War Thunder Wiki - User contributions [en]

M1 KVT

2024-09-10T20:24:02Z

U139596374: I wrote that the M1 KVT can turn into a regular Abrams by removing the Vismod

{{About
|about= gift American medium tank '''{{PAGENAME}}'''
|usage= other versions
|link= M1 Abrams (Family)
}}
{{Specs-Card
|code=us_m1_abrams_kvt
|images={{Specs-Card-Image|GarageImage_{{PAGENAME}}.jpg|StoreImage_{{PAGENAME}}_005.jpg}}
|store=12205
}}

== Description ==

The '''{{Specs|name}}''' is a premium gift rank {{Specs|rank}} American medium tank {{Battle-rating}}. It was introduced in [[Update "La Royale"]]. Different to the real one, the M1 KVT in War Thunder was modified from [[M1 Abrams]] instead of [[M1A1]]. There are several differences on their appearance. Compared to the prototype, the side skirts were removed, and a frontal rubber-fabric screen was added. The gun barrel was covered by a camo net. A fake IR searchlight was mounted on the gun mantlet, and many fake ERA blocks were installed on the turret and the upper glacis. Two external fuel barrels were welded to the rear to mimic Soviet MBTs. The M240 pintle-mounted light machine gun on the reloader's cupola was removed, and each side of the turret had a board with the inscription "ЛОДКА" (‘boat’ in Russian) fixed on the basket.

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

The armour of the M1 KVT is quite similar to the M1 Abrams with a few differences. The side skirts were removed, and a frontal rubber-fabric screen was equipped which gave its lower glacis more effective armour of chemical protection. The turret and the frontal hull were installed with several fake ERA blocks which weren't modelled and thus contributed zero additional protection. You can turn this into a regular Abrams by removing the "Vismod" in the modifications menu. The M1 KVT has decent frontal armour overall which gives it a great advantage in battles. The left turret cheek offers better protection compared to the right one, yet they both worked well at blocking most projectiles around its BR. The lower glacis offers a similar level of protection to the turret cheeks. On the other hand, the upper glacis is extremely angled which may bounce most shells. Those bounced shells are likely to be absorbed by the composite armour modules of the turret cheeks at last. However, the lower part of the main gun mantlet along with the turret ring is very fragile: most large-calibre shells can easily penetrate it. Most reserve ammo is stored at the rear of the turret and such penetration is very likely to detonate them. Due to the thin roof armour, the gunner optics shield is actually another weak spot that has a risk of overpressuring your entire crew by catching large-calibre HE shells such as 3OF26, 9M119, and DTB-125.

'''Armour type:'''

* Rolled homogeneous armour (hull, turret, turret ring)
* Rubber-fabric screens (frontal skirt)
* Structural steel (spaced armour, external fuel barrels)
* Composite screen (side skirts, mounted when the vismod modification is removed)

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Armour !! Front (Slope angle) !! Sides !! Rear !! Roof
|-
| Hull
| 38.1 mm (83°) ''Upper glacis'' 19 mm (83°) ''Middle glacis'' 31.75 mm (40°) ''Lower glacis''
| 60 mm ''Upper part of frontal section'' 30 mm ''Lower part of frontal section'' 12.7 mm ''Upper part of rear section'' 27.6 mm ''Lower part of rear section''
| 31.75 mm (0°, 37°) 5 mm ''Engine vents'' 12.7 mm (53°) ''Bottom''
| 31.75 mm ''Rear''
|-
| Turret
| 38.1 mm (27°, 30°) ''Left cheek'' 38.1 mm (25°, 31°) ''Right cheek'' 70, 38.1, 25.4, 5 mm (34°, 30-36°, 83°, 86°) ''Gun mantlet'' 25.4 mm (70-81°) ''Upper turret ring shield'' 50.8 mm (6-40°) ''Lower turret ring shield''
| 19 mm (30°) ''Front'' 6.35 mm (30°) ''Rear''
| 12.7 mm (1°, 43°, 48°)
| 38.1 mm (84°) ''Front'' 25.4 mm (86°) ''Rear'' 12.7 mm ''Gunner optics shield'' 25 mm ''Reloader's cupola'' 19 mm ''Blowout panels''
|-
| Cupola
| colspan="4" style="text-align: center;" | 25.4 mm (51-60°)
|-
|}

