Specs-Tank-Mobility}}


{{tankMobility|abMinHp=294|rbMinHp=168}}

=== Modifications and economy ===
{{Specs-Economy}}

== Armaments ==
{{Specs-Tank-Armaments}}
=== Main armament ===
{{Specs-Tank-Weapon|1}}

{{main|QF 2-pounder (40 mm)}}

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" width="100%"
|-
! colspan="5" | [[QF 2-pounder (40 mm)|40 mm QF 2-pounder]] || colspan="5" | Turret rotation speed (°/s) || colspan="4" | Reloading rate (seconds)
|-
! Mode !! Capacity !! Vertical !! Horizontal !! Stabilizer
! Stock !! Upgraded !! Full !! Expert !! Aced
! Stock !! Full !! Expert !! Aced
|-
! ''Arcade''
| rowspan="2" | 80 || rowspan="2" | -12°/+20° || rowspan="2" | ±180° || rowspan="2" | Shoulder || 34.3 || 47.4 || 57.6 || 63.7 || 67.8 || rowspan="2" | 3.64 || rowspan="2" | 3.22 || rowspan="2" | 2.97 || rowspan="2" | 2.80
|-
! ''Realistic''
| 21.4 || 25.2 || 30.6 || 33.8 || 36.0
|-
|}

==== Ammunition ====
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center" width="100%"
! colspan="8" | Penetration statistics
|-
! rowspan="2" data-sort-type="text" | Ammunition
! rowspan="2" | Type of warhead
! colspan="6" | Penetration @ 0° Angle of Attack (mm)
|-
! 10 m !! 100 m !! 500 m !! 1,000 m !! 1,500 m !! 2,000 m
|-
| Shot Mk.1 AP/T || AP || 72 || 68 || 52 || 37 || 27 || 19
|-
| Shot Mk.IXB APCBC/T || APCBC || 89 || 86 || 77 || 66 || 57 || 50
|-
| Shot Mk.1 APHV/T || AP || 80 || 75 || 58 || 41 || 30 || 21
|-
| Shell Mk.1 AP/T || APHE || 66 || 62 || 49 || 36 || 26 || 20
|-
|}
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center" width="100%"
! colspan="10" | Shell details
|-
! rowspan="2" data-sort-type="text" | Ammunition
! rowspan="2" | Type of warhead
! rowspan="2" | Velocity (m/s)
! rowspan="2" | Projectile Mass (kg)
! rowspan="2" | Fuse delay (m)
! rowspan="2" | Fuse sensitivity (mm)
! rowspan="2" | Explosive Mass (TNT equivalent) (g)
! colspan="3" | Ricochet
|-
! 0% !! 50% !! 100%
|-
| Shot Mk.1 AP/T || AP || 792 || 1.08 || N/A || N/A || N/A || 47° || 60° || 65°
|-
| Shot Mk.IXB APCBC/T || APCBC || 792 || 1.24 || N/A || N/A || N/A || 48° || 63° || 71°
|-
| Shot Mk.1 APHV/T || AP || 853 || 1.08 || N/A || N/A || N/A || 47° || 60° || 65°
|-
| Shell Mk.1 AP/T || APHE || 792 || 1.08 || 1.2 || 9 || 20.9 || 47° || 60° || 65°
|-
|}

==== [[Ammo racks]] ====
[[File:Ammoracks_{{PAGENAME}}.png|right|thumb|x250px|[[Ammo racks]] of the {{PAGENAME}}]]

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! Full ammo
! 1st rack empty
! 2nd rack empty
! 3rd rack empty
! 4th rack empty
! 5th rack empty
! Visual discrepancy
|-
| '''80''' || 67 ''(+13)'' || 53 ''(+27)'' || 39 ''(+41)'' || 20 ''(+60)'' || 1 ''(+79)'' || No
|-
|}
Note:

* Shells are modeled individually and disappear from the rack after having been loaded in the breech.

=== Machine guns ===
{{Specs-Tank-Weapon|2}}
{{Specs-Tank-Weapon|3}}

{{main|BESA (7.92 mm)|M1919A4 (7.62 mm)}}

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" width="50%"
|-
! colspan="5" | [[BESA (7.92 mm)|7.92 mm BESA]]
|-
! Mount !! Capacity (Belt) !! Fire rate !! Vertical !! Horizontal
|-
| Coaxial || 2,000 (225) || 600 || N/A || N/A
|-
|}
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" width="50%"
|-
! colspan="5" | [[M1919A4 (7.62 mm)|7.62 mm M1919A4]]
|-
! Mount !! Capacity (Belt) !! Fire rate !! Vertical !! Horizontal
|-
| Pintle || 1,000 (250) || 500 || -10°/+20° || N/A
|-
| Pintle || 1,000 (250) || 500 || -10°/+20° || N/A
|-
|}

== Usage in battles ==

''Describe the tactics of playing in the vehicle, the features of using vehicles in the team and advice on tactics. Refrain from creating a "guide" - do not impose a single point of view but instead give the reader food for thought. Describe the most dangerous enemies and give recommendations on fighting them. If necessary, note the specifics of the game in different modes (AB, RB, SB).''

=== Pros and cons ===


'''Pros:'''

* Fast firing 40 mm gun with adequate ballistics
* High mobility of the SARC chassis; reverse speed also useful
* Frontal armour can withstand heavy machine gun at some distances
* Shoulder stabilizer is useful in some situations
* Equipped with Scouting, anti-air capable machine guns and numerous quick-release smoke grenades
* Awesome turret rotatiion speed at about 30 deegres per second.

'''Cons:'''

* Open-top turret with a crew member partially visible
* Side and top armour is vulnerable to machine guns and cannons
* 40 mm gun struggles to penetrate sloped armour such as the [[T-34 (1940)]] or [[M4]]
* Tall profile and prone to rollover while turning at high speeds
* Limited off-road mobility on snow, mud and sand; typical of most wheeled cars
* Being so light and tall its gravity point is very high- gun is very wobbly when moving, or because of the recoil when firing (very present when firing over the sides, somewhat mitigated when firing forwards or backwards)

== History ==

''Describe the history of the creation and combat usage of the vehicle in more detail than in the introduction. If the historical reference turns out to be too long, take it to a separate article, taking a link to the article about the vehicle and adding a block "/History" (example: <nowiki>https://wiki.warthunder.com/(Vehicle-name)/History</nowiki>) and add a link to it here using the <code>main</code> template. Be sure to reference text and sources by using <code><nowiki><ref></ref></nowiki></code>, as well as adding them at the end of the article with <code><nowiki><references /></nowiki></code>. This section may also include the vehicle's dev blog entry (if applicable) and the in-game encyclopedia description (under <code><nowiki>=== In-game description ===</nowiki></code>, also if applicable).''

== Media ==

''Excellent additions to the article would be video guides, screenshots from the game, and photos.''

== See also ==

'''Succeeded by'''

* [[SARC MkVI (6pdr)]]

'''Similar configuration'''

* [[BA-11]]
* [[AB 43]]
* [[Sd.Kfz.234/2]]
* [[M8 Greyhound|M8]]
* [[AMD.35]]

== External links ==

''Paste links to sources and external resources, such as:''

* ''topic on the official game forum;''
* ''other literature.''

{{Britain light tanks}}
[[Category:Wheeled ground vehicles]]

M5A1

2021-02-28T11:35:01Z

U109009388: /* Enemies worth noting: */

{{About
| about = American light tank '''{{PAGENAME}}'''
|other
|usage-1 = other uses
|link-1 = M5 (Disambiguation)
|usage-2 = other vehicles of the family
|link-2 = M5 Stuart (Family)
}}
{{Specs-Card
|code=us_m5a1_stuart
|images={{Specs-Card-Image|GarageImage_{{PAGENAME}}.jpg}}
}}

== Description ==

The '''{{Specs|name}}''' is a rank {{Specs|rank}} American light tank {{Battle-rating}}. It was one of the first American tanks to be released with the American ground tree in [[Update 1.45 "Steel Generals"]]. An improvement over the earlier [[M3 Stuart|M3 Stuarts]] with better front sloping armour, it helps the light tank keep up to date with the evolving tanks of the time.

== General info ==
=== Survivability and armour ===
{{Specs-Tank-Armour}}

'''Armour type:'''

* Rolled homogeneous armour
* Cast homogeneous armour (Gun mantlet, Lower glacis)

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Armour !! Front (Slope angle) !! Sides !! Rear !! Roof
|-
| Hull || 28.5 mm (49°) ''Front glacis'' 63.5 mm (33-37°) ''Lower glacis'' || 28.5 mm || 28.5 mm (46°) ''Top'' 25.4 mm (1°) ''Middle'' 25.4 mm (20°) ''Bottom'' || 12.7 mm
|-
| Turret || 44.4 mm (11-13°) ''Turret front'' 50.8 mm (2-43°) ''Gun mantlet'' || 31.75 mm (1°) || 31.75 mm (1°) || 12.7 mm
|}
'''Notes:'''

* Suspension wheels, bogies, and tracks are 15 mm thick.
* Tracks are placed on the turret side and rear that can provide about 10 mm of extra armour.
* An extra 12.7 mm RHA metal plate is present on the right side of the turret near the pintle 7.62 mm machine gun.
* A 5 mm Structural steel box is present, mounted on the vehicle rear.

=== Mobility ===
{{Specs-Tank-Mobility}}


{{tankMobility|abMinHp=459|rbMinHp=262}}

=== Modifications and economy ===
{{Specs-Economy}}

== Armaments ==
{{Specs-Tank-Armaments}}
=== Main armament ===
{{Specs-Tank-Weapon|1}}

{{main|M6 (37 mm)}}The M5A1 Stuart is armed with a 37 mm cannon as its main armament, the same gun as the preceding M3A3. While being at 2.3, the gun still packs a fierce punch if aiming at the correct area and firing at the correct distance. It is a small calibre fast-firing gun with a maximum penetration of 84 mm at 100 m (M51B1/B2 shell), being able to penetrate most of the opponents it will face. The penetration power and gun accuracy drop a lot beyond 500 m and become unreliable past 700 m. The gun is equipped with a vertical stabiliser, giving the M5A1 Stuart a huge advantage in some cases as you can fire precisely while moving, but keep in mind that it activates only when the tank is driving under 10 km/h.

While it lacks the post-penetration damage to disable most enemies in one shot, it can quickly finish them off with its fast reload. Knowledge of enemy vehicle layouts is essential with ammunition lacking post-penetration explosive damage. Make sure to target modules and crew positions to maximise the damage. Disabling the enemy gunner on your first shot will be critical to win engagements as you'll most likely need several shots to destroy an enemy vehicle.
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" width="100%"
|-
! colspan="5" | [[M6 (37 mm)|37 mm M6]] || colspan="5" | Turret rotation speed (°/s) || colspan="4" | Reloading rate (seconds)
|-
! Mode !! Capacity !! Vertical !! Horizontal !! Stabilizer
! Stock !! Upgraded !! Full !! Expert !! Aced
! Stock !! Full !! Expert !! Aced
|-
! ''Arcade''
| rowspan="2" | 147 || rowspan="2" | -12°/+20° || rowspan="2" | ±180° || rowspan="2" | Vertical || 22.85 || 31.62 || 38.40 || 42.47 || 45.18 || rowspan="2" | 3.77 || rowspan="2" | 3.33 || rowspan="2" | 3.07 || rowspan="2" | 2.90
|-
! ''Realistic''
| 14.28 || 16.80 || 20.40 || 22.56 || 24.00
|-
|}

==== Ammunition ====
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center" width="100%"
! colspan="8" | Penetration statistics
|-
! rowspan="2" data-sort-type="text" | Ammunition
! rowspan="2" | Type of warhead
! colspan="6" | '''Penetration @ 0° Angle of Attack (mm)'''
|-
! 10 m !! 100 m !! 500 m !! 1,000 m !! 1,500 m !! 2,000 m
|-
| M74B1 || AP || 79 || 76 || 65 || 54 || 45 || 37
|-
| M63 shell || HE || 3 || 3 || 3 || 3 || 3 || 3
|-
| M51B1/B2 || APCBC || 87 || 84 || 73 || 60 || 50 || 41
|-
|}
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center" width="100%"
! colspan="10" | Shell details
|-
! rowspan="2" data-sort-type="text" | Ammunition
! rowspan="2" | Type of warhead
! rowspan="2" | Velocity (m/s)
! rowspan="2" | Projectile Mass (kg)
! rowspan="2" | Fuse delay (m)
! rowspan="2" | Fuse sensitivity (mm)
! rowspan="2" | Explosive Mass (TNT equivalent) (g)
! colspan="3" | Ricochet
|-
! 0% !! 50% !! 100%
|-
| M74B1 || AP || 883 || 0.87 || N/A || N/A || N/A || 47° || 60° || 65°
|-
| M63 shell || HE || 807 || 0.73 || 0 || 0.1 || 38 || 79° || 80° || 81°
|-
| M51B1/B2 || APCBC || 883 || 0.87 || N/A || N/A || N/A || 48° || 63° || 71°
|-
|}

==== [[Ammo racks]] ====
[[File:Ammoracks_{{PAGENAME}}.png|right|thumb|x250px|[[Ammo racks]] of the {{PAGENAME}}]]

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! Full ammo
! 1st rack empty
! 2nd rack empty
! 3rd rack empty
! 4th rack empty
! Visual discrepancy
|-
| '''147''' || 111 ''(+36)'' || 74 ''(+73)'' || 37 ''(+110)'' || 1 ''(+146)'' || No
|-
|}

=== Machine guns ===
{{Specs-Tank-Weapon|2}}
{{Specs-Tank-Weapon|3}}

{{main|M1919A4 (7.62 mm)}}
The M5A1 Stuart has two 7.62 mm M1919A4 machine guns, one being coaxial to the main gun and the other roof mounted on the right side of the turret. The two machine guns can quickly incapacitate the exposed crews on some vehicles or do some serious damage to those low-passing planes. However it lacks the ability to effectively damage even lightly armoured vehicles due to its low penetration of only 10 mm.

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" width="50%"
|-
! colspan="5" | [[M1919A4 (7.62 mm)|7.62 mm M1919A4]]
|-
! Mount !! Capacity (Belt) !! Fire rate !! Vertical !! Horizontal
|-
| Pintle || 3,000 (250) || 500 || -10°/+70° || ±60°
|-
| Coaxial || 3,000 (250) || 500 || N/A || N/A
|-
|}

== Usage in battles ==

The M5A1 Stuart preserves the Rank I style of fighting. With very good mobility and fast reload, the light tank can speed to an optimal position on the enemy's side and riddle them with the 37 mm cannon. It is recommended to attack from the flanks as the weak armour on the Stuart makes it vulnerable to the newer enemy guns that can penetrate the armour with ease.

With the fast reloading 37 mm cannon, the M5A1 Stuart can deliver some good-hitting rounds if shooting at the flank at the enemies. A frontal engagement is possible but detrimental as Stuart's thin armour makes any incoming shot lethal. If coming up to heavily armoured vehicles like the [[KV-1 (L-11)|KV-1]], load the M74B1 AP round for maximum penetration. In the case the M5A1 does come across a KV-1, the recommended course of action to take it out is to get in a point-blank range and fire at the turret ring or engine rear, otherwise, there is no way for the Stuart's 37 mm to penetrate the armour.

With its weak overall armour, most enemies are able to penetrate the M5A1 Stuart. A specific concern should be to vehicles with a high rate of fire weaponry such as the SPAA, which might be able to penetrate through weak points around the Stuart with enough effort. Enemies with strong shells like the [[Pz.IV F1|Panzer IV]] with it's short 75 mm and its HEAT rounds could also destroy the Stuart with ease.

With its speed and relatively small size, as well as the ability to scout, the Stuart can be used as a reconnaissance vehicle. Even if you cannot penetrate heavily armoured opponents, you can help your allies by scouting the opposing tanks. This, combined with its decent firepower, makes the Stuart an amazing scout vehicle.

=== Enemies worth noting: ===

* '''Sd.Kfz.234. family''': When your opposite team has Germany, you might want to reconsider the option of capping a point straight away, since the German Sd.Kfz.234 series are very likely to be there first. The [[Sd.Kfz.234/2]] (also known as the Puma) is a turreted 8-wheel vehicle with a small profile, extremely high on-road speed and a powerful 50 mm gun. But it cannot turn in place, has a very slow turret traverse and only 8 mm of side hull armour, so a good tactic is to circle with it and utilise your rather quick turret traverse and fast reload. In an intense tank "dogfight", you want to aim with the greatest care, as your 37 mm shells won't do much damage, so even a slight miss will result in the failure of knocking out the enemies' crew. The [[Sd.Kfz.234/3]] and [[Sd.Kfz.234/4]], although being equally deadly, are turretless. You can use some quick turns to avoid their guns or tear through the thin armour plate protecting their gunners with your 7.62 mm MG. Note that the penetration of the MG isn't great, so aim for their side armour.
* [[T-34 (Family)|T-34]] (all variants). When uptiered to 3.3 or used in a lineup with stronger vehicles, the M5 can face the T-34 tank. They posses 76mm cannons, that fire APHE rounds with massive amounts of explosive filler- disabling the Stuart in one shot most of the time, the T-34's are also very mobile and will often be the first mediums to get to the battlefield, to boot they have very strong frontal armour, the UFP is immune to the 37mm M6 carried by the M5. Against those foes try to shoot at their weaker sides, if a head-on encounter is inevitable the drivers hatch can be exploited, knocking out the driver, gunner and often the engine, leaving the enemy completely debilitated, easy to finish off, the turret cheeks can also be exploited on the '40 and '41 models. The turret neck should be targeted on the '42 and '43 models.

=== Pros and cons ===


'''Pros:'''

* High top speed, good acceleration especially on flat terrain
* Better handling than its predecessors, quick turning speeds
* Sloped armour can deflect some shots from small calibre projectiles
* Good rate of fire
* Gun can penetrate most tanks of this rank
* Can quickly rotate in place while not in forward or reverse motion
* Roof mounted .30 cal is useful for engaging aircraft
* Has access to scouting ability

'''Cons:'''

* Crew of four leaving one spare, vehicle efficiency decreases after the spare crew is used up
* Exposed engine and fuel tank, prone to fires
* As with the American 37 mm cannons, AP rounds does not contain HE filler
* AP Shots often fail to fragment when penetrating other vehicles
* Relatively tall for a light tank, a challenge to find adequate defensive positions
* 37 mm cannon has low penetration which makes it difficult to fight enemy tanks at its BR
* Little armour; can easily be penetrated by enemy tanks

== History ==

===Development===
The American light tank design prior to World War II, the [[M2A4|M2 light tank]], was seen as obsolete after observing Germany's Panzer forces tear through Europe. The design was to be upgraded with more armour, a better suspension, and a new gun recoil system. The revised version was designated the '''[[M3 Stuart|Light Tank M3]]''', and given the name '''"General Stuart"''' by the British, which becomes part of the name. At its basis, the light tank had a 37 mm cannon with a similar layout as the M2 light tank, with the radial engine at the rear and the transmission on the front, though the radial engine was in high demand so the Guiberson diesel T-1210 were fitted in some models to substitute the engine. The design used the VVSS bogie system seen on previous American tank designs. The tank had a crew of four: driver, assistant driver, gunner, and commander, who doubled as the loader.