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Composite armour !! Frontal effective protection !! Sides
|-
| Hull
| '''Lower glacis:''' 400-500 mm ''Kinetic'' / 800-1000 mm ''Chemical''
!
|-
| Turret
| '''Cheeks:''' 400-450 mm ''Kinetic'' / 600-850 mm ''Chemical'' '''Gun mantlet:''' 240 mm ''Kinetic'' / 450 mm ''Chemical''
| '''Front:''' 200 mm ''Kinetic'' / 300-350 mm ''Chemical'' '''Rear:''' 60 mm ''Kinetic'' / 400 mm ''Chemical''
|-
|}

'''Notes:'''

* Suspension wheels and tracks are 20 mm thick, and the frontal skirt is 4 mm thick.
* The frontal part of the underbody is 25.4 mm thick, and the rear one is 12.7 mm thick.
* There are a few spaced armour on the turret sides that are 4 mm thick.
* Two 38 mm thick internal RHA screens separate the crew compartment from most ammo racks and the engine compartment. Another two 19 mm thick internal RHA screens encircle two exterior fuel tanks.
* By removing the vismod modification, the frontal skirt is removed, and the side skirts which contain 65 mm of the composite screen at the frontal section will be mounted.

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

The M1 KVT has brilliant mobility around its BR. With the high power-to-weight ratio and decent off-road mobility, the M1 KVT can swiftly accelerate to the average speed of ~60 km/h on most terrains. It also has acceptable hull traverse speed and one of the best reverse speed in top-tier MBTs. Those features make the M1 KVT a very competent all-purpose tank whether to flank, brawl, or translocate yourself.

{{tankMobility}}

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

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

{{main|M68A1 (105 mm)}}

Sharing the same main gun as the M1 Abrams, the M1 KVT has mediocre firepower when fighting with the enemy in hull-down positions. Most Soviet/Russian MBTs around its BR have sufficient turret protection to absorb its shells. The M1 KVT's engine also makes a loud noise which is very lethal when the enemy is experienced and has high vigilance. The elevated engine decks and two additional fuel barrels welded on it significantly limit its gun depression and movement backwards. Despite those defects, its main gun is very accurate with the thermal sights, competent two-plane stabilizer, and laser rangefinder. It has amazing -10° of gun depression and relatively fast reloading speed. You can also remove the annoying external fuel barrels by disabling the vismod modification.

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" width="100%"
|-
! colspan="5" | [[M68A1 (105 mm)|105 mm M68A1]] || 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" | 55 || rowspan="2" | -10°/+20° || rowspan="2" | ±180° || rowspan="2" | Two-plane || 38.1 || 52.7 || 64.0 || 70.8 || 75.3 || rowspan="2" | 6.50 || rowspan="2" | 5.75 || rowspan="2" | 5.30 || rowspan="2" | 5.00
|-
! ''Realistic''
| 23.8 || 28.0 || 34.0 || 37.6 || 40.0
|-
|}

==== Ammunition ====
{{:M68A1 (105 mm)/Ammunition|M456A2, M393A2, M735, M416, M774}}

==== [[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
|-
| '''55''' || 48 ''(+7)'' || 45 ''(+10)'' || 23 ''(+32)'' || 1 ''(+54)'' || No
|-
|}
'''Notes''':

* Blowout rack only: 45 ''(+10)'' shells.

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

{{main|M2HB (12.7 mm)|M240 (7.62 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
|-
| Commander's cupola || 1,000 (200) || 577 || -9°/+65° || ±180°
|-
|}

The 12.7 mm M2HB machine gun pintle-mounted on the commander's cupola is good at clearing obstacles and fighting both light vehicles and aerial targets.

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" width="50%"
|-
! colspan="5" | [[M240 (7.62 mm)|7.62 mm M240]]
|-
! Mount !! Capacity (Belt) !! Fire rate !! Vertical !! Horizontal
|-
| Coaxial || 10,000 (200) || 941 || N/A || N/A
|-
|}

The machine gun fixed coaxially at the right side of the main gun can only cause effective damage on light vehicles with an open compartment. It still can be used to ping targets in realistic battles.