The first variant of the M3 Stuart light tank was very similar to the M2 light tanks. It had five machine gun armaments scattered around like the M2 but featured better armour and a better cannon with the 37 mm M6 cannon. The design did not have a turret basket for the crew and it was constructed out of rivets, which increased the chance of spalling in the tank. Nevertheless, the first variant M3 saw about 5,811 units produced. The second variant, the '''[[M3A1 Stuart|Light Tank M3A1 Stuart]]''', featured a new turret with no cupola on it, plus an added gun stabilizer. The machine guns on the hull sides were removed, so now the total machine guns were reduced from five to three. The design also featured a welded armour design to remove the weakness of riveted armour. 4,621 of this variant was produced from May 1942 to February 1943. The most used variant, the [[M5A1 (5th arm.div.)|'''Light Tank M5A1 Stuart''',]] had a completely redesigned hull and turret, with the hull most notably having a full sloping frontal armour than the previous designs. This variant had about 6,810 units produced. All in all, the Stuart light tank design and its variants were produced in massive quantities from March 1941 to October 1943 with a total of 25,000 units produced.

===Combat usage===
The British were the first to use the M3 Stuart in Africa in 1941, using it in Operation Crusader. However, the result ended with heavy losses, due to the better training the German Afrika Korps had compared to the British tank doctrine. The encounter also pointed out many flaws in the Stuart, mainly the cramped interior and limited operational range, but was praised for its high mobility and reliability when compared to the British contemporary designs. In 1942, the Stuarts were generally kept as recon units rather than combat units, and some were even modified to improve speed and range by removing the turret, and others were converted to armoured personnel carriers and command vehicles. Though the British used it extensively, it was still in small proportion compared to American usage. The Soviet Union was also another user of the Stuart tanks but found it unfavourable due to their own logistics, plus it was not made to withstand the Russian ''Rasputitsa'' or even the winter. The Soviet eventually turned down any more offers for the Stuart by 1943. The Stuarts also supported the British and Chinese forces in Asia against the Japanese Army, and also France and Yugoslavia in Europe against the German Wehrmacht.

The Americans used it widely in both operational theatres. In the Pacific, the Stuarts were the first tanks America used in a tank vs. tank operation against the Imperial Japanese Army, where five M3s fought Type 95 Ha-Gos in the Phillippines. Though the Stuarts were newer than the Japanese tank designs by about five years, they were seen as equal in performance and firepower, but the Stuart benefited by the support of the American industry arm. The Stuarts served in the Pacific slightly better than its heavier counterparts such as the [[M4|M4 Shermans]] due to its lighter weight and manoeuvrability in the poor jungle terrain, but the Stuarts in the Pacific were gradually replaced by M4 Shermans. In Europe, the Stuarts formed a large part of the American tank battalions, though following the British path by sidelining the Stuarts from combat duties after heavy losses and to serve alongside Shermans as scouting units. A typical tank battalion for the US Army consisted of three companies of Shermans and one of the Stuarts. The Stuarts, other than scouting, were also used in cavalry roles and infantry support since their cannon are unable to compete with the German tank designs. Despite their dwindling capabilities in battle, the Stuart was kept in service up until the end of the war due to the large production numbers.

After World War II, the Stuarts were given out as cheap surplus, countries such as China, India, and Pakistan picked up a few and used them in their conflicts. Portuguese also picked up a few Stuarts for the war in Angola, and the South African Corps continued using the Stuarts until 1955, where some were still kept in service until 1968 due to available parts. Today, Paraguay is still a user of the Stuart light tanks, though as the only tracked armour used in the country.

The Stuart light tank design was also quite versatile that it was made into different variants for different roles on the battlefield. It served as an infantry support vehicle as to the ''[[M8A1|75mm GMC M8]]'' and experiments were also taken to see if it could be adapted to an anti-aircraft gun and a flamethrower as well. However, the Stuarts were becoming an ageing design with inferior armour, cramped interior layout, and a small 37 mm gun, so a program to replace the light tank began in 1943 and became the [[M24|M24 Chaffee]], which would eventually replace the Stuarts mostly after World War II.

=== In-game description ===
In November 1942 the M5 Stuart light tank was outfitted with an M3A3 turret, resulting in the Stuart series' final modification. The bulwark was made standard, different from the M5, and a safety hatch was added to the hull floor in addition to a new periscope in the turret. The tank commander got a second turret rotator and the ability to control the turret separately from the gunner. Late model M5A1s were characterized by armoured cover for the anti-aircraft gun emplacement and an equipment case on the back of the hull. In addition, stamped weight-bearing rollers began to be used in the running gear.

M5A1s were produced by Cadillac and American Car & Foundry (beginning in September 1943). By June 1944 a total of 6,810 had been made, making the M5A1 modification the most popular.

At the time of the Normandy invasion the US army primarily used M5A1s, though it was difficult for them to get through the Normandy hedges. Even equipped with special hedge-clearing equipment, light tanks often got stuck due to their under-powered engines, making them easy prey for German anti-tank guns. Thinner than on medium tanks, their armour made them especially vulnerable to panzerfausts. The battles of summer 1944 saw heavy losses in light tank companies. The casualty rate decreased during the fall somewhat, primarily because they played a lesser role and division commanders tried to keep them out of battles where they might face stronger opponents. In contrast to the Americans, the British used M3A3s and even M3A1s in addition to the M5A1 in Europe. They predominantly played a reconnaissance and command role.

== Media ==


;Skins

* [https://live.warthunder.com/feed/camouflages/?vehicleCountry=usa&vehicleType=tank&vehicleClass=light_tank&vehicle=us_m5a1_stuart Skins and camouflages for the {{PAGENAME}} from live.warthunder.com.]

;Videos
{{Youtube-gallery|1yg1DAEbG8A|'''The Stuart Family''' discusses the {{PAGENAME}} at 2:46 - ''War Thunder Official Channel''|Fp_bu-8bAmM|'''{{PAGENAME}} Tank Review''' - ''NUSensei''}}

== See also ==


;Vehicles equipped with the same gun

* [[LVT(A)(1)]]
* [[M3 Stuart (Family)]]
* [[M8 Greyhound (Family)]]
* [[M22]]

;Other vehicles of similar configuration and role

* [[M2A2]]{{-}}[[M2A4 (1st Arm.Div.)]]

== External links ==


* [[wt:en/devblog/current/701|[Devblog] Steel Generals: M5A1]]
* [[wikipedia:M3_Stuart|[Wikipedia] M3 Stuart]]
* [https://tanks-encyclopedia.com/ww2/US/M5_stuart.php <nowiki>[Tanks Encyclopedia]</nowiki> Light Tank M5 Stuart]

{{USA light tanks}}

M5A1

2021-02-27T21:07:07Z

U109009388: /* Enemies worth noting: */

{{About
| about = American light tank '''{{PAGENAME}}'''
|other
|usage-1 = other uses
|link-1 = M5 (Disambiguation)
|usage-2 = other vehicles of the family
|link-2 = M5 Stuart (Family)
}}
{{Specs-Card
|code=us_m5a1_stuart
|images={{Specs-Card-Image|GarageImage_{{PAGENAME}}.jpg}}
}}

== Description ==

The '''{{Specs|name}}''' is a rank {{Specs|rank}} American light tank {{Battle-rating}}. It was one of the first American tanks to be released with the American ground tree in [[Update 1.45 "Steel Generals"]]. An improvement over the earlier [[M3 Stuart|M3 Stuarts]] with better front sloping armour, it helps the light tank keep up to date with the evolving tanks of the time.

== General info ==
=== Survivability and armour ===
{{Specs-Tank-Armour}}

'''Armour type:'''

* Rolled homogeneous armour
* Cast homogeneous armour (Gun mantlet, Lower glacis)

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Armour !! Front (Slope angle) !! Sides !! Rear !! Roof
|-
| Hull || 28.5 mm (49°) ''Front glacis'' 63.5 mm (33-37°) ''Lower glacis'' || 28.5 mm || 28.5 mm (46°) ''Top'' 25.4 mm (1°) ''Middle'' 25.4 mm (20°) ''Bottom'' || 12.7 mm
|-
| Turret || 44.4 mm (11-13°) ''Turret front'' 50.8 mm (2-43°) ''Gun mantlet'' || 31.75 mm (1°) || 31.75 mm (1°) || 12.7 mm
|}
'''Notes:'''

* Suspension wheels, bogies, and tracks are 15 mm thick.
* Tracks are placed on the turret side and rear that can provide about 10 mm of extra armour.
* An extra 12.7 mm RHA metal plate is present on the right side of the turret near the pintle 7.62 mm machine gun.
* A 5 mm Structural steel box is present, mounted on the vehicle rear.

=== Mobility ===
{{Specs-Tank-Mobility}}


{{tankMobility|abMinHp=459|rbMinHp=262}}

=== Modifications and economy ===
{{Specs-Economy}}

== Armaments ==
{{Specs-Tank-Armaments}}
=== Main armament ===
{{Specs-Tank-Weapon|1}}

{{main|M6 (37 mm)}}The M5A1 Stuart is armed with a 37 mm cannon as its main armament, the same gun as the preceding M3A3. While being at 2.3, the gun still packs a fierce punch if aiming at the correct area and firing at the correct distance. It is a small calibre fast-firing gun with a maximum penetration of 84 mm at 100 m (M51B1/B2 shell), being able to penetrate most of the opponents it will face. The penetration power and gun accuracy drop a lot beyond 500 m and become unreliable past 700 m. The gun is equipped with a vertical stabiliser, giving the M5A1 Stuart a huge advantage in some cases as you can fire precisely while moving, but keep in mind that it activates only when the tank is driving under 10 km/h.

While it lacks the post-penetration damage to disable most enemies in one shot, it can quickly finish them off with its fast reload. Knowledge of enemy vehicle layouts is essential with ammunition lacking post-penetration explosive damage. Make sure to target modules and crew positions to maximise the damage. Disabling the enemy gunner on your first shot will be critical to win engagements as you'll most likely need several shots to destroy an enemy vehicle.
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" width="100%"
|-
! colspan="5" | [[M6 (37 mm)|37 mm M6]] || colspan="5" | Turret rotation speed (°/s) || colspan="4" | Reloading rate (seconds)
|-
! Mode !! Capacity !! Vertical !! Horizontal !! Stabilizer
! Stock !! Upgraded !! Full !! Expert !! Aced
! Stock !! Full !! Expert !! Aced
|-
! ''Arcade''
| rowspan="2" | 147 || rowspan="2" | -12°/+20° || rowspan="2" | ±180° || rowspan="2" | Vertical || 22.85 || 31.62 || 38.40 || 42.47 || 45.18 || rowspan="2" | 3.77 || rowspan="2" | 3.33 || rowspan="2" | 3.07 || rowspan="2" | 2.90
|-
! ''Realistic''
| 14.28 || 16.80 || 20.40 || 22.56 || 24.00
|-
|}

==== Ammunition ====
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center" width="100%"
! colspan="8" | Penetration statistics
|-
! rowspan="2" data-sort-type="text" | Ammunition
! rowspan="2" | Type of warhead
! colspan="6" | '''Penetration @ 0° Angle of Attack (mm)'''
|-
! 10 m !! 100 m !! 500 m !! 1,000 m !! 1,500 m !! 2,000 m
|-
| M74B1 || AP || 79 || 76 || 65 || 54 || 45 || 37
|-
| M63 shell || HE || 3 || 3 || 3 || 3 || 3 || 3
|-
| M51B1/B2 || APCBC || 87 || 84 || 73 || 60 || 50 || 41
|-
|}
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center" width="100%"
! colspan="10" | Shell details
|-
! rowspan="2" data-sort-type="text" | Ammunition
! rowspan="2" | Type of warhead
! rowspan="2" | Velocity (m/s)
! rowspan="2" | Projectile Mass (kg)
! rowspan="2" | Fuse delay (m)
! rowspan="2" | Fuse sensitivity (mm)
! rowspan="2" | Explosive Mass (TNT equivalent) (g)
! colspan="3" | Ricochet
|-
! 0% !! 50% !! 100%
|-
| M74B1 || AP || 883 || 0.87 || N/A || N/A || N/A || 47° || 60° || 65°
|-
| M63 shell || HE || 807 || 0.73 || 0 || 0.1 || 38 || 79° || 80° || 81°
|-
| M51B1/B2 || APCBC || 883 || 0.87 || N/A || N/A || N/A || 48° || 63° || 71°
|-
|}

==== [[Ammo racks]] ====
[[File:Ammoracks_{{PAGENAME}}.png|right|thumb|x250px|[[Ammo racks]] of the {{PAGENAME}}]]

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! Full ammo
! 1st rack empty
! 2nd rack empty
! 3rd rack empty
! 4th rack empty
! Visual discrepancy
|-
| '''147''' || 111 ''(+36)'' || 74 ''(+73)'' || 37 ''(+110)'' || 1 ''(+146)'' || No
|-
|}

=== Machine guns ===
{{Specs-Tank-Weapon|2}}
{{Specs-Tank-Weapon|3}}

{{main|M1919A4 (7.62 mm)}}
The M5A1 Stuart has two 7.62 mm M1919A4 machine guns, one being coaxial to the main gun and the other roof mounted on the right side of the turret. The two machine guns can quickly incapacitate the exposed crews on some vehicles or do some serious damage to those low-passing planes. However it lacks the ability to effectively damage even lightly armoured vehicles due to its low penetration of only 10 mm.

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" width="50%"
|-
! colspan="5" | [[M1919A4 (7.62 mm)|7.62 mm M1919A4]]
|-
! Mount !! Capacity (Belt) !! Fire rate !! Vertical !! Horizontal
|-
| Pintle || 3,000 (250) || 500 || -10°/+70° || ±60°
|-
| Coaxial || 3,000 (250) || 500 || N/A || N/A
|-
|}

== Usage in battles ==

The M5A1 Stuart preserves the Rank I style of fighting. With very good mobility and fast reload, the light tank can speed to an optimal position on the enemy's side and riddle them with the 37 mm cannon. It is recommended to attack from the flanks as the weak armour on the Stuart makes it vulnerable to the newer enemy guns that can penetrate the armour with ease.

With the fast reloading 37 mm cannon, the M5A1 Stuart can deliver some good-hitting rounds if shooting at the flank at the enemies. A frontal engagement is possible but detrimental as Stuart's thin armour makes any incoming shot lethal. If coming up to heavily armoured vehicles like the [[KV-1 (L-11)|KV-1]], load the M74B1 AP round for maximum penetration. In the case the M5A1 does come across a KV-1, the recommended course of action to take it out is to get in a point-blank range and fire at the turret ring or engine rear, otherwise, there is no way for the Stuart's 37 mm to penetrate the armour.

With its weak overall armour, most enemies are able to penetrate the M5A1 Stuart. A specific concern should be to vehicles with a high rate of fire weaponry such as the SPAA, which might be able to penetrate through weak points around the Stuart with enough effort. Enemies with strong shells like the [[Pz.IV F1|Panzer IV]] with it's short 75 mm and its HEAT rounds could also destroy the Stuart with ease.

With its speed and relatively small size, as well as the ability to scout, the Stuart can be used as a reconnaissance vehicle. Even if you cannot penetrate heavily armored opponents, you can help your allies by scouting the opposing tanks. This, combined with its decent firepower, makes the Stuart an amazing scout vehicle.

=== Enemies worth noting: ===

* Sd.Kfz.234. Puma When your opposite team has Germany, you might want to reconsider the option of capping a point straight away, since the German Sd.Kfz.234 series are very likely to be there first. The [[Sd.Kfz.234/2|''Sd.Kfz.234/2'']] (also known as the Puma) is a turreted 8-wheel vehicle with a small profile, extremely high on-road speed and a powerful 50mm gun. But it cannot turn in place, has a very slow turret traverse and only 8mm of side hull armour, so a good tactic is to circle with it and utilise your rather quick turret traverse and fast reload. In an intense tank "dogfight", you want to aim with the greatest care, as your 37mm shells won't do much damage, so even a slight miss will result in the failure of knocking out the enemies' crew. The [[Sd.Kfz.234/3|''Sd.Kfz.234/3'']] and [[Sd.Kfz.234/4|''Sd.Kfz.234/4'']], although being equally deadly, are turretless. You can use some quick turns to avoid their guns or tear through the thin armour plate protecting their gunners with your 7.62mm MG. Note that the penetration of the MG isn't great, so aim for their side armor. The 234/1 is also worth mentioning this one has a 20mm autocannon that will shred through the M5 and disable it with ease

=== Pros and cons ===


'''Pros:'''

* High top speed, good acceleration especially on flat terrain
* Better handling than its predecessors, quick turning speeds
* Sloped armour can deflect some shots from small calibre projectiles
* Good rate of fire
* Gun can penetrate most tanks of this rank
* Can quickly rotate in place while not in forward or reverse motion
* Roof mounted .30 cal is useful for engaging aircraft
* Has access to scouting ability

'''Cons:'''

* Crew of four leaving one spare, vehicle efficiency decreases after the spare crew is used up
* Exposed engine and fuel tank, prone to fires
* As with the American 37 mm cannons, AP rounds does not contain HE filler
* AP Shots often fail to fragment when penetrating other vehicles
* Relatively tall for a light tank, a challenge to find adequate defensive positions
* 37 mm cannon has low penetration which makes it difficult to fight enemy tanks at its BR
* Little armour; can easily be penetrated by enemy tanks

== History ==

===Development===
The American light tank design prior to World War II, the [[M2A4|M2 light tank]], was seen as obsolete after observing Germany's Panzer forces tear through Europe. The design was to be upgraded with more armour, a better suspension, and a new gun recoil system. The revised version was designated the '''[[M3 Stuart|Light Tank M3]]''', and given the name '''"General Stuart"''' by the British, which becomes part of the name. At its basis, the light tank had a 37 mm cannon with a similar layout as the M2 light tank, with the radial engine at the rear and the transmission on the front, though the radial engine was in high demand so the Guiberson diesel T-1210 were fitted in some models to substitute the engine. The design used the VVSS bogie system seen on previous American tank designs. The tank had a crew of four: driver, assistant driver, gunner, and commander, who doubled as the loader.

The first variant of the M3 Stuart light tank was very similar to the M2 light tanks. It had five machine gun armaments scattered around like the M2 but featured better armour and a better cannon with the 37 mm M6 cannon. The design did not have a turret basket for the crew and it was constructed out of rivets, which increased the chance of spalling in the tank. Nevertheless, the first variant M3 saw about 5,811 units produced. The second variant, the '''[[M3A1 Stuart|Light Tank M3A1 Stuart]]''', featured a new turret with no cupola on it, plus an added gun stabilizer. The machine guns on the hull sides were removed, so now the total machine guns were reduced from five to three. The design also featured a welded armour design to remove the weakness of riveted armour. 4,621 of this variant was produced from May 1942 to February 1943. The most used variant, the [[M5A1 (5th arm.div.)|'''Light Tank M5A1 Stuart''',]] had a completely redesigned hull and turret, with the hull most notably having a full sloping frontal armour than the previous designs. This variant had about 6,810 units produced. All in all, the Stuart light tank design and its variants were produced in massive quantities from March 1941 to October 1943 with a total of 25,000 units produced.

===Combat usage===
The British were the first to use the M3 Stuart in Africa in 1941, using it in Operation Crusader. However, the result ended with heavy losses, due to the better training the German Afrika Korps had compared to the British tank doctrine. The encounter also pointed out many flaws in the Stuart, mainly the cramped interior and limited operational range, but was praised for its high mobility and reliability when compared to the British contemporary designs. In 1942, the Stuarts were generally kept as recon units rather than combat units, and some were even modified to improve speed and range by removing the turret, and others were converted to armoured personnel carriers and command vehicles. Though the British used it extensively, it was still in small proportion compared to American usage. The Soviet Union was also another user of the Stuart tanks but found it unfavourable due to their own logistics, plus it was not made to withstand the Russian ''Rasputitsa'' or even the winter. The Soviet eventually turned down any more offers for the Stuart by 1943. The Stuarts also supported the British and Chinese forces in Asia against the Japanese Army, and also France and Yugoslavia in Europe against the German Wehrmacht.

The Americans used it widely in both operational theatres. In the Pacific, the Stuarts were the first tanks America used in a tank vs. tank operation against the Imperial Japanese Army, where five M3s fought Type 95 Ha-Gos in the Phillippines. Though the Stuarts were newer than the Japanese tank designs by about five years, they were seen as equal in performance and firepower, but the Stuart benefited by the support of the American industry arm. The Stuarts served in the Pacific slightly better than its heavier counterparts such as the [[M4|M4 Shermans]] due to its lighter weight and manoeuvrability in the poor jungle terrain, but the Stuarts in the Pacific were gradually replaced by M4 Shermans. In Europe, the Stuarts formed a large part of the American tank battalions, though following the British path by sidelining the Stuarts from combat duties after heavy losses and to serve alongside Shermans as scouting units. A typical tank battalion for the US Army consisted of three companies of Shermans and one of the Stuarts. The Stuarts, other than scouting, were also used in cavalry roles and infantry support since their cannon are unable to compete with the German tank designs. Despite their dwindling capabilities in battle, the Stuart was kept in service up until the end of the war due to the large production numbers.

After World War II, the Stuarts were given out as cheap surplus, countries such as China, India, and Pakistan picked up a few and used them in their conflicts. Portuguese also picked up a few Stuarts for the war in Angola, and the South African Corps continued using the Stuarts until 1955, where some were still kept in service until 1968 due to available parts. Today, Paraguay is still a user of the Stuart light tanks, though as the only tracked armour used in the country.

The Stuart light tank design was also quite versatile that it was made into different variants for different roles on the battlefield. It served as an infantry support vehicle as to the ''[[M8A1|75mm GMC M8]]'' and experiments were also taken to see if it could be adapted to an anti-aircraft gun and a flamethrower as well. However, the Stuarts were becoming an ageing design with inferior armour, cramped interior layout, and a small 37 mm gun, so a program to replace the light tank began in 1943 and became the [[M24|M24 Chaffee]], which would eventually replace the Stuarts mostly after World War II.

=== In-game description ===
In November 1942 the M5 Stuart light tank was outfitted with an M3A3 turret, resulting in the Stuart series' final modification. The bulwark was made standard, different from the M5, and a safety hatch was added to the hull floor in addition to a new periscope in the turret. The tank commander got a second turret rotator and the ability to control the turret separately from the gunner. Late model M5A1s were characterized by armored cover for the anti-aircraft gun emplacement and an equipment case on the back of the hull. In addition, stamped weight-bearing rollers began to be used in the running gear.

M5A1s were produced by Cadillac and American Car & Foundry (beginning in September 1943). By June 1944 a total of 6,810 had been made, making the M5A1 modification the most popular.

At the time of the Normandy invasion the US army primarily used M5A1s, though it was difficult for them to get through the Normandy hedges. Even equipped with special hedge-clearing equipment, light tanks often got stuck due to their under-powered engines, making them easy prey for German anti-tank guns. Thinner than on medium tanks, their armor made them especially vulnerable to panzerfausts. The battles of summer 1944 saw heavy losses in light tank companies. The casualty rate decreased during the fall somewhat, primarily because they played a lesser role and division commanders tried to keep them out of battles where they might face stronger opponents. In contrast to the Americans, the British used M3A3s and even M3A1s in addition to the M5A1 in Europe. They predominantly played a reconnaissance and command role.

== Media ==


;Skins

* [https://live.warthunder.com/feed/camouflages/?vehicleCountry=usa&vehicleType=tank&vehicleClass=light_tank&vehicle=us_m5a1_stuart Skins and camouflages for the {{PAGENAME}} from live.warthunder.com.]

;Videos
{{Youtube-gallery|1yg1DAEbG8A|'''The Stuart Family''' discusses the {{PAGENAME}} at 2:46 - ''War Thunder Official Channel''|Fp_bu-8bAmM|'''{{PAGENAME}} Tank Review''' - ''NUSensei''}}

== See also ==


;Vehicles equipped with the same chassis

* [[M5 Stuart (Family)]]

;Vehicles equipped with the same gun

* [[LVT(A)(1)]]
* [[M3 Stuart (Family)]]
* [[M8 Greyhound (Family)]]
* [[M22]]

;Other vehicles of similar configuration and role

* [[M2A2]]{{-}}[[M2A4 (1st Arm.Div.)]]

== External links ==


* [[wt:en/devblog/current/701|[Devblog] Steel Generals: M5A1]]
* [[wikipedia:M3_Stuart|[Wikipedia] M3 Stuart]]
* [https://tanks-encyclopedia.com/ww2/US/M5_stuart.php <nowiki>[Tanks Encyclopedia]</nowiki> Light Tank M5 Stuart]

{{USA light tanks}}

Caernarvon

2021-02-24T07:04:26Z

U109009388: /* Pros and cons */

{{Specs-Card
|code=uk_fv221_caernarvon
|images={{Specs-Card-Image|GarageImage_{{PAGENAME}}.jpg}}
}}

== Description ==

The '''{{Specs|name}}''' is a rank {{Specs|rank}} British heavy tank {{Battle-rating}}. It was introduced along with the initial British tree line in [[Update_1.55_"Royal_Armour"|Update 1.55 "Royal Armour"]]. Featuring heavy armour on the hull with a [[Centurion Mk 3]] turret, the Caernarvon provides adequate armour, mobility with the bite of a 20-pounder. The variant featured in the game is the ''Mark II'', the experimental series with the 20-pounder whereas the ''Mark I'' was the initial prototype with a 17-pounder instead.

== General info ==
=== Survivability and armour ===
{{Specs-Tank-Armour}}


'''Armour type:'''

* Rolled homogeneous armour (hull, turret roof, cupola roof)
* Cast homogeneous armour (turret, cupola)
* Structural steel (side skirts, mudguards, storage boxes)

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Armour !! Front (Slope angle) !! Sides !! Rear !! Roof
|-
| Hull || 127 mm (60°) ''Upper glacis'' 76.2 mm (44°) ''Lower glacis'' || 50.8 + 4 mm || 38.1 mm ''Upper plate'' 20 mm (61°) ''Lower glacis'' || 127 mm (30°) ''Front glacis'' 50.8 mm (0-7°) ''Driver compartment'' 18 mm ''Centre'' 8 mm ''Engine vent'' 8 + 18 mm (7°) ''Radiator vent''
|-
| Turret || 120 + 152 mm (cylindrical) ''Turret front - Centre'' 89-152 mm (5-11°) ''Turret front - Sides '' 100-152 mm (cylindrical) ''Gun mantlet'' 200 mm ''MG port'' || 89 mm (5-9°) || 89 mm ''Bustle'' 89 mm (17-22°) ''Turret base'' || 50.8 mm (19°) ''Front'' 29 mm ''Centre'' 50.8 mm (4-32°) ''Peripheral edge''
|-
| Cupola || 152 mm (cylindrical) ''Base'' 29 mm (51-75°) ''Upper part'' || 152 mm (cylindrical) ''Front half'' 90 mm (cylindrical) ''Rear half'' || 90 mm (cylindrical) || 29 mm
|-
|}
'''Notes:'''

* Suspension wheels and bogies are 20 mm thick while tracks are 30 mm thick.
* Steel boxes and side skirts located on the hull and turret sides add 4 mm of armour.

=== Mobility ===
{{Specs-Tank-Mobility}}


{{tankMobility|abMinHp= 1046|rbMinHp= 716}}

=== Modifications and economy ===
{{Specs-Economy}}

== Armaments ==
{{Specs-Tank-Armaments}}
=== Main armament ===
{{Specs-Tank-Weapon|1}}

{{main|20pdr OQF Mk.I (84 mm)}}

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" width="100%"
|-
! colspan="5" | [[20pdr OQF Mk.I (84 mm)|84 mm 20pdr OQF Mk.I]] || colspan="5" | Turret rotation speed (°/s) || colspan="4" | Reloading rate (seconds)
|-
! Mode !! Capacity !! Vertical !! Horizontal !! Stabilizer
! Stock !! Upgraded !! Full !! Expert !! Aced
! Stock !! Full !! Expert !! Aced
|-
! ''Arcade''
| rowspan="2" | 65 || rowspan="2" | -10°/+20° || rowspan="2" | ±180° || rowspan="2" | Two-plane || 16.18 || 22.40 ||27.20|| 30.08 || 32.00 || rowspan="2" | 8.19 || rowspan="2" | 7.25 || rowspan="2" | 6.68 || rowspan="2" | 6.30
|-
! ''Realistic''
| 11.90 || 14.00 || 17.00 || 18.80 || 20.00
|-
|}

==== Ammunition ====
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center" width="100%"
! colspan="8" | Penetration statistics
|-
! rowspan="2" data-sort-type="text" | Ammunition
! rowspan="2" | Type of warhead
! colspan="6" | '''Penetration @ 0° Angle of Attack (mm)'''
|-
! 10 m !! 100 m !! 500 m !! 1,000 m !! 1,500 m !! 2,000 m
|-
| Shot Mk.1 || APCBC || 232 || 229 || 216 || 201 || 187 || 173
|-
| Shot Mk.3 || APDS || 285 || 283 || 262 || 239 || 218 || 198
|-
| Shell Mk.1 || HE || 15 || 15 || 15 || 15 || 15 || 15
|-
|}
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center" width="100%"
! colspan="10" | Shell details
|-
! rowspan="2" data-sort-type="text" | Ammunition
! rowspan="2" | Type of warhead
! rowspan="2" | Velocity (m/s)
! rowspan="2" | Projectile Mass (kg)
! rowspan="2" | Fuse delay (m)
! rowspan="2" | Fuse sensitivity (mm)
! rowspan="2" | Explosive Mass (TNT equivalent) (g)
! colspan="3" | Ricochet
|-
! 0% !! 50% !! 100%
|-
| Shot Mk.1 || APCBC || 1,000 || 9.1 || N/A || N/A || N/A || 48° || 63° || 71°
|-
| Shot Mk.3 || APDS || 1,400 || 3.2 || N/A || N/A || N/A || 75° || 78° || 80°
|-
| Shell Mk.1 || HE || 600 || 7.5 || 0.0 || 0.1 || 1,130 || 79° || 80° || 81°
|-
|}
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
! colspan="7" | Smoke shell characteristics
|-
! Ammunition
! Velocity (m/s)
! Projectile Mass (kg)
! Screen radius (m)
! Screen deploy time (s)
! Screen hold time (s)
! Explosive Mass (TNT equivalent) (g)
|-
| 20pdr Shell SS Mk.1 || 250 || 9.3 || 13 || 5 || 20 || 50
|-
|}

==== [[Ammo racks]] ====

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! Full ammo
! 1st rack empty
! 2nd rack empty
! 3rd rack empty
! 4th rack empty
! 5th rack empty
! 6th rack empty
! 7th rack empty
! 8th rack empty
! 9th rack empty
! Visual discrepancy
|-
| '''65''' || 64 ''(+1)'' || 56 ''(+9)'' || 48 ''(+17)'' || 40 ''(+25)'' || 32 ''(+33)'' || 12 ''(+53)'' || 9 ''(+56)'' || 5 ''(+60)'' || 1 ''(+64)'' || No
|-
|}
[[File:Ammoracks_{{PAGENAME}}.png|right|thumb|x250px|[[Ammo racks]] of the {{PAGENAME}}]]
Notes:

* Shells are modeled individually and disappear from the rack after having been loaded in the breech.
* Racks 7, 8 and 9 are first stage ammo racks. They total 11 shells and get filled first when loading up the tank.
* These 3 racks are also emptied first when firing: the rack depletion order at full capacity is: 7 - 9 - 8 - 1 - 2 until 6.
* Simply not firing when the gun is loaded will move ammo from rack 1 then 2 until 6 into racks 9 then 8 and 7. Firing will interrupt the restocking of the ready racks.

=== Machine guns ===
{{Specs-Tank-Weapon|2}}

{{main|BESA (7.92 mm)}}

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" width="50%"
|-
! colspan="5" | [[BESA (7.92 mm)|7.92 mm BESA]]
|-
! Mount !! Capacity (Belt) !! Fire rate !! Vertical !! Horizontal
|-
| Coaxial || 3,600 (225) || 600 || N/A || N/A
|-
|}
The small calibre of the BESA machine gun makes it largely ineffective against all armoured vehicles but the ones with an open compartment. It still can be used to ping targets as a rangefinding help or to mow down minor obstacles blocking your line of sight.

== Usage in battles ==


;Tips

* If you know the weak spots on most vehicles, try taking the solid shot, it usually does more damage inside enemy tanks.
* When using the APDS shot, you can penetrate the Panthers' UFP, and Ferdinand's and Ho-Ri's frontal armour.
* Bait your opponents into making a move at you, and then use your stabilizer to drive out and take a shot at them much faster than they can.
* If many of your teammates are dead, and you are likely to get surrounded - reverse closer to your spawn because your reload is not fast enough (6.4s with Aced crew).
* Don't rely on armour.

;Arcade Battles

In Arcade Battles, it is recommended to take mostly APDS shells, because the gameplay is much more reactive and it's more important to penetrate an enemy vehicle wherever you hit - because you don't have time to aim, or the enemies are very fast-moving due to increased horsepower.

In terms of game strategies, the Caernarvon is very versatile (almost MBT-like). You can get into sniping positions and rain shells on all enemies that enter your line of sight (or target the more armoured vehicles such as the Ferdinand and the Ho-Ri Production, which are impenetrable to many tanks around 6.7); you can also serve as a breakthrough tank, not because of armour, but because of speed and the stabilizer which allows you to shoot on the move at enemies that dare block your path; or, you can flank, although that role is often taken by much faster vehicles such as Ru 251, BMP-1 and R3.

To succeed in Arcade, you must learn to use your advantages, most notably the stabilizer and the APDS round. For example, whenever you are in a stand-off with a non-stabilized tank - get into cover, and when they try to drive out to hold your angle, you can also drive out and shoot them, because your gun will be ready to fire faster than theirs, even though they started driving out of cover before you.

;Realistic Battles

In Realistic Battles, most players prefer to take out the solid shot, because it has the potential to damage many more components while maintaining decent penetration values. However, you should take your time to aim this shot, because it will not penetrate some tougher enemies (e.g. Ferdinand, Ho-Ri Production, or IS-3/IS-4), or take some APDS rounds with you.

When playing the Caernarvon in Realistic Battles, try to play a supportive role. You don't know where the enemies are, and your armour will not save you from an ambush, so rely on your teammates to lead the way. Here, the sniping strategy is much more viable, because your round velocities are very high, making aiming over 1km much easier, moreover 10 degrees of depression allow you to play in hilly areas and take pot shots at unsuspecting enemies (especially the Russian tanks, who lack gun depression). You can still push forward with your team because your stabilizer still allows you to take much more accurate reactive shots (or when on the move).

To succeed in Realistic, you must use cover and let your teammates take the shots. Usually, you will be able to return fire to avenge a teammate, and most of the time you get the kill, due to easy gun handling.

=== Pros and cons ===

'''Pros:'''

* Same armament as the Centurion Mk 3, has a very good stock round and access to APDS
* Very fast reload for a large calibre
* Fast turret and hull traverse
* Good acceleration
* The Caernarvon plays like a beefed up Centurion Mk 3
* Brake system is very responsive
* Access to gun stabilizer
* Wider tracks enables the Caernarvon to navigate through bad terrain much better than the Centurion Mk 3
* Can choose beetwen using the AP round and aiming for weak spots, or using APDS and aiming for ammo (which it will easily set off)

'''Cons:'''

* Lower glacis is still a weak spot
* Large ammo rack behind LFP (Can be removed by bringing less than 34 shells)
* APDS shot does punctual damage
* No explosive filler in any shells
* Weak side armour, should not be exposed in any way when engaging an enemy
* Top armour covering the engine is still only 8mm

== History ==

===Development===
In 1944, General Staff started a project called ''A45 Infantry Support Tank'', which started around the same time as the development of the [[Centurion Mk 3|A41 Centurion]] cruiser tank. This project, after the war, was redesignated from a typical "Infantry Tank" and instead focused on a new role of a "Universal Tank" design in the form of the FV 200 series. The "Universal Tank" concept was to design a vehicle that would have a mobility comparable to that of cruiser tanks, but with the armour and firepower of heavy tanks. The FV 200 series designation was adopted and was to serve as a line of vehicles that used the same hull and chassis in different roles like armour recovery vehicles and self-propelled guns. The first tank of this series was to be the FV 201, which would be 55 tons and had the 20-pounder gun.

In 1949, a new requirement for the project called for the use of a 120 mm gun, possibly in response to the reveal of the Soviet [[IS-3]] heavy tank in the Berlin Victory Parade in 1945. This new requirement would delay the initial deadlines for the tank as no gun of that caliber had been developed yet. As a interim development before such a gun could be made, the FV 201 hull was mounted with a turret from a Centurion Mk.2, which had a 17-pounder gun. This Centurion turret mated FV 201 tank was designated the '''FV 221 Caernavon''', with a ''Mark I'' for the 17-pounder. The later combination of the [[Centurion Mk 3]] turret instead of the Mk.2 upped the armament of the tank to the more powerful 20-pounder gun, this version named the ''Mark II''. About 21 units of the Caernarvon Mark II was made in this method.

===Successor===
The Caernarvon, powerful as it was at the time period, was intended to fulfill the role of the new "Main Battle Tank" concept in the FV 200 series. However, the success of the lighter Centurion cruiser tank made it apparent that the Centurion was more capable in that role than the heavier and less mobile Caernarvon. Thus, this role was not given to the Caernarvon and its design was used instead for further chassis development for future tank development. In 1955, the basis of the Caernarvon was built into the first [[Conqueror|Conqueror]] tank. Several Caernarvon Mk.II's were rebuilt into Conqueror Mk. 2 standards in between 1958 and 1959.

== Media ==


;Skins

* [https://live.warthunder.com/feed/camouflages/?vehicleCountry=britain&vehicleType=tank&vehicleClass=heavy_tank&vehicle=uk_fv221_caernarvon Skins and camouflages for the {{PAGENAME}} from live.warthunder.com.]

;Videos
{{Youtube-gallery|gR3JPNt0iPw|'''Heavyweight brits''' discusses the {{PAGENAME}} at 5:02 - ''War Thunder Official Channel''|9ayZTC2A6Ks|'''T34 vs {{PAGENAME}}''' - ''War Thunder Official Channel''|Fjh-tTr6TPs|'''Best Combo #2''' discusses the {{PAGENAME}} at 2:00 - ''War Thunder Official Channel''|fvOxbA46lZc|'''{{PAGENAME}} - How To Master It - Tank Review''' - ''Napalmratte''|p7ggBFTdxCk|'''{{PAGENAME}} Tank Review''' - ''NUSensei''}}

== See also ==


;Vehicles equipped with the same chassis

* [[Conqueror]]

;Vehicles equipped with the same gun

* [[Charioteer Mk VII]]
* [[FV4202]]
* [[Centurion Mk 3]]
* [[Centurion Action X]]

;Other vehicles of similar configuration and role

* [[T34]]

== External links ==


* [[wikipedia:Conqueror_(tank)|[Wikipedia] Conqueror (tank)]]
* [https://tanks-encyclopedia.com/coldwar-uk-tank-medium-gun-fv221-caernarvon/ <nowiki>[Tanks Encyclopedia]</nowiki> Tank, Medium Gun, FV221 Caernarvon]

{{Britain heavy tanks}}

Valentine I

2021-02-24T06:55:36Z

U109009388: /* Pros and cons */

{{Specs-Card
|code=uk_valentine_mk_1
|images={{Specs-Card-Image|GarageImage_{{PAGENAME}}.jpg}}
}}

== Description ==

The '''{{Specs|name}}''' is a rank {{Specs|rank}} British medium tank {{Battle-rating}}. It was introduced in [[Update 1.55 "Royal Armour"]] along with the initial British ground tree. Britain's solution for a cheaper infantry tank, the Valentine boasts good armour, decent mobility, and a great gun to use against its foes.