== Usage in battles ==

The frontal armour of M1 KVT is well-balanced and most APFSDSs with less penetration of 400 mm won't cause trouble on you without aiming carefully. However, every MBT above 10.3 of battle rating has proper APDSFS to penetrate the M1 KVT at any spot. On the other hand, your best shell the M774 is underperforming even in the battles with the same BR. Hence, it's recommended that you should make use of its brilliant mobility, quick reloading, and good gun handling like a light tank. Keep flanking the enemy and translocating yourself. Noted that its engine is quite noisy, so remember to turn off your engine when you are ambushing the enemy.

=== Pros and cons ===


'''Pros:'''

* ~400 mm of frontal kinetic protection overall and blowout panels at the rear of the turret protecting preloaded and primary ammo racks
* Wonderful acceleration, top speed, reverse speed, and off-road mobility
* Very accurate gun, gunner thermal sight, competent two-plane stabilizer, and brilliant depression and elevation
* Relatively fast reloading speed, 5-second reload with full-upgraded aced crew

'''Cons:'''

* The firepower of the main gun is insufficient around its BR
* Downhill terrain significantly decreases the effectiveness of its frontal armour
* Elevated engine decks limit turret rear angle depression
** VISMOD unique barrels effectively disables rear angle turret views (This can however be disabled by unequipping the VISMOD module)
* VISMOD removes side panel armour (same as rear barrels, can be unequipped to regain panels)
* Almost no frontal protection against an APFSDS that has more penetration than 450 mm

== 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 ==


;Skins

* [https://live.warthunder.com/feed/camouflages/?vehicle=us_m1_abrams_kvt Skins and camouflages for the {{PAGENAME}} from live.warthunder.com.]

== 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/8204-development-pre-order-m1-kvt-en|[Devblog] Pre-order: M1 KVT]]

{{USA medium tanks}}
{{USA premium ground vehicles}}

He 219 A-7

2023-06-06T05:48:17Z

U139596374: /* Pros and cons */

{{Specs-Card
|code=he_219a_7
|images={{Specs-Card-Image|GarageImage_{{PAGENAME}}.jpg}}
}}

== Description ==

The '''{{Specs|name}}''' is a premium rank {{Specs|rank}} German strike aircraft {{Battle-rating}}. It was introduced in [[Update 1.59 "Flaming Arrows"]]. The He 219 A-7 is unique as it is the first user-created vehicle to be featured in the game as part of the [[Affiliate_Program_Revenue_Share|Revenue Share Program]], created by Daniil ''"Joy_Division__"'' Zaitsev, inspired by ''"NovA29R"''. The plane texture was created by Arthur ''Pacifica'' Carley. The He 219 A-7 is purchasable in-game with {{ge}} and a percentage of the sale goes back to the model author who created it under the Revenue Share Program.

The Heinkel He 219 A-7 Uhu was produced by the legendary Heinkel company, which was renowned for making excellent aircraft. He 219 A-7 Uhu, is a powerful German Night Fighter, with less than 300 aircraft created during the war. It has a very distinct external appearance, the design of the aircraft resembles a "Tasman beaked whale". He-219-A7 features a pressurised cockpit, one pilot and one radar operator; who operates the plane. The plane offers a powerful twin "Daimler-Benz DB 603 E" engines. Each engine offers up to 1,774 metric horsepower with a top speed of 388 mph with WEP. The plane is able to climb up to altitudes of 8,000 m (26,248 feet) within 18 minutes and 22 seconds without using WEP.

The He 219-A7 has three different types of weaponry installed, with a grand total of six cannons.

In the fuselage, it has two Mk 103 30 mm cannons, given 200 rounds, with another pair of MG 151 20 mm cannons with 600 rounds. In the wings it has two Mk 108 30 mm cannons, with a total of 200 rounds. The total of all the ammunition, which it carries is 1,000 rounds. It can not be equipped with bombs, rockets, torpedoes or any other type of secondary weapons.