== General info ==
=== Survivability and armour ===
{{Specs-Tank-Armour}}


With 60 mm thick unangled armour all around, this vehicle, even flanked, can soak up shots, provided the enemy shoots from a distance. Although, make sure to avoid directly facing tank destroyers since they tend to have big guns able to easily knock the Valentine out. Remember: the armour is thick, but flat, so avoid facing big guns. The crew compartment is rather cramped so the crew can usually get one-shot if the armour is penetrated.

'''Armour type:'''

* Rolled homogeneous armour
* Cast homogeneous armour (Front turret, Gun mantlet)

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Armour !! Front !! Sides !! Rear !! Roof
|-
| Hull || 60 mm ''Front plate'' 30 mm (65-67°) ''Front glacis'' 60 mm (18°) ''Lower glacis'' || 30 mm (42°) ''Top'' 60 mm ''Bottom'' || 10 mm (59°) ''Top'' 60 mm ''Joint plate'' 15 mm (65°) ''Bottom'' || 10 mm
|-
| Turret || 65 mm (9-50°) ''Turret front'' 65 mm (7-78°) ''Gun mantlet'' || 60 mm || 65 mm (0-2°) || 16-65 mm
|-
|}
'''Notes:'''

* Suspension wheels, bogies, and tracks are 20 mm thick.
* Driver port on front plate is only 17 mm, a tiny weak point.

=== Mobility ===
{{Specs-Tank-Mobility}}


{{tankMobility|abMinHp= 209|rbMinHp= 119}}

The Valentine is not a fast tank to say the least. It reaches its max speed pretty fast... and stays there, like an old runner taking its beat. It struggles a bit climbing hills and decelerates a lot when turning. This vehicle's driving is comparable to that of a [[Churchill III]], but it does not turn on the spot. The Valentine series share a common British characteristic: painfully slow reverse speed (-3 km/h). The key with such a tank is to anticipate the paths while moving towards the front lines so as to not need to reverse.

=== Modifications and economy ===
{{Specs-Economy}}

== Armaments ==
{{Specs-Tank-Armaments}}
=== Main armament ===
{{Specs-Tank-Weapon|1}}

{{main|QF 2-pounder (40 mm)}}

The QF 2-pounder begins to encounter some difficulties at this rank, although its fast rate of fire can save the day by plundering the enemy with a shot every 4 seconds, almost twice the average rate of fire of its adversaries. This tank also has an awesome gun depression of -15°, a small, bouncy and sturdy turret, use it towards an advantage.

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" width="100%"
|-
! colspan="5" | [[QF 2-pounder (40 mm)|40 mm QF 2-pounder]] || colspan="5" | Turret rotation speed (°/s) || colspan="4" | Reloading rate (seconds)
|-
! Mode !! Capacity !! Vertical !! Horizontal !! Stabilizer
! Stock !! Upgraded !! Full !! Expert !! Aced
! Stock !! Full !! Expert !! Aced
|-
! ''Arcade''
| rowspan="2" | 61 || rowspan="2" | -15°/+20° || rowspan="2" | ±180° || rowspan="2" | Vertical || 15.23 || 21.08 || 25.60 || 28.31 || 30.12 || rowspan="2" | 3.64 || rowspan="2" | 3.22 || rowspan="2" | 2.97 || rowspan="2" | 2.80
|-
! ''Realistic''
| 9.52 || 11.20 || 13.60 || 15.04 || 16.00
|-
|}

==== Ammunition ====
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center" width="100%"
! colspan="8" | Penetration statistics
|-
! rowspan="2" data-sort-type="text" | Ammunition
! rowspan="2" | Type of warhead
! colspan="6" | '''Penetration @ 0° Angle of Attack (mm)'''
|-
! 10 m !! 100 m !! 500 m !! 1,000 m !! 1,500 m !! 2,000 m
|-
| Shot Mk.1 AP/T || AP || 72 || 68 || 52 || 37 || 27 || 19
|-
| Shot Mk.IXB APCBC/T || APCBC || 89 || 86 || 77 || 66 || 57 || 50
|-
| Shot Mk.1 APHV/T || AP || 80 || 75 || 58 || 41 || 30 || 21
|-
| Shell Mk.1 AP/T || APHE || 66 || 62 || 49 || 36 || 26 || 20
|-
|}
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center" width="100%"
! colspan="10" | Shell details
|-
! rowspan="2" data-sort-type="text" | Ammunition
! rowspan="2" | Type of warhead
! rowspan="2" | Velocity (m/s)
! rowspan="2" | Projectile Mass (kg)
! rowspan="2" | Fuse delay (m)
! rowspan="2" | Fuse sensitivity (mm)
! rowspan="2" | Explosive Mass (TNT equivalent) (g)
! colspan="3" | Ricochet
|-
! 0% !! 50% !! 100%
|-
| Shot Mk.1 AP/T || AP || 792 || 1.08 || N/A || N/A || N/A || 47° || 60° || 65°
|-
| Shot Mk.IXB APCBC/T || APCBC || 792 || 1.24 || N/A || N/A || N/A || 48° || 63° || 71°
|-
| Shot Mk.1 APHV/T || AP || 853 || 1.08 || N/A || N/A || N/A || 47° || 60° || 65°
|-
| Shell Mk.1 AP/T || APHE || 792 || 1.08 || 1.2 || 9 || 20.9 || 47° || 60° || 65°
|-
|}

==== [[Ammo racks]] ====
[[File:Ammoracks_ValentineMkI.png|right|thumb|x250px|[[Ammo racks]] of the {{PAGENAME}}]]
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! Full ammo
! 1st rack empty
! 2nd rack empty
! Visual discrepancy
|-
| '''61''' || 31 ''(+30)'' || 1 ''(+60)'' || Yes
|-
|}

Recommendation: 31 ''(+30)'' to remove the large ring of ammunition

==== [[Optics]] ====
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
! colspan="3" | {{PAGENAME}} Optics
|-
!
! Default magnification
! Maximum magnification
|-
! Main Gun optics
| x1.8 || x3.5
|-
! Comparable optics
| colspan="2" | [[Pz.III J1]]
|-
|}

=== Machine guns ===
{{Specs-Tank-Weapon|2}}

{{main|BESA (7.92 mm)}}

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" width="50%"
|-
! colspan="5" | [[BESA (7.92 mm)|7.92 mm BESA]]
|-
! Mount !! Capacity (Belt) !! Fire rate !! Vertical !! Horizontal
|-
| Coaxial || 3,500 (225) || 600 || N/A || N/A
|-
|}

== Usage in battles ==

The Valentine Mk.1 is a bit of a hit or miss due to its relatively high BR: when uptiered, it plays like a British heavy tank, using its raw armour value to soak up shots. Having that much amour when matched against low-ranked tanks also means that the Valentine can take its time to aim at the weak spots/vital modules of the enemy. Otherwise, it plays like a pretty slow medium tank and should avoid the front lines since its cannon do so little damage.

The Valentine Mk.1 is a team player, relying on its allies to provide damage while dragging attention from the enemy. It is a situational vehicle, its gameplay depends much on what it faces.

'''''Heavy tank''''' 
When against Rank I tanks, play it like an heavy tank: follow light and medium tanks and seek attention from the enemies by firing at many of them , preferably the ones with a light weapon (shoot the gunner for a better effect). This way, many enemies will try to shoot the Valentine down and will get outflanked by light tank allies (inexperienced players often suffer from "tunnel vision" when shooting at an enemy, the Valentine for instance). Stay at a distance, angle the armour a bit to maximise protection and preferably show only the turret, which is thicker and bouncy. Keep in mind to anticipate a fast exit way so that when an enemy with a good gun shows up, the Valentine could retreat as fast as possible.

'''''Close range support''''' 
Otherwise, facing low Rank II tanks, the Valentine should play as a support role, on the second line, preferably on the sides of the enemy. The main task here will be to distract enemies from stronger allies, making them turn their turret to shoot at the Valentine, only to realise they exposed their weak side armour to the allies. The 40 mm cannon does not allow for easy one-shot knock-outs: prepare to collect assists and support fire medals. Although, good close range penetration and fast firing rate can provide the Valentine with easy scores.

'''''Use the terrain''''' 
Utilizing the great gun depression of the Valentine will increase the firing effectiveness greatly in battle. Find a hill on the battle field and peak the turret over the top. The gun depression should allow for full coverage of the battle field, whilst the hill will keep the hull covered. The turret will be exposed, angled and a very hard target due to its small size and angulation. This can make the Valentine an almost immovable object on the battlefield, allowing it to pick off most targets. If any damage is taken, reverse behind the slope to recover. Be aware of flankers.

=== Pros and cons ===


'''Pros:'''

* Very good armour for its Battle Rating
* Gun has a very good penetration for its BR
* Very fast reload rate
* Will still have a good reload rate with an incapacitated crew member
* Good turret rotation rate
* Is a medium tank, but plays like a heavy tank and can call in artillery strikes which can be useful in certain situations
* Has smoke launchers
* Small size
* Very small weak spots
* Can act as a distraction for teammates to flank around

'''Cons:'''

* Very slow due to underpowered engine
* Handling is poor especially on rough terrain
* Is incredibly slow when navigating over hills
* Gun is inaccurate at longer ranges
* Only 3 man crew
* Small 40 mm AP shells may require multiple shots to down enemy tank
* Modest ammo count (61 rounds), but a long life would eventually leave the tank out of ammo
* Ammo rack is directly under the turret and easily set off if hit
* No access to HE shells
* Though small, the Driver's port is a weak spot
* Large part of the rear armour is only 17 mm thick despite being sloped
* Terrible reverse speed
* Weak to HEAT and APCR shells
* Often gets bombed, especially if it already destroyed some foes- will be seen as a priority target for enemy CAS players.

== History ==

===Development===
The experiences taken from the development of the A9, A10 cruiser tanks and the A11 infantry tank prompted Vickers-Armstrongs to begin development of a new tank. As a private venture, the design did not receive any designations from the British General Staff during its creation. The designing of the tank focused on the tank having the weight of a cruiser, but with the armour comparable to the infantry tanks. The basis was to have the vehicle with 60 mm of frontal armour and a 2-pounder gun in a two-man turret. To make it as light as possible, it was small and featured a cramped interior. The design used features taken from the A9 and A10 tanks so the design was easier to produce and cheaper to make. Vickers unveiled the design to War Office at February 10, 1938. While they initially viewed it unfavourably for its tiny two-man turret, they took it in April 1939 due to the growing tense situation in Europe with Nazi Germany, with the first order coming in May 1940 after the losses suffered by the British Expeditionary Forces in the Battle of France. The name '''Valentine''' was given to the tank sometime between its introduction to War Office and its adoption. The origin of the name is disputed, some say it was due to its introduction on February 14 in 1938 or 1940, other say it was the middle name of Sir John V. Carden, who helped design the Valentine's predecessors. Other sources say it is a name from the Vickers' company full name (Vickers-Armstrong Ltd Elswick & [Newcastle-upon] Tyne), and David Fletcher from Bovington Tank Museum says that "Valentine" was a code name used by the company for its development.

The Valentine was put into service as quickly as possible under the designation ''Tank, Infantry, Mk.III''. Vickers, Metropolitan-Cammell Carriage & Wagon, and Birmingham Railway Carriage & Wagon Company were all involved in the construction of this vehicle. During World War II, Canada was also contracted to build the Valentine to build up their own tank forces. The United Kingdom produced a total of 6,855 Valentines during the war between the three company while Canada built 1,420 Valentine tanks in their factories, for a total of 8,275 tanks produced, making the Valentine the most produced British tank in the entire war.

===Variants===
The Valentine is one of the most modified British tank in World War II, up to eleven variants were made during its entire production life.

* ''[[Valentine Mk I|Mark I]]'': The first one, it was built with a rivet construction, a 135 hp petrol engine, and a 2-pounder, but was not sent to combat due to mechanical problems.
* ''Mark II'': Uses a 131 hp diesel engine and has an auxiliary fuel tank added to the left hull.
* ''Mark III'': Has a slightly thinner side armour (60 mm to 50 mm) and a modified turret design, giving room for a loader in the tank, freeing the commander to do his job.
* ''Mark IV'' A modified Mk.II using an American 138 hp GMC diesel engine and an American-produced transmission, making the tank more reliable.
* ''Mark V'': The same as Mk.IV, except using the Mk.III as the basis.
* ''Mark VI'': A Canadian built Valentine, using Canadian and American parts and a GMC diesel engine, plus later switching the BESA machine gun into a Browning machine gun.
* ''Mark VII'': A Canadian Mk.VI with a new radio set and a modified interior. Another Mk.VII named the ''Mark VIIA'' has jettisonable fuel tanks and new tracks, oil cooler, and headlights.
* ''Mark VIII'': Uses a British AEC diesel engine and a modified turret to use the 6-pounder. The modification eliminated the coaxial machine gun from the design.
* ''[[Valentine Mk IX|Mark IX]]'': A Mk.V modified to take the 6-pounder as well, but with an armour reduction. Later version also had a stronger 165 hp GMC diesel engine installed.
* ''Mark X'': Features another modified turret design using the 6-pounder, but made it able to use a coaxial machine gun again and still uses the 165 hp diesel engine. Uses a welded construction
* ''[[Valentine Mk XI|Mark XI]]'': The Mk.X using the QF 75 mm gun instead of a 6-pounder, with the 210 hp diesel engine. However, these tanks only served as a command tank in the battlefield. Uses a welded construction

===Combat usage===
The Valentine mostly saw service in the North African Campaign, where the crew reported on it very favourable as a reliable and well-protected tank. The first unit who saw action with the Valentine was the 8th Royal Tank Regiment in Operation Crusader, where it was in the process of replacing the [[Matilda III]]. The reliability is expressed when some Valentine were reported to have travelled a distance of 4,800 kilometers by the time the British reached Tunisia. The Valentine tanks soon saw wide-spread use by mid-1941 when they were issued out widely to armoured regiments due to the lack of cruiser tanks available to fill in the ranks.

However, the biggest weakness of the Valentine tank is the lack of high-explosive rounds for the 2-pounder, a weakness suffered by every other tank using the 2-pounder. This and the 2-pounder's growing deficiency against tank armour was remedied by the usage of the 6-pounder on the Valentine after the Mark VIII version, and then the QF 75 mm gun. However, these larger guns were harder to mount on the small Valentine turret and made for a cramped interior, even removing the established loader's position made in an enlarge turret for the 2-pounder. By the time these larger guns were introduced for the tank, better tanks were being introduced, such as the [[Churchill Mk III|Churchill heavy tanks]] from Britain and the [[M4|M4 Shermans]] from the Americans. Despite the better tanks, the Valentine's low height is able to exploit small cover on the battlefield and take up a good hull-down position behind hills.

Some Valentines were sent to the Soviet Union as part of the Lend-Lease program, most of the Valentines came from Canada's production lines. The Valentines saw use from the time of Battle of Moscow in 1941 all the way until the end of the war, though the Valentines saw use more as a second-line tank due to its relative weakness. It was criticized for its slow speed and weak gun, but was liked for its small size, reliability, and armour protection and thus the Soviet Supreme Command continue asking for it and its production to continue until the end of the war.

By 1944, the Valentine is mostly taken out from the front-line services and replaced by the newer tanks. A few were retained for special purposes and command vehicles for [[Archer]] units, which is a tank destroyer based off the Valentine chassis. The tank continue to see use in the Pacific in limited numbers until May 1945 in the 3rd New Zealand Division, some had their armaments changed to the larger 3-inch howitzer to use it stronger high-explosive ammunition against the Japanese. New Zealand kept the normal and modified Valentines all the way until 1955. The last known combat usage of the Valentine was on Cyprus in early 1960s when a turret-less Valentine was used by the Greek militia, added with a make-shift armour and a machine gunner position with a Bren gun.

===Survivors===
About forty Valentines and vehicles based off the Valentine chassis exist in various conditions in the world. Valentines in running condition exist in the Bovington Tank Museum and in private hands in New Zealand and United Kingdom. The Valentines survivors can be seen in UK, Canada, Belgium, France, Russia, Australia, and New Zealand.

== Media ==


;Skins

* [https://live.warthunder.com/feed/camouflages/?vehicleCountry=britain&vehicleType=tank&vehicleClass=medium_tank&vehicle=uk_valentine_mk_1 Skins and camouflages for the {{PAGENAME}} from live.warthunder.com.]

;Videos
{{Youtube-gallery|4_cJ1CpEatw|'''Best gun depression''' discusses the {{PAGENAME}} at 2:01 - ''War Thunder Official Channel''|xIrVVhdC9ac|'''Tank Chats #11 Valentine''' - ''The Tank Museum''}}

== See also ==
''Links to the articles on the War Thunder Wiki that you think will be useful for the reader, for example:''

* ''reference to the series of the vehicles;''
* ''links to approximate analogues of other nations and research trees.''

== External links ==


* [[wt:en/news/3566-profile-small-slow-and-tough-valentine-mk-i-en|[Vehicle Profile] Small, Slow and Tough: Valentine Mk.I]]

{{Britain medium tanks}}

StuH 42 G

2021-02-24T06:49:49Z

U109009388: /* Usage in battles */

{{Specs-Card
|code=germ_stuh_III_ausf_G
|images={{Specs-Card-Image|GarageImage_{{PAGENAME}}.jpg}}
}}

== Description ==

The '''{{Specs|name}}''' (or just '''StuH 42 Ausf. G''') is a rank {{Specs|rank}} German tank destroyer {{Battle-rating}}. It was introduced in [[Update 1.49 "Weapons of Victory"]]. The StuH 42 is essentially a [[StuG III G]] with a 10,5 cm howitzer.

While the StuH 42 bears much resemblance to the [[StuG III F]] and [[StuG III G]], its play style is much, much different. While StuG is most effective at medium to long range combat, StuH is much more suitable for close to very close range.

The reason is its gun - it is equipped with a large 10.5 cm howitzer. This gun has much lower penetration and shell velocity than that of StuG, but it can cause crippling damage with a single hit. Therefore, to be effective, StuH has to come very close to their opponents, to be able to hit their weakest parts of armour. Fortunately, its armour is reasonably good, at 80mm, and good mobility of Panzer III chassis now becomes even more useful.

== General info ==
=== Survivability and armour ===
{{Specs-Tank-Armour}}

'''Armour type:'''

* Rolled homogeneous armour

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Armour !! Front (Slope angle) !! Sides !! Rear (Slope angle) !! Roof
|-
| Hull || 30 mm (86°), 80 mm (50°) ''Front glacis'' 80 mm (19°) ''Lower glacis'' || 30 + 5 mm || 30 mm (77°) ''Tlop'' 50 mm (15-42°) ''Middle'' 50 mm ''Bottom'' || 16 mm
|-
| Superstructure || 80 mm (10-11°), 30 mm (50-69°) || 30 (9°) + 5 mm ''Left'' 30 (11°) + 5 mm ''Right'' || 30 mm || 11 mm
|-
! Armour !! Sides !! Roof
|-
| Cupola || 50 mm || 11 mm
|}
'''Notes:'''

* Suspension wheels are 15 mm thick while tracks are 20 mm thick.
* Sides of the tank are covered by additional 5 mm thick armour plates, protecting the tank against HEAT and HE shells, as well as reducing damage from nearby explosions.
* Some areas of the front armour are still only 30 mm thick. With a bit of luck they can be penetrated even by much weaker guns
* Belly armour is 30 mm thick.

=== Mobility ===
{{Specs-Tank-Mobility}}


{{tankMobility|abMinHp=426|rbMinHp=265|AoAweight=0.45}}

=== Modifications and economy ===
{{Specs-Economy}}

== Armaments ==
{{Specs-Tank-Armaments}}
=== Main armament ===
{{Specs-Tank-Weapon|1}}

{{main|StuH42 (105 mm)}}

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" width="100%"
|-
! colspan="5" | [[StuH42 (105 mm)|105 mm StuH42]] || colspan="5" | Turret rotation speed (°/s) || colspan="4" | Reloading rate (seconds)
|-
! Mode !! Capacity !! Vertical !! Horizontal !! Stabilizer
! Stock !! Upgraded !! Full !! Expert !! Aced
! Stock !! Full !! Expert !! Aced
|-
! ''Arcade''
| rowspan="2" | 36 || rowspan="2" | -6°/+20° || rowspan="2" | ±10° || rowspan="2" | N/A || 10.6 || 14.6 || 17.8 || 19.6 || 20.9 || rowspan="2" | 13.00 || rowspan="2" | 11.50 || rowspan="2" | 10.60 || rowspan="2" | 10.00
|-
! ''Realistic''
| 7.1 || 8.4 || 10.2 || 11.3 || 12.0
|-
|}

==== Ammunition ====

* '''PzGr ''' - Armour Piercing High Explosive round. APHE has awesome post-penetration damage but penetrates armor poorly making it, difficult to use against the front armour of most enemies, it is very good to finish off enemies from the side.
* '''F.H.Gr.''' - Can be used to great effect by skilled players but has little explosive mass compared to howitzer rounds such as the KV-2's OF-530 (5830g) or the Sturmpanzer's J.Gr 38. (8600g).
* '''Gr.39 rot Hl/B''' - High-Explosive Anti-Tank round - This one should be just skipped, it has no advantage over the better HI.Gr.38C.

* '''Gr.39 rot Hl/C''' High Explosive Anti-Tank round - For begginers HEAT is a good option as it wont struggle to penetrate most tanks and will trigger hull breaks on the lightest foes and easily detonate ammo racks.
* '''F.H.Gr.Nb'''- smoke round, useful to blind a sight line that you want to cross or cover an escape.

Many players will ask themselves which round to main, for newer players, considering the inaccuracy of the gun HEAT is a good choice as it will penetrate most armour and is easy to use.

In order to maximize survivability bringing 12 HEAT, 5 APHE and two smoke rounds is a good idea.
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center" width="100%"
! colspan="8" | Penetration statistics
|-
! rowspan="2" data-sort-type="text" | Ammunition
! rowspan="2" | Type of warhead
! colspan="6" | '''Penetration @ 0° Angle of Attack (mm)'''
|-
! 10 m !! 100 m !! 500 m !! 1,000 m !! 1,500 m !! 2,000 m
|-
| PzGr || APHE || 70 || 69 || 62 || 54 || 47 || 42
|-
| F.H.Gr. || HE || 22 || 22 || 22 || 22 || 22 || 22
|-
| Gr.39 rot Hl/B || HEAT || 105 || 105 || 105 || 105 || 105 || 105
|-
| Gr.39 rot Hl/C || HEAT || 115 || 115 || 115 || 115 || 115 || 115
|-
|}
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center" width="100%"
! colspan="10" | Shell details
|-
! rowspan="2" data-sort-type="text" | Ammunition
! rowspan="2" | Type of warhead
! rowspan="2" | Velocity (m/s)
! rowspan="2" | Projectile Mass (kg)
! rowspan="2" | Fuse delay (m)
! rowspan="2" | Fuse sensitivity (mm)
! rowspan="2" | Explosive Mass (TNT equivalent) (g)
! colspan="3" | Ricochet
|-
! 0% !! 50% !! 100%
|-
| PzGr || APHE || 475 || 14 || 1.2 || 19 || 238 || 47° || 60° || 65°
|-
| F.H.Gr. || HE || 472 || 14.81 || 0.1 || 0.1 || 1,750 || 79° || 80° || 81°
|-
| Gr.39 rot Hl/B || HEAT || 495 || 12.35 || 0 || 0.1 || 2,530 || 62° || 69° || 73°
|-
| Gr.39 rot Hl/C || HEAT || 495 || 12.35 || 0 || 0.1 || 2,550 || 62° || 69° || 73°
|-
|}
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
! colspan="7" | Smoke shell characteristics
|-
! Ammunition
! Velocity (m/s)
! Projectile Mass (kg)
! Screen radius (m)
! Screen deploy time (s)
! Screen hold time (s)
! Explosive Mass (TNT equivalent) (g)
|-
| F.H.Gr.Nb. || 472 || 13.9 || 20 || 5 || 25 || 50
|-
|}

==== [[Ammo racks]] ====
[[File:Ammoracks_StuH42G.png|right|thumbnail|x250px|[[Ammo racks|Ammo racks]] of the StuH 42.]]
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! Full ammo
! Ammo part
! 1st rack empty
! 2nd rack empty
! 3rd rack empty
! Visual discrepancy
|-
| '''36''' || style="text-align:right" | ''Projectiles'' ''Propellants'' || 25 ''(+11)'' 31 ''(+5)'' || 19 ''(+17)'' 7 ''(+29)'' || 13 ''(+23)'' 1 ''(+35)'' || No
|-
|}

Left side empty: 19 ''(+17)''

== Usage in battles ==

The StuH boasts formidable front armour impenetrable to almost all enemies it can encounter at its battle rating as with the Add-on armour modification the StuH's armour is brought up to 100mm with quite good angles. Only few foes will manage to crack through its defences. The Sturmhaubitze performs best in urban environment, where the low gun's velocity won't matter as much. The StuH can do very well as a spearhead tank, pushing capture points together with the rest of the team, and can prove very good as a "Heavies Killer" as its strong frontal armour will protect it against the guns carried by heavy tanks around this BR and the HEAT round will deafeat even thicker armour, making the StuH a real headache to Matilda, Churchill and KV-1 tankers.

A very important thing to keep in mind is never to '''show the StuH's weak sides to the enemy''' as they are only 35mm thick (with the side skirts), so even the weakest guns and SPAAG autocannons can take you out from the side. Thus avoid crossing a long sightline as any enemy covering it will easily destroy the StuH with a well aimed shot at the side.

* When facing a tank from the side it is recommended to aim for the engine (if HEAT is loaded) this way the enemy won't be able to flank you, then retreat into cover and load APHE and fire in the side to destroy the enemy with the massive explosive filler.

* When facing a tank from the front use HEAT to disable their driver and/or transmission then aim for ammo or other crew members.

* Where to shoot common foes: M4 Sherman: aim for the driver first then shoot in the one of the upper corners off the front plate as that is where ammo is stored. T-34 Aim for the left middle (right from your perspective) part of the front plate that will disable the gunner and driver leaving the tank completely debilitated, then shoot the other side of the UFP to disable the other two crews (a shot in the middle of the UFP will often one shot the T-34,but that depends on crew vitality).KV-1 if it doesn't angle you can penetrate the front. Aim for the left side to knock out the driver then the turret cheeks are good ways of disabling turret crew.

Enemies worth noting:

* M4A3 (105) and Su-122. Those two foes are quite similar to each other and to the StuH in multiple regards. They both have heavy calibre howitzers, firing high penetrating HEAT rounds (130mm at 0° and 160mm at 0°respectively) that will rip through your armour with ease. Secondly they both boast above average frontal armour, but weak sides. However the StuH can easily penetrate their armour as well , thus when facing them the winner is usually whoever gets the first shot off. It is worth mentioning that the StuH can use its side skirts against those foes, a smart StuH tanker will angle heavily, exposing the sides which will tempt most of them to take a shot at them, but the skirts will set off the sensitive HEAT fuse prematurely thus causing a Non-Pen once the HE jet reaches the actual armour, leaving the StuH a 15 or so seconds window to shoot themselves.
* Very mobile tanks e.g. M22, M3 and M5 Stuart, Crusaders, Cromwell's etc. Those can flank the StuH with ease and destroy it. Your best bet with those is to detect them as early as possible and expose your front armour, that is invulnerable to their guns.
* Russian tanks. Despite being known for their poor firepower at the BR range of 3.0 their guns deal with angles exceptionally well, thus a shot to the heavily angled 30mm plates above the driver's hatch will often penetrate, luckily the Add- on-Armour modification ads 20mm of track armour, making this kind of penetration much rarer.

Achilles, Archer and M10 GMC. The former two boast the infamous British 17- pounder 76mm gun which will rip through your armour in all places. The latter is equipped with the American M7 76mm canon while having less penetration this gun won't pen you everywhere but it will in a lot of places, and has some HE filler increasing the damage once the shell penetrates. They all can easily be penetrated with the APHE round causing a one shot destruction because of the massive HE filler.

'''Counter tactics''':

* If your gun is too weak to deal with the StuH's front armour (which most are): If you spot a StuH while they didn't, it is best to wait for it to expose its side, then take a shot at the rear part. in order to knock out the engine - preventing them them to swing their hull around, and show their thick front armour and fearsome 105mm howitzer. The it is just a matter of finishing it off: from the left side simply fire at the front/middle section, to decimate the three crew members there, thus destroying the StuH. From the right (after disabling the engine) shoot the very front upper section, hitting an ammo rack and very likely igniting it.If a head on encounter is inevitable, aim for the drivers port, a penetration there will knock out, 3 out of 4 crews- instant destruction. However few guns can penetrate even there so a head on encounter should be avoided at all costs.

=== Pros and cons ===


'''Pros:'''

* HEAT won't struggle to penetrate even heavier opponents
* Very destructive APHE especially from the side
* Good mobility, especially for a tank that armoured
* Side skirts can be used to protect against HEAT/HE projectiles, very useful when attacked by a plane with rockets
* Awesome Armour, frontal penetrations are very rare.
* Good at destroying heavy tanks - which often cause a lot of trouble to weaker allies

* Quick hull traverse, very useful for a turretless tank

'''Cons:'''

* Very weak sides vulnerable to flanking

* 105 mm howitzer performance lacking compared to [[StuK_40 (75 mm)|75 mm StuK 40]] in penetration even with HEAT
* HEAT damage lacking compared to APHE, trading off significant post-pen for penetration
* Low reload speed, maximum of 13 seconds
* Low accuracy (even at close range) makes weak spot targeting harder
* Low gun depression of -6°
* Very low shell velocity, less than 500 m/s
* If the loader dies, the vehicle's reload rate decreases dramatically and the StuH becomes rather useless in combat
* Huge ammo rack on the right side of the tank (and loader behind it) - clever players will often target this area
* Lack of a turret means reacting to flanking enemies is harder
* Cupola and machine gun shield on superstructure roof are weak points that can be targeted with HE to penetrate through the 11 mm roof top
* Difficult to climb in snow and sand
* Very difficult to target anywhere other than flat ground.
* With only a main cannon, very hard to use if loader is knocked out or if cannon is damaged

== History ==

===Development===
The role of a self-propelled gun came from combat experiences in World War I. During the German offensives on the Allied front, infantry lacked artillery support against fortifications in places out-ranged by their heavy artillery behind the lines. A need for a mobile artillery piece was necessary to keep up with the German infantry and fight enemy fortifications with a direct-fire assault role. The father of this concept was German General Erich von Manstein and was coined as the ''Sturmartillerie'' (assault artillery), and these units were to be embedded in infantry divisions.

The result of this concept was a vehicle known as the [[StuG III A|StuG III]], a vehicle built on the Panzer III chassis that fits the role of a support vehicle in the artillery branch. It was meant to give close support to advancing infantry against fortifications or other lightly armoured oppositions. As such, it was initially armed with a 75 mm StuK 37 L/24 howitzer. However, as World War II progressed, the appearance of newer and better tanks such as the [[T-34 (1941)|T-34]] and the [[KV-1 (L-11)|KV-1]] tanks forced the Germans to upgun their existing StuG IIIs in order to be able to combat these tanks. This resulted in the StuG III design being armed with a 75 mm StuK 40 L/43 and L/48 cannon in the ''[[StuG III F|StuG III Ausf. F]]'' and ''[[StuG III G|Ausf. G]]'' respectively, turning the design into something of a tank destroyer.

===StuH 42 Ausf. G===
The StuG III designs are now bona fide tank destroyer, but an infantry support role was still needed from these assault gun to support the advancing infantry. In 1942, some StuG III Ausf. F were equipped with the 105 mm leFH 18 howizter rather than the usual 75 mm cannons. This variant was designated the '''StuH 42''' (''Sturmhaubitze 42'', or "assault howitzer") and was meant to support the infantry with heavier artillery power than the 75 mm could provide. The StuH 42 was made from the StuG III Ausf. G chassis (though the first 12 were built on refurbished StuG Fs). About 1,300 of these StuH 42 were built between March 1943 to 1945.

=== In-game description ===
A modified version of the StuG self-propelled assault mount adapted to strike undefended targets, including those beyond direct firing range. The first models of the vehicle armed with 105mm howitzers were assembled in October, 1942, and on November 22 they were used in combat by the 185th Assault Artillery Division.

The first vehicles were based on the StuG.III Ausf.F8. However, all other vehicles were assembled on the basis of the StuG.40 Ausf.G, whose chassis was a better fit for the 105mm howitzer. The vehicles with this modification were built at Allket's factories right up until April, 1945.

== Media ==


;Skins

* [https://live.warthunder.com/feed/camouflages/?vehicleCountry=germany&vehicleType=tank&vehicleClass=tank_destroyer&vehicle=germ_stuh_III_ausf_G Skins and camouflages for the {{PAGENAME}} from live.warthunder.com.]

;Videos
{{Youtube-gallery|LiE6tZ-MveI|'''{{PAGENAME}} Tank Review''' - ''NUSensei''|YZeFerI9YiI|'''Unforgotten: StuH 42''' - ''War Thunder Official Channel''}}

== See also ==
''Links to the articles on the War Thunder Wiki that you think will be useful for the reader, for example:''

* ''reference to the series of the vehicles;''
* ''links to approximate analogues of other nations and research trees.''

== External links ==
''Paste links to sources and external resources, such as:''

* ''topic on the official game forum;''
* ''encyclopedia page on the tank;''
* ''other literature.''

{{Germany tank destroyers}}

StuH 42 G

2021-02-24T06:24:34Z

U109009388: /* Ammunition */

{{Specs-Card
|code=germ_stuh_III_ausf_G
|images={{Specs-Card-Image|GarageImage_{{PAGENAME}}.jpg}}
}}

== Description ==

The '''{{Specs|name}}''' (or just '''StuH 42 Ausf. G''') is a rank {{Specs|rank}} German tank destroyer {{Battle-rating}}. It was introduced in [[Update 1.49 "Weapons of Victory"]]. The StuH 42 is essentially a [[StuG III G]] with a 10,5 cm howitzer.

While the StuH 42 bears much resemblance to the [[StuG III F]] and [[StuG III G]], its play style is much, much different. While StuG is most effective at medium to long range combat, StuH is much more suitable for close to very close range.

The reason is its gun - it is equipped with a large 10.5 cm howitzer. This gun has much lower penetration and shell velocity than that of StuG, but it can cause crippling damage with a single hit. Therefore, to be effective, StuH has to come very close to their opponents, to be able to hit their weakest parts of armour. Fortunately, its armour is reasonably good, at 80mm, and good mobility of Panzer III chassis now becomes even more useful.

== General info ==
=== Survivability and armour ===
{{Specs-Tank-Armour}}

'''Armour type:'''

* Rolled homogeneous armour

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Armour !! Front (Slope angle) !! Sides !! Rear (Slope angle) !! Roof
|-
| Hull || 30 mm (86°), 80 mm (50°) ''Front glacis'' 80 mm (19°) ''Lower glacis'' || 30 + 5 mm || 30 mm (77°) ''Tlop'' 50 mm (15-42°) ''Middle'' 50 mm ''Bottom'' || 16 mm
|-
| Superstructure || 80 mm (10-11°), 30 mm (50-69°) || 30 (9°) + 5 mm ''Left'' 30 (11°) + 5 mm ''Right'' || 30 mm || 11 mm
|-
! Armour !! Sides !! Roof
|-
| Cupola || 50 mm || 11 mm
|}
'''Notes:'''

* Suspension wheels are 15 mm thick while tracks are 20 mm thick.
* Sides of the tank are covered by additional 5 mm thick armour plates, protecting the tank against HEAT and HE shells, as well as reducing damage from nearby explosions.
* Some areas of the front armour are still only 30 mm thick. With a bit of luck they can be penetrated even by much weaker guns
* Belly armour is 30 mm thick.

=== Mobility ===
{{Specs-Tank-Mobility}}


{{tankMobility|abMinHp=426|rbMinHp=265|AoAweight=0.45}}

=== Modifications and economy ===
{{Specs-Economy}}

== Armaments ==
{{Specs-Tank-Armaments}}
=== Main armament ===
{{Specs-Tank-Weapon|1}}

{{main|StuH42 (105 mm)}}

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" width="100%"
|-
! colspan="5" | [[StuH42 (105 mm)|105 mm StuH42]] || colspan="5" | Turret rotation speed (°/s) || colspan="4" | Reloading rate (seconds)
|-
! Mode !! Capacity !! Vertical !! Horizontal !! Stabilizer
! Stock !! Upgraded !! Full !! Expert !! Aced
! Stock !! Full !! Expert !! Aced
|-
! ''Arcade''
| rowspan="2" | 36 || rowspan="2" | -6°/+20° || rowspan="2" | ±10° || rowspan="2" | N/A || 10.6 || 14.6 || 17.8 || 19.6 || 20.9 || rowspan="2" | 13.00 || rowspan="2" | 11.50 || rowspan="2" | 10.60 || rowspan="2" | 10.00
|-
! ''Realistic''
| 7.1 || 8.4 || 10.2 || 11.3 || 12.0
|-
|}

==== Ammunition ====

* '''PzGr ''' - Armour Piercing High Explosive round. APHE has awesome post-penetration damage but penetrates armor poorly making it, difficult to use against the front armour of most enemies, it is very good to finish off enemies from the side.
* '''F.H.Gr.''' - Can be used to great effect by skilled players but has little explosive mass compared to howitzer rounds such as the KV-2's OF-530 (5830g) or the Sturmpanzer's J.Gr 38. (8600g).
* '''Gr.39 rot Hl/B''' - High-Explosive Anti-Tank round - This one should be just skipped, it has no advantage over the better HI.Gr.38C.

* '''Gr.39 rot Hl/C''' High Explosive Anti-Tank round - For begginers HEAT is a good option as it wont struggle to penetrate most tanks and will trigger hull breaks on the lightest foes and easily detonate ammo racks.
* '''F.H.Gr.Nb'''- smoke round, useful to blind a sight line that you want to cross or cover an escape.

Many players will ask themselves which round to main, for newer players, considering the inaccuracy of the gun HEAT is a good choice as it will penetrate most armour and is easy to use.