The unique ground-pounding capability of this aircraft makes it a true force to be reckoned with, if left alone. The "Armoured targets" belt for the Mk 103s, consisting of only {{Annotation|HVAP-T|High-velocity armour-piercing tracer}} bullets, is easily able to kill medium tanks from the sides and rear. While the Mk 108s or MG 151s can be left to deal with AAA or Artillery targets, or any fighters that dare to take it head-on.

Do note that the engines seem to overheat rather quickly when running at full WEP.

== General info ==
=== Flight performance ===
{{Specs-Avia-Flight}}


{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" width="70%"
! rowspan="2" | Characteristics
! colspan="2" | Max Speed (km/h at 6,700 m)
! rowspan="2" | Max altitude (metres)
! colspan="2" | Turn time (seconds)
! colspan="2" | Rate of climb (metres/second)
! rowspan="2" | Take-off run (metres)
|-
! AB !! RB !! AB !! RB !! AB !! RB
|-
! Stock
| 602 || 584 || rowspan="2" | {{Specs|ceiling}} || 32.2 || 33.4 || 8.4 || 8.3 || rowspan="2" | 444
|-
! Upgraded
| 648 || 624 || 29.4 || 30.7 || 13.7|| 10.8
|-
|}

==== Details ====
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" width="50%"
|-
! colspan="5" | Features
|-
! Combat flaps !! Take-off flaps !! Landing flaps !! Air brakes !! Arrestor gear
|-
| ✓ || ✓ || ✓ || X || X 
|-
|}

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" width="50%"
|-
! colspan="7" | Limits
|-
! rowspan="2" | Wings (km/h)
! rowspan="2" | Gear (km/h)
! colspan="3" | Flaps (km/h)
! colspan="2" | Max Static G
|-
! Combat !! Take-off !! Landing !! + !! -
|-
| {{Specs|destruction|body}} || {{Specs|destruction|gear}} || 470 || 444 || 310 || ~11 || ~7
|-
|}

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! colspan="4" | Optimal velocities (km/h)
|-
! Ailerons !! Rudder !! Elevators !! Radiator
|-
| < 440 || < 420 || < 490 || > 280
|-
|}

=== Survivability and armour ===
{{Specs-Avia-Armour}}


* 8 mm Steel - pilot seat
* 8 mm Steel - radar operator seat
* 12 mm Steel- aircraft nose

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

== Armaments ==
{{Specs-Avia-Armaments}}
=== Offensive armament ===
{{Specs-Avia-Offensive}}

{{main|MK 103 (30 mm)|MK 108 (30 mm)|MG 151 (20 mm)}}

The '''''{{PAGENAME}}''''' is armed with:

* 2 x 30 mm MK 108 cannons, wing-mounted (100 rpg = 200 total)
* 2 x 30 mm MK 103 cannons, belly-mounted (100 rpg = 200 total)
* 2 x 20 mm MG 151 cannons, belly-mounted (300 rpg = 600 total)

The six cannons are arranged two groups with the two 30 mm MK 108 cannons mounted in the wing roots, while the two Mk 103 and two MG 151 cannons are clustered in the belly of the fuselage. Each of the 30 mm cannons are armed with the same amount of ammunition, which means that all guns will fire together until empty. The 20 mm cannons on the other hand have three times as much ammunition and will continue to be able to fire when the 30 mm ammunition is depleted.

Note: The belly mounted 30 mm MK 103 cannons count as 'additional armament'. Be sure that they are keybound properly.

== Usage in battles ==

The below tactics, can be used in all games modes:

Climb to a high altitude, make sure the enemy aircraft is below you, descend and stay on their tail. Since most of your cannons are mounted in the fuselage you don't need to set convergence. However you will still have to set it, since your two Mk 108 30 mm cannons are mounted in the wings, set it for 600 m. Since this will allow them to help with main fuselage cannons to cause critical damage and/or to destroy the enemy plane.

'''Bombers''' 
Once you locate the enemy bombers, perform a fast descent, keeping your energy and speed up in the process. Once you are closing in, fire a short burst to get your attack angles right. As you start closing on your target, your target's gunners may start firing. The rugged airframe of the He-219 should be able to withstand hits.