In order to maximize survivability bringing 12 HEAT, 5 APHE and two smoke rounds is a good idea.
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center" width="100%"
! colspan="8" | Penetration statistics
|-
! rowspan="2" data-sort-type="text" | Ammunition
! rowspan="2" | Type of warhead
! colspan="6" | '''Penetration @ 0° Angle of Attack (mm)'''
|-
! 10 m !! 100 m !! 500 m !! 1,000 m !! 1,500 m !! 2,000 m
|-
| PzGr || APHE || 70 || 69 || 62 || 54 || 47 || 42
|-
| F.H.Gr. || HE || 22 || 22 || 22 || 22 || 22 || 22
|-
| Gr.39 rot Hl/B || HEAT || 105 || 105 || 105 || 105 || 105 || 105
|-
| Gr.39 rot Hl/C || HEAT || 115 || 115 || 115 || 115 || 115 || 115
|-
|}
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center" width="100%"
! colspan="10" | Shell details
|-
! rowspan="2" data-sort-type="text" | Ammunition
! rowspan="2" | Type of warhead
! rowspan="2" | Velocity (m/s)
! rowspan="2" | Projectile Mass (kg)
! rowspan="2" | Fuse delay (m)
! rowspan="2" | Fuse sensitivity (mm)
! rowspan="2" | Explosive Mass (TNT equivalent) (g)
! colspan="3" | Ricochet
|-
! 0% !! 50% !! 100%
|-
| PzGr || APHE || 475 || 14 || 1.2 || 19 || 238 || 47° || 60° || 65°
|-
| F.H.Gr. || HE || 472 || 14.81 || 0.1 || 0.1 || 1,750 || 79° || 80° || 81°
|-
| Gr.39 rot Hl/B || HEAT || 495 || 12.35 || 0 || 0.1 || 2,530 || 62° || 69° || 73°
|-
| Gr.39 rot Hl/C || HEAT || 495 || 12.35 || 0 || 0.1 || 2,550 || 62° || 69° || 73°
|-
|}
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
! colspan="7" | Smoke shell characteristics
|-
! Ammunition
! Velocity (m/s)
! Projectile Mass (kg)
! Screen radius (m)
! Screen deploy time (s)
! Screen hold time (s)
! Explosive Mass (TNT equivalent) (g)
|-
| F.H.Gr.Nb. || 472 || 13.9 || 20 || 5 || 25 || 50
|-
|}

==== [[Ammo racks]] ====
[[File:Ammoracks_StuH42G.png|right|thumbnail|x250px|[[Ammo racks|Ammo racks]] of the StuH 42.]]
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! Full ammo
! Ammo part
! 1st rack empty
! 2nd rack empty
! 3rd rack empty
! Visual discrepancy
|-
| '''36''' || style="text-align:right" | ''Projectiles'' ''Propellants'' || 25 ''(+11)'' 31 ''(+5)'' || 19 ''(+17)'' 7 ''(+29)'' || 13 ''(+23)'' 1 ''(+35)'' || No
|-
|}

Left side empty: 19 ''(+17)''

== Usage in battles ==

The StuH boasts formidable front armour impenetrable to almost all enemies it can encounter at its battle rating as with the Add-on armour modification the StuH's armour is brought up to 100mm with quite good angles. Only few foes will manage to crack through its defences. The Sturmhaubitze performs best in urban environment, where the low gun's velocity won't matter as much. The StuH can do very well as a spearhead tank, pushing capture points together with the rest of the team, and can prove very good as a "Heavies Killer" as its strong frontal armour will protect it against the guns carried by heavy tanks around this BR and the HEAT round will deafeat even thicker armour, making the StuH a real headache to Matilda, Churchill and KV-1 tankers.

A very important thing to keep in mind is never to '''show the StuH's weak sides to the enemy''' as it is only 35mm thick with the side skirts, so even the weakest guns and SPAAG autocannons can take you out from the side. Thus avoid crossing a long sightline as any enemy covering it will easily destroy the StuH with a well aimed shot at the side.

* When facing a tank from the side it is recommended to aim for the engine (if HEAT is loaded) this way the enemy won't be able to flank you, then retreat into cover and load APHE and fire in the side to destroy the enemy with the massive explosive filler.

* When facing a tank from the front use HEAT to disable their driver and/or transmission then aim for ammo or other crew members.

* Where to shoot common foes: M4 Sherman: aim for the driver first then shoot in the one of the upper corners off the front plate as that is where ammo is stored. T-34 Aim for the left middle (right from your perspective) part of the front plate that will disable the gunner and driver leaving the tank completely debilitated, then shoot the other side of the UFP to disable the other two crews (a shot in the middle of the UFP will often one shot the T-34,but that depends on crew vitality).KV-1 if it doesn't angle you can penetrate the front. Aim for the left side to knock out the driver then the turret cheeks are good ways of disabling turret crew.

Enemies worth noting:

* M4A3 (105) and Su-122. Those two foes are quite similar to each other and to the StuH in multiple regards. They both have heavy calibre howitzers, firing high penetrating HEAT rounds (130mm at 0° and 160mm at 0°respectively) that will rip through your armour with ease. Secondly they both boast above average frontal armour, but weak sides. However the StuH can easily penetrate their armour as well , thus when facing them the winner is usually whoever gets the first shot off. It is worth mentioning that the StuH can use its side skirts against those foes, a smart StuH tanker will angle heavily, exposing the sides which will tempt most of them to take a shot at them, but the skirts will set off the sensitive HEAT fuse prematurely thus causing a Non-Pen once the HE jet reaches the actual armour, leaving the StuH a 15 or so seconds window to shoot themselves.
* Very mobile tanks e.g. M22, M3 and M5 Stuart, Crusaders, Cromwell's etc. Those can flank the StuH with ease and destroy it. Your best bet with those is to detect them as early as possible and expose your front armour, that is invulnerable to their guns.
* Russian tanks. Despite being known for their poor firepower at the BR range of 3.0 their guns deal with angles exceptionally well, thus a shot to the heavily angled 30mm plates above the driver's hatch will often penetrate, luckily the Add- on-Armour modification ads 20mm of track armour, making this kind of penetration much rarer.
* Achilles, Archer and M10 GMC. The former two boast the infamous British 17- pounder 76mm gun which will rip through your armour in all places. The latter is equipped with the American M7 76mm canon while having less penetration this gun won't pen you everywhere but it will in a lot of places, and has some HE filler increasing the damage once the shell penetrates. They all can easily be penetrated with the APHE round causing a one shot destruction because of the massive HE filler.

=== Pros and cons ===


'''Pros:'''

* HEAT won't struggle to penetrate even heavier opponents
* Very destructive APHE especially from the side
* Good mobility, especially for a tank that armoured
* Side skirts can be used to protect against HEAT/HE projectiles, very useful when attacked by a plane with rockets
* Awesome Armour, frontal penetrations are very rare.
* Good at destroying heavy tanks - which often cause a lot of trouble to weaker allies

* Quick hull traverse, very useful for a turretless tank

'''Cons:'''

* Very weak sides vulnerable to flanking

* 105 mm howitzer performance lacking compared to [[StuK_40 (75 mm)|75 mm StuK 40]] in penetration even with HEAT
* HEAT damage lacking compared to APHE, trading off significant post-pen for penetration
* Low reload speed, maximum of 13 seconds
* Low accuracy (even at close range) makes weak spot targeting harder
* Low gun depression of -6°
* Very low shell velocity, less than 500 m/s
* If the loader dies, the vehicle's reload rate decreases dramatically and the StuH becomes rather useless in combat
* Huge ammo rack on the right side of the tank (and loader behind it) - clever players will often target this area
* Lack of a turret means reacting to flanking enemies is harder
* Cupola and machine gun shield on superstructure roof are weak points that can be targeted with HE to penetrate through the 11 mm roof top
* Difficult to climb in snow and sand
* Very difficult to target anywhere other than flat ground.
* With only a main cannon, very hard to use if loader is knocked out or if cannon is damaged

== History ==

===Development===
The role of a self-propelled gun came from combat experiences in World War I. During the German offensives on the Allied front, infantry lacked artillery support against fortifications in places out-ranged by their heavy artillery behind the lines. A need for a mobile artillery piece was necessary to keep up with the German infantry and fight enemy fortifications with a direct-fire assault role. The father of this concept was German General Erich von Manstein and was coined as the ''Sturmartillerie'' (assault artillery), and these units were to be embedded in infantry divisions.

The result of this concept was a vehicle known as the [[StuG III A|StuG III]], a vehicle built on the Panzer III chassis that fits the role of a support vehicle in the artillery branch. It was meant to give close support to advancing infantry against fortifications or other lightly armoured oppositions. As such, it was initially armed with a 75 mm StuK 37 L/24 howitzer. However, as World War II progressed, the appearance of newer and better tanks such as the [[T-34 (1941)|T-34]] and the [[KV-1 (L-11)|KV-1]] tanks forced the Germans to upgun their existing StuG IIIs in order to be able to combat these tanks. This resulted in the StuG III design being armed with a 75 mm StuK 40 L/43 and L/48 cannon in the ''[[StuG III F|StuG III Ausf. F]]'' and ''[[StuG III G|Ausf. G]]'' respectively, turning the design into something of a tank destroyer.

===StuH 42 Ausf. G===
The StuG III designs are now bona fide tank destroyer, but an infantry support role was still needed from these assault gun to support the advancing infantry. In 1942, some StuG III Ausf. F were equipped with the 105 mm leFH 18 howizter rather than the usual 75 mm cannons. This variant was designated the '''StuH 42''' (''Sturmhaubitze 42'', or "assault howitzer") and was meant to support the infantry with heavier artillery power than the 75 mm could provide. The StuH 42 was made from the StuG III Ausf. G chassis (though the first 12 were built on refurbished StuG Fs). About 1,300 of these StuH 42 were built between March 1943 to 1945.

=== In-game description ===
A modified version of the StuG self-propelled assault mount adapted to strike undefended targets, including those beyond direct firing range. The first models of the vehicle armed with 105mm howitzers were assembled in October, 1942, and on November 22 they were used in combat by the 185th Assault Artillery Division.

The first vehicles were based on the StuG.III Ausf.F8. However, all other vehicles were assembled on the basis of the StuG.40 Ausf.G, whose chassis was a better fit for the 105mm howitzer. The vehicles with this modification were built at Allket's factories right up until April, 1945.

== Media ==


;Skins

* [https://live.warthunder.com/feed/camouflages/?vehicleCountry=germany&vehicleType=tank&vehicleClass=tank_destroyer&vehicle=germ_stuh_III_ausf_G Skins and camouflages for the {{PAGENAME}} from live.warthunder.com.]

;Videos
{{Youtube-gallery|LiE6tZ-MveI|'''{{PAGENAME}} Tank Review''' - ''NUSensei''|YZeFerI9YiI|'''Unforgotten: StuH 42''' - ''War Thunder Official Channel''}}

== See also ==
''Links to the articles on the War Thunder Wiki that you think will be useful for the reader, for example:''

* ''reference to the series of the vehicles;''
* ''links to approximate analogues of other nations and research trees.''

== External links ==
''Paste links to sources and external resources, such as:''

* ''topic on the official game forum;''
* ''encyclopedia page on the tank;''
* ''other literature.''

{{Germany tank destroyers}}

StuH 42 G

2021-02-23T18:04:31Z

U109009388: /* Pros and cons */

{{Specs-Card
|code=germ_stuh_III_ausf_G
|images={{Specs-Card-Image|GarageImage_{{PAGENAME}}.jpg}}
}}

== Description ==

The '''{{Specs|name}}''' (or just '''StuH 42 Ausf. G''') is a rank {{Specs|rank}} German tank destroyer {{Battle-rating}}. It was introduced in [[Update 1.49 "Weapons of Victory"]]. The StuH 42 is essentially a [[StuG III G]] with a 10,5 cm howitzer.

While the StuH 42 bears much resemblance to the [[StuG III F]] and [[StuG III G]], its play style is much, much different. While StuG is most effective at medium to long range combat, StuH is much more suitable for close to very close range.

The reason is its gun - it is equipped with a large 10.5 cm howitzer. This gun has much lower penetration and shell velocity than that of StuG, but it can cause crippling damage with a single hit. Therefore, to be effective, StuH has to come very close to their opponents, to be able to hit their weakest parts of armour. Fortunately, its armour is reasonably good, at 80mm, and good mobility of Panzer III chassis now becomes even more useful.

== General info ==
=== Survivability and armour ===
{{Specs-Tank-Armour}}

'''Armour type:'''

* Rolled homogeneous armour

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Armour !! Front (Slope angle) !! Sides !! Rear (Slope angle) !! Roof
|-
| Hull || 30 mm (86°), 80 mm (50°) ''Front glacis'' 80 mm (19°) ''Lower glacis'' || 30 + 5 mm || 30 mm (77°) ''Tlop'' 50 mm (15-42°) ''Middle'' 50 mm ''Bottom'' || 16 mm
|-
| Superstructure || 80 mm (10-11°), 30 mm (50-69°) || 30 (9°) + 5 mm ''Left'' 30 (11°) + 5 mm ''Right'' || 30 mm || 11 mm
|-
! Armour !! Sides !! Roof
|-
| Cupola || 50 mm || 11 mm
|}
'''Notes:'''

* Suspension wheels are 15 mm thick while tracks are 20 mm thick.
* Sides of the tank are covered by additional 5 mm thick armour plates, protecting the tank against HEAT and HE shells, as well as reducing damage from nearby explosions.
* Some areas of the front armour are still only 30 mm thick. With a bit of luck they can be penetrated even by much weaker guns
* Belly armour is 30 mm thick.

=== Mobility ===
{{Specs-Tank-Mobility}}


{{tankMobility|abMinHp=426|rbMinHp=265|AoAweight=0.45}}

=== Modifications and economy ===
{{Specs-Economy}}

== Armaments ==
{{Specs-Tank-Armaments}}
=== Main armament ===
{{Specs-Tank-Weapon|1}}

{{main|StuH42 (105 mm)}}

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" width="100%"
|-
! colspan="5" | [[StuH42 (105 mm)|105 mm StuH42]] || colspan="5" | Turret rotation speed (°/s) || colspan="4" | Reloading rate (seconds)
|-
! Mode !! Capacity !! Vertical !! Horizontal !! Stabilizer
! Stock !! Upgraded !! Full !! Expert !! Aced
! Stock !! Full !! Expert !! Aced
|-
! ''Arcade''
| rowspan="2" | 36 || rowspan="2" | -6°/+20° || rowspan="2" | ±10° || rowspan="2" | N/A || 10.6 || 14.6 || 17.8 || 19.6 || 20.9 || rowspan="2" | 13.00 || rowspan="2" | 11.50 || rowspan="2" | 10.60 || rowspan="2" | 10.00
|-
! ''Realistic''
| 7.1 || 8.4 || 10.2 || 11.3 || 12.0
|-
|}

==== Ammunition ====

* '''PzGr ''' - Armour Piercing High Explosive round. APHE has awesome post-penetration damage but penetrates armor poorly making it, difficult to use against the front armour of most enemies, it is very good to finish off enemies from the side.
* '''F.H.Gr.''' - Can be used to great effect by skilled players but has little explosive mass compared to howitzer rounds such as the KV-2's OF-530 (5830g) or the Sturmpanzer's J.Gr 38. (8600g).
* '''Gr.39 rot Hl/B''' - High-Explosive Anti-Tank round - This one should be just skipped, it has no advantage over the better HI.Gr.38C.

* '''Gr.39 rot Hl/C''' High Explosive Anti-Tank round - For begginers HEAT is a good option as it wont struggle to penetrate most tanks and will trigger hull breaks on the lightest foes and easily detonate ammo racks.
* '''F.H.Gr.Nb'''- smoke round, useful to blind a sight line that you want to cross or cover an escape.

Many players will ask themselves which round to main, for newer players, considering the inaccuracy of the gun HEAT is a good choice as it will penetrate most armour and is easy to use.

In order to maximize survivability bringing 12 HEAT, 5 APHE an two smoke rounds is a good idea.
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center" width="100%"
! colspan="8" | Penetration statistics
|-
! rowspan="2" data-sort-type="text" | Ammunition
! rowspan="2" | Type of warhead
! colspan="6" | '''Penetration @ 0° Angle of Attack (mm)'''
|-
! 10 m !! 100 m !! 500 m !! 1,000 m !! 1,500 m !! 2,000 m
|-
| PzGr || APHE || 70 || 69 || 62 || 54 || 47 || 42
|-
| F.H.Gr. || HE || 22 || 22 || 22 || 22 || 22 || 22
|-
| Gr.39 rot Hl/B || HEAT || 105 || 105 || 105 || 105 || 105 || 105
|-
| Gr.39 rot Hl/C || HEAT || 115 || 115 || 115 || 115 || 115 || 115
|-
|}
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center" width="100%"
! colspan="10" | Shell details
|-
! rowspan="2" data-sort-type="text" | Ammunition
! rowspan="2" | Type of warhead
! rowspan="2" | Velocity (m/s)
! rowspan="2" | Projectile Mass (kg)
! rowspan="2" | Fuse delay (m)
! rowspan="2" | Fuse sensitivity (mm)
! rowspan="2" | Explosive Mass (TNT equivalent) (g)
! colspan="3" | Ricochet
|-
! 0% !! 50% !! 100%
|-
| PzGr || APHE || 475 || 14 || 1.2 || 19 || 238 || 47° || 60° || 65°
|-
| F.H.Gr. || HE || 472 || 14.81 || 0.1 || 0.1 || 1,750 || 79° || 80° || 81°
|-
| Gr.39 rot Hl/B || HEAT || 495 || 12.35 || 0 || 0.1 || 2,530 || 62° || 69° || 73°
|-
| Gr.39 rot Hl/C || HEAT || 495 || 12.35 || 0 || 0.1 || 2,550 || 62° || 69° || 73°
|-
|}
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
! colspan="7" | Smoke shell characteristics
|-
! Ammunition
! Velocity (m/s)
! Projectile Mass (kg)
! Screen radius (m)
! Screen deploy time (s)
! Screen hold time (s)
! Explosive Mass (TNT equivalent) (g)
|-
| F.H.Gr.Nb. || 472 || 13.9 || 20 || 5 || 25 || 50
|-
|}

==== [[Ammo racks]] ====
[[File:Ammoracks_StuH42G.png|right|thumbnail|x250px|[[Ammo racks|Ammo racks]] of the StuH 42.]]
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! Full ammo
! Ammo part
! 1st rack empty
! 2nd rack empty
! 3rd rack empty
! Visual discrepancy
|-
| '''36''' || style="text-align:right" | ''Projectiles'' ''Propellants'' || 25 ''(+11)'' 31 ''(+5)'' || 19 ''(+17)'' 7 ''(+29)'' || 13 ''(+23)'' 1 ''(+35)'' || No
|-
|}

Left side empty: 19 ''(+17)''

== Usage in battles ==

The StuH boasts formidable front armour impenetrable to almost all enemies it can encounter at its BR of 3.0, as with the Add-onArmour modification the StuH's armour is brought up to 100mm with quite good angles. Only few foes will manage to crack through its defences.The Sturmhaubitze performs best in urban environment, where the low gun's velocity won't matter as much.The StuH can do very well as a spearhead tank, pushing capture points together with the rest of the team, and can prove very good as a "Heavies Killer" as its strong frontal armour will protect it against the guns carried by heavy tanks around this BR and the HEAT round will deafeat even thicker armour, making the StuH a real headache to Matilda, Churchill and KV-1 tankers.