This does not mean you should stay only on the bombers six o'clock during the attack; only staying on the six o'clock will result in your untimely death. You need to keep moving around erratically and being unpredictable, if the gunners on the target aircraft have not been neutralised.

Use WEP and fire two to three second bursts; this will bring the bomber down. Once the bomber is down, ascend and find your next prey. For tougher bombers such as the B-25 Mitchell, you will need to fire a longer burst if aiming for the fuselage, this should be about five seconds. However, you could always aim for the engines and wings and fire a much shorter burst of about two seconds, this will cause major damage to the engine, wing spar, flaps and ailerons, often causing the target aircraft to catch alight and/or lose control and crash which will award you with a kill.

'''Fighters, interceptors & strike aircraft''' 
As long as you stay on its tail and are undetected, a fighter aircraft will be a easy kill.

Stay on its tail and do not let it escape. Do not lose your energy: do not turn fight, this is how you will lose the energy you require to escape. Fire above or below the direction it is going to go; as soon as it starts to turn, disengage and use WEP to get away from that enemy aircraft.

You should really watch out for the following planes, these are able to outperform and eliminate you from the battle: P-61 Black Widow, Yak 9UT including all the Yaks, the P-51 Mustang, includes all American fighters and British Spitfires.

'''How to perform defensive fighting:''' 
When you are being engaged by an enemy fighter, make sure you push the engines to WEP and push the plane into a very steep dive of about 70 degrees. You will reach about 470 mph in this dive, do not perform sharp movements this will result in you causing structural damage and often will rip your wings clean off. To get out of this speed make small improvements to the dive angle of attack, you can keep the speed and energy gained from this evasive dive, then commence your climb back to a high altitude.

'''Ground-pounding''' 
From the very start of the game, dive down to very low altitude, perhaps choosing a bearing away from the expected flight path of any enemy fighters. Try to let them pass and engage the fighters on your team before engaging any of the ground targets.

Medium tanks can be killed very easily with the Mk 103s "Armoured Targets" belt, aim for the sides of the tanks, or the back of the tanks.

Try your best not to over-extend, as the flight characteristics of the He 219 are not forgiving if you dip too low.

After killing a target from the side, fly a bit away before turning around to re-engage other targets, as you want the best possible chance to strike the tanks with a single shot of the Mk 103s, which ''can'' kill tanks easily.

AAA and Artillery can be left alone, or killed easily with the Mk 108s or MG 151s, as you probably want to save the Mk 103s for heavier targets.

===Radars===
{{main|FuG 202}}
The He 219 A-7 is equipped with a [[FuG 202]] search radar, located in the nose of the aircraft; a control box which is part of the radar damage model is located in the rear of the cockpit.
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
! colspan="4" | [[FuG 202]] - Target Detection Radar
|-
! {{Annotation|Maximum Detection Range|The maximum possible range at which a target can be detected}}
! {{Annotation|Guaranteed Detection Range|The range, below which, detection of a target is practically guaranteed}}
! {{Annotation|Max Azimuth Scan Angle|How far to each side the radar can scan (widest search mode)}}
! {{Annotation|Max Elevation Scan Angle|How far up and down the radar can scan (widest search mode)}}
|-
| 4,000 m || 4,000 m || ±30° || ±30°
|-
|}

=== Manual Engine Control ===
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! colspan="7" | MEC elements
|-
! rowspan="2" | Mixer
! rowspan="2" | Pitch
! colspan="3" | Radiator
! rowspan="2" | Supercharger
! rowspan="2" | Turbocharger
|-
! Oil !! Water !! Type
|-
| Not controllable || Controllable Auto control available || Controllable Auto control available || Controllable Auto control available || Separate || Not controllable 1 gear || Not controllable
|-
|}

=== Pros and cons ===


'''Pros:'''