A very important thing to keep in mind is never to '''show the StuH's weak sides to the enemy''' as it is only 35mm thick with the side skirts, so even the weakest guns and SPAAG autocanons can take you out from the side. Thus avoid crossing a long sightline as any enemy covering it will easily destroy the StuH with a well aimed shot at the side. Usefull tips:

* When facing a tank from the side it is recomended to aim for the engine (if HEAT is loaded) this way the enemy won't be able to flank you, then retreat into cover and load APHE and fire in the side to destroy the enemy with the massive explosive filler.
* When facing a tank from the front use HEAT to disable their driver and/or transmision then aim for ammo or other crewmembers
* Where to shoot common foes: M4 Sherman: aim for the driver first then shoot in the one of the upper corners off the front plate as that is where ammo is stored. T-34 Aim for the left middle (right from your perspective) part of the front plate that will disable the gunner and driver leaving the tank completely debilitated, then shoot the other side of the UFP to disable the other two crews (a shot in the middle of the UFP will often one shot the T-34,but that depends on crew vitality).KV-1 if it doesnt angle you can penetrate the front. Aim for the left side to knock out the driver then the turret cheeks are good ways of disabling turret crew.

Enemies worth noting:

* M4A3 (105) and Su-122. Those two foes are quite similar to each other and to the StuH in multiple regards. They both have heavy calibre howitzers, firing high penetrating HEAT rounds (130mm at 0° and 160mm at 0°respectively) that will rip throgh your armour with ease. Secondly they both boast above average frontal armour, but weak sides. However the StuH can easily penetrate their armour as well , thus when facing them the winner is usualy whoever gets the first shot off. It is worth mentioning that the StuH can use its side skirts against those foes, a smart StuH tanker will angle heavily, exposing the sides which will tempt most of them to take a shot at them, but the skirts will set off the sensitive HEAT fuse prematurely thus causing a Non-Pen once the HE jet reaches the actual armour, leaving the StuH a 15 or so seconds window to shoot themselves.
* Very mobile tanks e.g. M22, M3 and M5 Stuart, Crusaders, Cromwells etc. Those can flank the StuH with ease and destroy it.Your best bet with those is to detect them as early as possible and expose your front armour, that is invulnerable to their guns.
* Russian tanks. Despite being known for their poor firepower at the BR range of 3.0 their guns deal with angles exceptionaly well, thus a shot to the heavily angled 30mm plates above the driver's hatch will often penetrate, luckily the Add- on-Armour modification ads 20mm of track armour, making this kind of penetration much rarer.
* Achilles, Archer and M10 GMC. The former two boast the infamous British 17- pounder 76mm gun which will rip through your armour in all places.The latter is equiped with the American M7 76mm canon while having less penetration this gun won't pen you everywhere but it will in a lot of places, and has some HE filler increasing the damage once the shell penetrates.They all can easily be penetrated with the APHE round causing a one shot destruction because of the massive HE filler.

=== Pros and cons ===


'''Pros:'''

* HEAT won't struggle to penetrate even heavier opponents
* Very destructive APHE especialy from the side
* Good mobility, especially for a tank that armoured
* Side skirts can be used to protect against HEAT/HE projectiles, very usefull when atacked by a plane with rockets
* Awesome Armour, frontal penetrations are very rare.
* Good at destroying heavy tanks - which often cause a lot of trouble to weaker allies

* Quick hull traverse, very usefull for a turetless tank

'''Cons:'''

* Very weak sides vulnerable to flanking

* 105 mm howitzer performance lacking compared to [[StuK_40 (75 mm)|75 mm StuK 40]] in penetration even with HEAT
* HEAT damage lacking compared to APHE, trading off significant post-pen for penetration
* Low reload speed, maximum of 13 seconds
* Low accuracy (even at close range) makes weak spot targeting harder
* Low gun depression of -6°
* Very low shell velocity, less than 500 m/s
* If the loader dies, the vehicle's reload rate decreases dramatically and the StuH becomes rather useless in combat
* Huge ammo rack on the right side of the tank (and loader behind it) - clever players will often target this area
* Lack of a turret means reacting to flanking enemies is harder
* Cupola and machine gun shield on superstructure roof are weak points that can be targeted with HE to penetrate through the 11 mm roof top
* Difficult to climb in snow and sand
* Very difficult to target anywhere other than flat ground.
* With only a main cannon, very hard to use if loader is knocked out or if cannon is damaged

== History ==

===Development===
The role of a self-propelled gun came from combat experiences in World War I. During the German offensives on the Allied front, infantry lacked artillery support against fortifications in places out-ranged by their heavy artillery behind the lines. A need for a mobile artillery piece was necessary to keep up with the German infantry and fight enemy fortifications with a direct-fire assault role. The father of this concept was German General Erich von Manstein and was coined as the ''Sturmartillerie'' (assault artillery), and these units were to be embedded in infantry divisions.

The result of this concept was a vehicle known as the [[StuG III A|StuG III]], a vehicle built on the Panzer III chassis that fits the role of a support vehicle in the artillery branch. It was meant to give close support to advancing infantry against fortifications or other lightly armoured oppositions. As such, it was initially armed with a 75 mm StuK 37 L/24 howitzer. However, as World War II progressed, the appearance of newer and better tanks such as the [[T-34 (1941)|T-34]] and the [[KV-1 (L-11)|KV-1]] tanks forced the Germans to upgun their existing StuG IIIs in order to be able to combat these tanks. This resulted in the StuG III design being armed with a 75 mm StuK 40 L/43 and L/48 cannon in the ''[[StuG III F|StuG III Ausf. F]]'' and ''[[StuG III G|Ausf. G]]'' respectively, turning the design into something of a tank destroyer.

===StuH 42 Ausf. G===
The StuG III designs are now bona fide tank destroyer, but an infantry support role was still needed from these assault gun to support the advancing infantry. In 1942, some StuG III Ausf. F were equipped with the 105 mm leFH 18 howizter rather than the usual 75 mm cannons. This variant was designated the '''StuH 42''' (''Sturmhaubitze 42'', or "assault howitzer") and was meant to support the infantry with heavier artillery power than the 75 mm could provide. The StuH 42 was made from the StuG III Ausf. G chassis (though the first 12 were built on refurbished StuG Fs). About 1,300 of these StuH 42 were built between March 1943 to 1945.

=== In-game description ===
A modified version of the StuG self-propelled assault mount adapted to strike undefended targets, including those beyond direct firing range. The first models of the vehicle armed with 105mm howitzers were assembled in October, 1942, and on November 22 they were used in combat by the 185th Assault Artillery Division.

The first vehicles were based on the StuG.III Ausf.F8. However, all other vehicles were assembled on the basis of the StuG.40 Ausf.G, whose chassis was a better fit for the 105mm howitzer. The vehicles with this modification were built at Allket's factories right up until April, 1945.

== Media ==


;Skins

* [https://live.warthunder.com/feed/camouflages/?vehicleCountry=germany&vehicleType=tank&vehicleClass=tank_destroyer&vehicle=germ_stuh_III_ausf_G Skins and camouflages for the {{PAGENAME}} from live.warthunder.com.]

;Videos
{{Youtube-gallery|LiE6tZ-MveI|'''{{PAGENAME}} Tank Review''' - ''NUSensei''|YZeFerI9YiI|'''Unforgotten: StuH 42''' - ''War Thunder Official Channel''}}

== See also ==
''Links to the articles on the War Thunder Wiki that you think will be useful for the reader, for example:''

* ''reference to the series of the vehicles;''
* ''links to approximate analogues of other nations and research trees.''

== External links ==
''Paste links to sources and external resources, such as:''

* ''topic on the official game forum;''
* ''encyclopedia page on the tank;''
* ''other literature.''

{{Germany tank destroyers}}

StuH 42 G

2021-02-23T18:03:24Z

U109009388: /* Ammunition */

{{Specs-Card
|code=germ_stuh_III_ausf_G
|images={{Specs-Card-Image|GarageImage_{{PAGENAME}}.jpg}}
}}

== Description ==

The '''{{Specs|name}}''' (or just '''StuH 42 Ausf. G''') is a rank {{Specs|rank}} German tank destroyer {{Battle-rating}}. It was introduced in [[Update 1.49 "Weapons of Victory"]]. The StuH 42 is essentially a [[StuG III G]] with a 10,5 cm howitzer.

While the StuH 42 bears much resemblance to the [[StuG III F]] and [[StuG III G]], its play style is much, much different. While StuG is most effective at medium to long range combat, StuH is much more suitable for close to very close range.

The reason is its gun - it is equipped with a large 10.5 cm howitzer. This gun has much lower penetration and shell velocity than that of StuG, but it can cause crippling damage with a single hit. Therefore, to be effective, StuH has to come very close to their opponents, to be able to hit their weakest parts of armour. Fortunately, its armour is reasonably good, at 80mm, and good mobility of Panzer III chassis now becomes even more useful.

== General info ==
=== Survivability and armour ===
{{Specs-Tank-Armour}}

'''Armour type:'''

* Rolled homogeneous armour

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Armour !! Front (Slope angle) !! Sides !! Rear (Slope angle) !! Roof
|-
| Hull || 30 mm (86°), 80 mm (50°) ''Front glacis'' 80 mm (19°) ''Lower glacis'' || 30 + 5 mm || 30 mm (77°) ''Tlop'' 50 mm (15-42°) ''Middle'' 50 mm ''Bottom'' || 16 mm
|-
| Superstructure || 80 mm (10-11°), 30 mm (50-69°) || 30 (9°) + 5 mm ''Left'' 30 (11°) + 5 mm ''Right'' || 30 mm || 11 mm
|-
! Armour !! Sides !! Roof
|-
| Cupola || 50 mm || 11 mm
|}
'''Notes:'''

* Suspension wheels are 15 mm thick while tracks are 20 mm thick.
* Sides of the tank are covered by additional 5 mm thick armour plates, protecting the tank against HEAT and HE shells, as well as reducing damage from nearby explosions.
* Some areas of the front armour are still only 30 mm thick. With a bit of luck they can be penetrated even by much weaker guns
* Belly armour is 30 mm thick.

=== Mobility ===
{{Specs-Tank-Mobility}}


{{tankMobility|abMinHp=426|rbMinHp=265|AoAweight=0.45}}

=== Modifications and economy ===
{{Specs-Economy}}

== Armaments ==
{{Specs-Tank-Armaments}}
=== Main armament ===
{{Specs-Tank-Weapon|1}}

{{main|StuH42 (105 mm)}}

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" width="100%"
|-
! colspan="5" | [[StuH42 (105 mm)|105 mm StuH42]] || colspan="5" | Turret rotation speed (°/s) || colspan="4" | Reloading rate (seconds)
|-
! Mode !! Capacity !! Vertical !! Horizontal !! Stabilizer
! Stock !! Upgraded !! Full !! Expert !! Aced
! Stock !! Full !! Expert !! Aced
|-
! ''Arcade''
| rowspan="2" | 36 || rowspan="2" | -6°/+20° || rowspan="2" | ±10° || rowspan="2" | N/A || 10.6 || 14.6 || 17.8 || 19.6 || 20.9 || rowspan="2" | 13.00 || rowspan="2" | 11.50 || rowspan="2" | 10.60 || rowspan="2" | 10.00
|-
! ''Realistic''
| 7.1 || 8.4 || 10.2 || 11.3 || 12.0
|-
|}

==== Ammunition ====

* '''PzGr ''' - Armour Piercing High Explosive round. APHE has awesome post-penetration damage but penetrates armor poorly making it, difficult to use against the front armour of most enemies, it is very good to finish off enemies from the side.
* '''F.H.Gr.''' - Can be used to great effect by skilled players but has little explosive mass compared to howitzer rounds such as the KV-2's OF-530 (5830g) or the Sturmpanzer's J.Gr 38. (8600g).
* '''Gr.39 rot Hl/B''' - High-Explosive Anti-Tank round - This one should be just skipped, it has no advantage over the better HI.Gr.38C.

* '''Gr.39 rot Hl/C''' High Explosive Anti-Tank round - For begginers HEAT is a good option as it wont struggle to penetrate most tanks and will trigger hull breaks on the lightest foes and easily detonate ammo racks.
* '''F.H.Gr.Nb'''- smoke round, useful to blind a sight line that you want to cross or cover an escape.

Many players will ask themselves which round to main, for newer players, considering the inaccuracy of the gun HEAT is a good choice as it will penetrate most armour and is easy to use.

In order to maximize survivability bringing 12 HEAT, 5 APHE an two smoke rounds is a good idea.
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center" width="100%"
! colspan="8" | Penetration statistics
|-
! rowspan="2" data-sort-type="text" | Ammunition
! rowspan="2" | Type of warhead
! colspan="6" | '''Penetration @ 0° Angle of Attack (mm)'''
|-
! 10 m !! 100 m !! 500 m !! 1,000 m !! 1,500 m !! 2,000 m
|-
| PzGr || APHE || 70 || 69 || 62 || 54 || 47 || 42
|-
| F.H.Gr. || HE || 22 || 22 || 22 || 22 || 22 || 22
|-
| Gr.39 rot Hl/B || HEAT || 105 || 105 || 105 || 105 || 105 || 105
|-
| Gr.39 rot Hl/C || HEAT || 115 || 115 || 115 || 115 || 115 || 115
|-
|}
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center" width="100%"
! colspan="10" | Shell details
|-
! rowspan="2" data-sort-type="text" | Ammunition
! rowspan="2" | Type of warhead
! rowspan="2" | Velocity (m/s)
! rowspan="2" | Projectile Mass (kg)
! rowspan="2" | Fuse delay (m)
! rowspan="2" | Fuse sensitivity (mm)
! rowspan="2" | Explosive Mass (TNT equivalent) (g)
! colspan="3" | Ricochet
|-
! 0% !! 50% !! 100%
|-
| PzGr || APHE || 475 || 14 || 1.2 || 19 || 238 || 47° || 60° || 65°
|-
| F.H.Gr. || HE || 472 || 14.81 || 0.1 || 0.1 || 1,750 || 79° || 80° || 81°
|-
| Gr.39 rot Hl/B || HEAT || 495 || 12.35 || 0 || 0.1 || 2,530 || 62° || 69° || 73°
|-
| Gr.39 rot Hl/C || HEAT || 495 || 12.35 || 0 || 0.1 || 2,550 || 62° || 69° || 73°
|-
|}
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
! colspan="7" | Smoke shell characteristics
|-
! Ammunition
! Velocity (m/s)
! Projectile Mass (kg)
! Screen radius (m)
! Screen deploy time (s)
! Screen hold time (s)
! Explosive Mass (TNT equivalent) (g)
|-
| F.H.Gr.Nb. || 472 || 13.9 || 20 || 5 || 25 || 50
|-
|}

==== [[Ammo racks]] ====
[[File:Ammoracks_StuH42G.png|right|thumbnail|x250px|[[Ammo racks|Ammo racks]] of the StuH 42.]]
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! Full ammo
! Ammo part
! 1st rack empty
! 2nd rack empty
! 3rd rack empty
! Visual discrepancy
|-
| '''36''' || style="text-align:right" | ''Projectiles'' ''Propellants'' || 25 ''(+11)'' 31 ''(+5)'' || 19 ''(+17)'' 7 ''(+29)'' || 13 ''(+23)'' 1 ''(+35)'' || No
|-
|}

Left side empty: 19 ''(+17)''

== Usage in battles ==

The StuH boasts formidable front armour impenetrable to almost all enemies it can encounter at its BR of 3.0, as with the Add-onArmour modification the StuH's armour is brought up to 100mm with quite good angles. Only few foes will manage to crack through its defences.The Sturmhaubitze performs best in urban environment, where the low gun's velocity won't matter as much.The StuH can do very well as a spearhead tank, pushing capture points together with the rest of the team, and can prove very good as a "Heavies Killer" as its strong frontal armour will protect it against the guns carried by heavy tanks around this BR and the HEAT round will deafeat even thicker armour, making the StuH a real headache to Matilda, Churchill and KV-1 tankers.

A very important thing to keep in mind is never to '''show the StuH's weak sides to the enemy''' as it is only 35mm thick with the side skirts, so even the weakest guns and SPAAG autocanons can take you out from the side. Thus avoid crossing a long sightline as any enemy covering it will easily destroy the StuH with a well aimed shot at the side. Usefull tips:

* When facing a tank from the side it is recomended to aim for the engine (if HEAT is loaded) this way the enemy won't be able to flank you, then retreat into cover and load APHE and fire in the side to destroy the enemy with the massive explosive filler.
* When facing a tank from the front use HEAT to disable their driver and/or transmision then aim for ammo or other crewmembers
* Where to shoot common foes: M4 Sherman: aim for the driver first then shoot in the one of the upper corners off the front plate as that is where ammo is stored. T-34 Aim for the left middle (right from your perspective) part of the front plate that will disable the gunner and driver leaving the tank completely debilitated, then shoot the other side of the UFP to disable the other two crews (a shot in the middle of the UFP will often one shot the T-34,but that depends on crew vitality).KV-1 if it doesnt angle you can penetrate the front. Aim for the left side to knock out the driver then the turret cheeks are good ways of disabling turret crew.

Enemies worth noting:

* M4A3 (105) and Su-122. Those two foes are quite similar to each other and to the StuH in multiple regards. They both have heavy calibre howitzers, firing high penetrating HEAT rounds (130mm at 0° and 160mm at 0°respectively) that will rip throgh your armour with ease. Secondly they both boast above average frontal armour, but weak sides. However the StuH can easily penetrate their armour as well , thus when facing them the winner is usualy whoever gets the first shot off. It is worth mentioning that the StuH can use its side skirts against those foes, a smart StuH tanker will angle heavily, exposing the sides which will tempt most of them to take a shot at them, but the skirts will set off the sensitive HEAT fuse prematurely thus causing a Non-Pen once the HE jet reaches the actual armour, leaving the StuH a 15 or so seconds window to shoot themselves.
* Very mobile tanks e.g. M22, M3 and M5 Stuart, Crusaders, Cromwells etc. Those can flank the StuH with ease and destroy it.Your best bet with those is to detect them as early as possible and expose your front armour, that is invulnerable to their guns.
* Russian tanks. Despite being known for their poor firepower at the BR range of 3.0 their guns deal with angles exceptionaly well, thus a shot to the heavily angled 30mm plates above the driver's hatch will often penetrate, luckily the Add- on-Armour modification ads 20mm of track armour, making this kind of penetration much rarer.
* Achilles, Archer and M10 GMC. The former two boast the infamous British 17- pounder 76mm gun which will rip through your armour in all places.The latter is equiped with the American M7 76mm canon while having less penetration this gun won't pen you everywhere but it will in a lot of places, and has some HE filler increasing the damage once the shell penetrates.They all can easily be penetrated with the APHE round causing a one shot destruction because of the massive HE filler.

=== Pros and cons ===


'''Pros:'''

* HEAT won't struggle to penetrate even heavier opponents
* Very destructive APHE especialy from the side
* Good mobility, especially for a tank that armoured
* Side skirts can be used to protect against HEAT/HE projectiles, very usefull when atacked by a plane with rockets
* Awesome Armour, frontal penetrations are very rare.
* Good at destroying heavy tanks - which often cause a lot of trouble to weaker allies

* Quick hull traverse, very usefull for a turetless tank

'''Cons:'''

* 105 mm howitzer performance lacking compared to [[StuK_40 (75 mm)|75 mm StuK 40]] in penetration even with HEAT
* HEAT damage lacking compared to APHE, trading off significant post-pen for penetration
* Low reload speed, maximum of 13 seconds
* Low accuracy (even at close range) makes weak spot targeting harder
* Low gun depression of -6°
* Very low shell velocity, less than 500 m/s
* If the loader dies, the vehicle's reload rate decreases dramatically and the StuH becomes rather useless in combat
* Huge ammo rack on the right side of the tank (and loader behind it) - clever players will often target this area
* Lack of a turret means reacting to flanking enemies is harder
* Cupola and machine gun shield on superstructure roof are weak points that can be targeted with HE to penetrate through the 11 mm roof top
* Difficult to climb in snow and sand
* Very difficult to target anywhere other than flat ground.
* With only a main cannon, very hard to use if loader is knocked out or if cannon is damaged

== History ==

===Development===
The role of a self-propelled gun came from combat experiences in World War I. During the German offensives on the Allied front, infantry lacked artillery support against fortifications in places out-ranged by their heavy artillery behind the lines. A need for a mobile artillery piece was necessary to keep up with the German infantry and fight enemy fortifications with a direct-fire assault role. The father of this concept was German General Erich von Manstein and was coined as the ''Sturmartillerie'' (assault artillery), and these units were to be embedded in infantry divisions.

The result of this concept was a vehicle known as the [[StuG III A|StuG III]], a vehicle built on the Panzer III chassis that fits the role of a support vehicle in the artillery branch. It was meant to give close support to advancing infantry against fortifications or other lightly armoured oppositions. As such, it was initially armed with a 75 mm StuK 37 L/24 howitzer. However, as World War II progressed, the appearance of newer and better tanks such as the [[T-34 (1941)|T-34]] and the [[KV-1 (L-11)|KV-1]] tanks forced the Germans to upgun their existing StuG IIIs in order to be able to combat these tanks. This resulted in the StuG III design being armed with a 75 mm StuK 40 L/43 and L/48 cannon in the ''[[StuG III F|StuG III Ausf. F]]'' and ''[[StuG III G|Ausf. G]]'' respectively, turning the design into something of a tank destroyer.

===StuH 42 Ausf. G===
The StuG III designs are now bona fide tank destroyer, but an infantry support role was still needed from these assault gun to support the advancing infantry. In 1942, some StuG III Ausf. F were equipped with the 105 mm leFH 18 howizter rather than the usual 75 mm cannons. This variant was designated the '''StuH 42''' (''Sturmhaubitze 42'', or "assault howitzer") and was meant to support the infantry with heavier artillery power than the 75 mm could provide. The StuH 42 was made from the StuG III Ausf. G chassis (though the first 12 were built on refurbished StuG Fs). About 1,300 of these StuH 42 were built between March 1943 to 1945.

=== In-game description ===
A modified version of the StuG self-propelled assault mount adapted to strike undefended targets, including those beyond direct firing range. The first models of the vehicle armed with 105mm howitzers were assembled in October, 1942, and on November 22 they were used in combat by the 185th Assault Artillery Division.

The first vehicles were based on the StuG.III Ausf.F8. However, all other vehicles were assembled on the basis of the StuG.40 Ausf.G, whose chassis was a better fit for the 105mm howitzer. The vehicles with this modification were built at Allket's factories right up until April, 1945.

== Media ==


;Skins

* [https://live.warthunder.com/feed/camouflages/?vehicleCountry=germany&vehicleType=tank&vehicleClass=tank_destroyer&vehicle=germ_stuh_III_ausf_G Skins and camouflages for the {{PAGENAME}} from live.warthunder.com.]

;Videos
{{Youtube-gallery|LiE6tZ-MveI|'''{{PAGENAME}} Tank Review''' - ''NUSensei''|YZeFerI9YiI|'''Unforgotten: StuH 42''' - ''War Thunder Official Channel''}}

== See also ==
''Links to the articles on the War Thunder Wiki that you think will be useful for the reader, for example:''

* ''reference to the series of the vehicles;''
* ''links to approximate analogues of other nations and research trees.''

== External links ==
''Paste links to sources and external resources, such as:''

* ''topic on the official game forum;''
* ''encyclopedia page on the tank;''
* ''other literature.''

{{Germany tank destroyers}}

StuH 42 G

2021-02-23T17:31:40Z

U109009388: /* Usage in battles */

{{Specs-Card
|code=germ_stuh_III_ausf_G
|images={{Specs-Card-Image|GarageImage_{{PAGENAME}}.jpg}}
}}

== Description ==

The '''{{Specs|name}}''' (or just '''StuH 42 Ausf. G''') is a rank {{Specs|rank}} German tank destroyer {{Battle-rating}}. It was introduced in [[Update 1.49 "Weapons of Victory"]]. The StuH 42 is essentially a [[StuG III G]] with a 10,5 cm howitzer.

While the StuH 42 bears much resemblance to the [[StuG III F]] and [[StuG III G]], its play style is much, much different. While StuG is most effective at medium to long range combat, StuH is much more suitable for close to very close range.

The reason is its gun - it is equipped with a large 10.5 cm howitzer. This gun has much lower penetration and shell velocity than that of StuG, but it can cause crippling damage with a single hit. Therefore, to be effective, StuH has to come very close to their opponents, to be able to hit their weakest parts of armour. Fortunately, its armour is reasonably good, at 80mm, and good mobility of Panzer III chassis now becomes even more useful.

== General info ==
=== Survivability and armour ===
{{Specs-Tank-Armour}}

'''Armour type:'''

* Rolled homogeneous armour

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Armour !! Front (Slope angle) !! Sides !! Rear (Slope angle) !! Roof
|-
| Hull || 30 mm (86°), 80 mm (50°) ''Front glacis'' 80 mm (19°) ''Lower glacis'' || 30 + 5 mm || 30 mm (77°) ''Tlop'' 50 mm (15-42°) ''Middle'' 50 mm ''Bottom'' || 16 mm
|-
| Superstructure || 80 mm (10-11°), 30 mm (50-69°) || 30 (9°) + 5 mm ''Left'' 30 (11°) + 5 mm ''Right'' || 30 mm || 11 mm
|-
! Armour !! Sides !! Roof
|-
| Cupola || 50 mm || 11 mm
|}
'''Notes:'''

* Suspension wheels are 15 mm thick while tracks are 20 mm thick.
* Sides of the tank are covered by additional 5 mm thick armour plates, protecting the tank against HEAT and HE shells, as well as reducing damage from nearby explosions.
* Some areas of the front armour are still only 30 mm thick. With a bit of luck they can be penetrated even by much weaker guns
* Belly armour is 30 mm thick.

=== Mobility ===
{{Specs-Tank-Mobility}}


{{tankMobility|abMinHp=426|rbMinHp=265|AoAweight=0.45}}

=== Modifications and economy ===
{{Specs-Economy}}

== Armaments ==
{{Specs-Tank-Armaments}}
=== Main armament ===
{{Specs-Tank-Weapon|1}}

{{main|StuH42 (105 mm)}}

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" width="100%"
|-
! colspan="5" | [[StuH42 (105 mm)|105 mm StuH42]] || colspan="5" | Turret rotation speed (°/s) || colspan="4" | Reloading rate (seconds)
|-
! Mode !! Capacity !! Vertical !! Horizontal !! Stabilizer
! Stock !! Upgraded !! Full !! Expert !! Aced
! Stock !! Full !! Expert !! Aced
|-
! ''Arcade''
| rowspan="2" | 36 || rowspan="2" | -6°/+20° || rowspan="2" | ±10° || rowspan="2" | N/A || 10.6 || 14.6 || 17.8 || 19.6 || 20.9 || rowspan="2" | 13.00 || rowspan="2" | 11.50 || rowspan="2" | 10.60 || rowspan="2" | 10.00
|-
! ''Realistic''
| 7.1 || 8.4 || 10.2 || 11.3 || 12.0
|-
|}

==== Ammunition ====

* '''PzGr ''' - Armour Piercing High Explosive round - This is the main ammo type, use it whenever it has enough power to penetrate the target, as the explosive filler can make short work of a tank interior.
* '''F.H.Gr.''' - High Explosive round - Another very useful kind of ammo, can obliterate any unarmoured SPAAA vehicles or reserve tanks. But if used correctly can be quite effective even against very well armoured tanks - shoot them at the lower part of the turret front, or cupolas - explosion of the shell can then penetrate the deck/roof armour of the tank and cause extensive damage. It also often knocks out the gun and optics. Most penetrations will result in a knock-out 99% of the time.
* '''Gr.39 rot Hl/B''' - High-Explosive Anti-Tank round - This one should be just skipped, it has no advantage over the better HI.Gr.38C.
* '''Gr.39 rot Hl/C''' - High-Explosive Anti-Tank round - This shell has the highest penetration, but it is generally advised to not use it, as its damage effects are vastly inferior to both APHE and HE shells. They are also prone to detonate prematurely on spaced armour, or some debris in the flight trajectory. Their advantage is that they bounce less from sloped armour, and if they hit Fuel Tank or Ammorack, they usually detonate them reliably. Lastly, they don't lose any penetration over distance - carry only few of them in case they are needed.

{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center" width="100%"
! colspan="8" | Penetration statistics
|-
! rowspan="2" data-sort-type="text" | Ammunition
! rowspan="2" | Type of warhead
! colspan="6" | '''Penetration @ 0° Angle of Attack (mm)'''
|-
! 10 m !! 100 m !! 500 m !! 1,000 m !! 1,500 m !! 2,000 m
|-
| PzGr || APHE || 70 || 69 || 62 || 54 || 47 || 42
|-
| F.H.Gr. || HE || 22 || 22 || 22 || 22 || 22 || 22
|-
| Gr.39 rot Hl/B || HEAT || 105 || 105 || 105 || 105 || 105 || 105
|-
| Gr.39 rot Hl/C || HEAT || 115 || 115 || 115 || 115 || 115 || 115
|-
|}
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center" width="100%"
! colspan="10" | Shell details
|-
! rowspan="2" data-sort-type="text" | Ammunition
! rowspan="2" | Type of warhead
! rowspan="2" | Velocity (m/s)
! rowspan="2" | Projectile Mass (kg)
! rowspan="2" | Fuse delay (m)
! rowspan="2" | Fuse sensitivity (mm)
! rowspan="2" | Explosive Mass (TNT equivalent) (g)
! colspan="3" | Ricochet
|-
! 0% !! 50% !! 100%
|-
| PzGr || APHE || 475 || 14 || 1.2 || 19 || 238 || 47° || 60° || 65°
|-
| F.H.Gr. || HE || 472 || 14.81 || 0.1 || 0.1 || 1,750 || 79° || 80° || 81°
|-
| Gr.39 rot Hl/B || HEAT || 495 || 12.35 || 0 || 0.1 || 2,530 || 62° || 69° || 73°
|-
| Gr.39 rot Hl/C || HEAT || 495 || 12.35 || 0 || 0.1 || 2,550 || 62° || 69° || 73°
|-
|}
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
! colspan="7" | Smoke shell characteristics
|-
! Ammunition
! Velocity (m/s)
! Projectile Mass (kg)
! Screen radius (m)
! Screen deploy time (s)
! Screen hold time (s)
! Explosive Mass (TNT equivalent) (g)
|-
| F.H.Gr.Nb. || 472 || 13.9 || 20 || 5 || 25 || 50
|-
|}

==== [[Ammo racks]] ====
[[File:Ammoracks_StuH42G.png|right|thumbnail|x250px|[[Ammo racks|Ammo racks]] of the StuH 42.]]
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! Full ammo
! Ammo part
! 1st rack empty
! 2nd rack empty
! 3rd rack empty
! Visual discrepancy
|-
| '''36''' || style="text-align:right" | ''Projectiles'' ''Propellants'' || 25 ''(+11)'' 31 ''(+5)'' || 19 ''(+17)'' 7 ''(+29)'' || 13 ''(+23)'' 1 ''(+35)'' || No
|-
|}

Left side empty: 19 ''(+17)''

== Usage in battles ==

The StuH boasts formidable front armour impenetrable to almost all enemies it can encounter at its BR of 3.0, as with the Add-onArmour modification the StuH's armour is brought up to 100mm with quite good angles. Only few foes will manage to crack through its defences.The Sturmhaubitze performs best in urban environment, where the low gun's velocity won't matter as much.The StuH can do very well as a spearhead tank, pushing capture points together with the rest of the team, and can prove very good as a "Heavies Killer" as its strong frontal armour will protect it against the guns carried by heavy tanks around this BR and the HEAT round will deafeat even thicker armour, making the StuH a real headache to Matilda, Churchill and KV-1 tankers.

Which ammo to use? A lot of tankers will be unsure about which shell to main. APHE has awesome post-penetration damage but penetrates armor poorly making it, difficult to use against the front armour of most enemies, it is very good to finish off enemies

A very important thing to keep in mind is never to '''show the StuH's weak sides to the enemy''' as it is only 35mm thick with the side skirts, so even the weakest guns and SPAAG autocanons can take you out from the side. Thus avoid crossing a long sightline as any enemy covering it will easely destroy the StuH with a well aimed shot at the side. Usefull tips:

* When facing a tank from the side it is recomended to aim for the engine (if HEAT is loaded) this way the enemy won't be able to flank you, then retreat into cover and load APHE and fire in the side to destroy the enemy with the massive explosive filler.
* When facing a tank from the front use HEAT to disable their driver and/or transmision then aim for ammo or other crewmembers
* Where to shoot common foes: M4 Sherman: aim for the driver first then shoot in the one of the upper corners off the front plate as that is where ammo is stored. T-34 Aim for the left middle (right from your perspective) part of the front plate that will disable the gunner and driver leaving the tank completely debilitated, then shoot the other side of the UFP to disable the other two crews (a shot in the middle of the UFP will often one shot the T-34,but that depends on crew vitality).KV-1 if it doesnt angle you can penetrate the front. Aim for the left side to knock out the driver then the turret cheeks are good ways of disabling turret crew.

Enemies worth noting:

* M4A3 (105) and Su-122. Those two foes are quite similar to each other and to the StuH in multiple regards. They both have heavy calibre howitzers, firing high penetrating HEAT rounds (130mm at 0° and 160mm at 0°respectively) that will rip throgh your armour with ease. Secondly they both boast above average frontal armour, but weak sides. However the StuH can easely penetrate their armour as well , thus when facing them the winner is usualy whoever gets the first shot off. It is worth mentioning that the StuH can use its side skirts against those foes, a smart StuH tanker will angle heavily, exposing the sides which will tempt most of them to take a shot at them, but the skirts will set off the sensitive HEAT fuse prematurely thus causing a Non-Pen once the HE jet reaches the actual armour, leaving the StuH a 15 or so seconds window to shoot themselves.
* Very mobile tanks e.g. M22, M3 and M5 Stuart, Crusaders, Cromwells etc. Those can flank the StuH with ease and destroy it.Your best bet with those is to detect them as early as possible and expose your front armour, that is invulnerable to their guns.
* Russian tanks. Despite being known for their poor firepower at the BR range of 3.0 their guns deal with angles exceptionaly well, thus a shot to the heavily angled 30mm plates above the driver's hatch will often penetrate, luckily the Add- on-Armour modification ads 20mm of track armour, making this kind of penetration much rarer.
* Achilles, Archer and M10 GMC. The former two boast the infamous British 17- pounder 76mm gun which will rip through your armour in all places.The latter is equiped with the American M7 76mm canon while having less penetration this gun won't pen you everywhere but it will in a lot of places, and has some HE filler increasing the damage once the shell penetrates.They all can easely be penetrated with the APHE round causing a one shot destruction because of the massive HE filler.

=== Pros and cons ===


'''Pros:'''

* 105 mm howitzer with a variety of ammunition to use
* Rather useful HE shell against thin roof armour or hull-break vehicles
* APHE provides large amount of HE filler for devastating post-pen damage
* HEAT rounds provide extra penetration power in cases of heavily armoured enemies
* Gun has kind of a "fear factor", enemies often won't risk being hit by the 105 mm gun and back off from combat
* Good frontal armour of 80 mm & low silhouette
* Good mobility to get around the battlefield and into position
* Very easy to destroy another StuH, simply shoot the thin sheet of metal sticking out of the top with HE

'''Cons:'''

* 105 mm howitzer performance lacking compared to [[StuK_40 (75 mm)|75 mm StuK 40]] in penetration even with HEAT
* HEAT damage lacking compared to APHE, trading off significant post-pen for penetration
* Low reload speed, maximum of 13 seconds
* Low accuracy (even at close range) makes weak spot targeting harder
* Low gun depression of -6°
* Very low shell velocity, less than 500 m/s
* If the loader dies, the vehicle's reload rate decreases dramatically and the StuH becomes rather useless in combat
* Huge ammo rack on the right side of the tank (and loader behind it) - clever players will often target this area
* Lack of a turret means reacting to flanking enemies is harder
* Cupola and machine gun shield on superstructure roof are weak points that can be targeted with HE to penetrate through the 11 mm roof top
* Difficult to climb in snow and sand
* Very difficult to target anywhere other than flat ground.
* With only a main cannon, very hard to use if loader is knocked out or if cannon is damaged

== History ==

===Development===
The role of a self-propelled gun came from combat experiences in World War I. During the German offensives on the Allied front, infantry lacked artillery support against fortifications in places out-ranged by their heavy artillery behind the lines. A need for a mobile artillery piece was necessary to keep up with the German infantry and fight enemy fortifications with a direct-fire assault role. The father of this concept was German General Erich von Manstein and was coined as the ''Sturmartillerie'' (assault artillery), and these units were to be embedded in infantry divisions.

The result of this concept was a vehicle known as the [[StuG III A|StuG III]], a vehicle built on the Panzer III chassis that fits the role of a support vehicle in the artillery branch. It was meant to give close support to advancing infantry against fortifications or other lightly armoured oppositions. As such, it was initially armed with a 75 mm StuK 37 L/24 howitzer. However, as World War II progressed, the appearance of newer and better tanks such as the [[T-34 (1941)|T-34]] and the [[KV-1 (L-11)|KV-1]] tanks forced the Germans to upgun their existing StuG IIIs in order to be able to combat these tanks. This resulted in the StuG III design being armed with a 75 mm StuK 40 L/43 and L/48 cannon in the ''[[StuG III F|StuG III Ausf. F]]'' and ''[[StuG III G|Ausf. G]]'' respectively, turning the design into something of a tank destroyer.

===StuH 42 Ausf. G===
The StuG III designs are now bona fide tank destroyer, but an infantry support role was still needed from these assault gun to support the advancing infantry. In 1942, some StuG III Ausf. F were equipped with the 105 mm leFH 18 howizter rather than the usual 75 mm cannons. This variant was designated the '''StuH 42''' (''Sturmhaubitze 42'', or "assault howitzer") and was meant to support the infantry with heavier artillery power than the 75 mm could provide. The StuH 42 was made from the StuG III Ausf. G chassis (though the first 12 were built on refurbished StuG Fs). About 1,300 of these StuH 42 were built between March 1943 to 1945.

=== In-game description ===
A modified version of the StuG self-propelled assault mount adapted to strike undefended targets, including those beyond direct firing range. The first models of the vehicle armed with 105mm howitzers were assembled in October, 1942, and on November 22 they were used in combat by the 185th Assault Artillery Division.

The first vehicles were based on the StuG.III Ausf.F8. However, all other vehicles were assembled on the basis of the StuG.40 Ausf.G, whose chassis was a better fit for the 105mm howitzer. The vehicles with this modification were built at Allket's factories right up until April, 1945.

== Media ==


;Skins

* [https://live.warthunder.com/feed/camouflages/?vehicleCountry=germany&vehicleType=tank&vehicleClass=tank_destroyer&vehicle=germ_stuh_III_ausf_G Skins and camouflages for the {{PAGENAME}} from live.warthunder.com.]

;Videos
{{Youtube-gallery|LiE6tZ-MveI|'''{{PAGENAME}} Tank Review''' - ''NUSensei''|YZeFerI9YiI|'''Unforgotten: StuH 42''' - ''War Thunder Official Channel''}}

== See also ==
''Links to the articles on the War Thunder Wiki that you think will be useful for the reader, for example:''

* ''reference to the series of the vehicles;''
* ''links to approximate analogues of other nations and research trees.''

== External links ==
''Paste links to sources and external resources, such as:''

* ''topic on the official game forum;''
* ''encyclopedia page on the tank;''
* ''other literature.''

{{Germany tank destroyers}}