* Armament
** Very powerful gun armament with a high one-second burst mass
** Powerful 30 mm MK 108 cannons
** MK 103 are devastating to ground target, especially with HVAP-T rounds with excellent 77 mm of armour penetration
** High burst mass means the plane excels in bomber hunting
* Airframe, performance and handling
** Decent climb rate with WEP
** Tough and sturdy airframe
** Landing gear is strong, can take a fast hard landing
** Can make it back to the airfield with one engine
** Can put wing fuel tank fires out in a dive as longed as the engine is throttled back
** Engines cool down quickly
* Has access to radar

'''Cons:'''

* Armament
** 30 mm MK108 cannons have low velocity
** No defensive or additional armament
* Airframe, performance and handling
** Below average manoeuvrability
** Hard to evade enemies if they are on your tail
** Can start to overheat quickly when using WEP
** Subpar top speed of 388 mph (624 km/h)
** Mediocre climb rate performance without WEP
** Can stall easily, if you put it in a steep climb
** Long landing distance
** Heavy airframe makes it a subpar dogfighter
** Fuselage fires cannot be put out
** Can be hard to control at low speed and steep angles
** At an 85-90 degree roll in a turn, the plane will flip over; this can be very hard to recover from at low altitude
** Impossible to land without landing gear as the tail section will snap off upon impact with the ground
** Massive ballistic performance difference between your three different cannons, making it in most scenarios impossible to fully utilize the full firepower of all
** Prone to catching fire when hit

== History ==

The He 219 'Uhu' ("Eagle-Owl") was a German prototype night fighter of the Second World War. Designed to counter strategic bombers such as the [[Lancaster B Mk I|Avro Lancaster]], the He 219 was fitted with a radar and Schräge Musik upwards-firing weapons. The aircraft was also the first German aircraft to be fitted with a tricycle landing gear arrangement, and the first production aircraft to be fitted with ejection seats.

The design and development of the He 219 was long and delayed due to rivalries within the Luftwaffe. Following repeated design changes and delays, the first prototype began construction in February of 1942 funded entirely by Heinkel, as the RLM (German air ministry) was unwilling. After the prototype engine choice was changed to the Daimler DB 603C (the same engine used on the Fw 190 C high-altitude fighter), the prototype was finally completed and flown in November of 1942. The aircraft impressed German night fighter commander Josef Kammhuber, and as a result, the aircraft was ordered into production against the wishes of the RLM. After more internal conflicts, the He 219 was ordered into production.

The He 219 A-0 was the first production model of the He 219 and was powered by two DB 603 A engines. The aircraft was followed by the He 219 A-2 with extended fuel tanks. The He 219 A-1, A-5 and A-6 were prototypes for various purposes and were not completed. The He 219 A-7 was the last production model of the He 219, featuring upgraded DB 603E engines.

In terms of design, the He 219 featured a high-mounted wing with two engine nacelles each housing a DB 603E engine and was capable of 670 km/h at 7,000 m altitude. The landing gear was arranged in a tricycle configuration, each rear landing gear leg mounted in the nacelle. The He 219 had a crew of two in a pressurized cockpit, both crew members having access to ejection seats. In terms of armament, the He 219 had four 20 mm MG 151/20 autocannons firing forward and two 30 mm MK 108 cannons firing upwards in a Schräge Musik configuration: these weapons proved to be very effective against bombers.

In service, the He 219 proved to be quite effective against allied bombers: the aircraft could be directed to the general area by ground control, then locate and engage enemy bombers using their radars. In total, 210 He 219 A-7 aircraft were ordered, but the actual number completed is not known. In total, roughly 300 He 219 aircraft were built; following the war, three aircraft were acquired by the USAF for testing. One He 219 survives today, an A-2 variant, at the Smithsonian National Air & Space museum in Washington DC.

== Media ==


;Skins

* [https://live.warthunder.com/feed/camouflages/?vehicle=he_219a_7 Skins and camouflages for the {{PAGENAME}} from live.warthunder.com.]

;Videos
{{Youtube-gallery|L04Bp-FkBhA|'''The Shooting Range #4''' - ''Pages of History'' section at 06:09 discusses the He 219 A-7.}}

== See also ==


* [[Ta 154 A-1]]

== External links ==


* [[wt:en/news/3746-development-he-219-the-night-hunter-en/|[Devblog] He 219: The Night Hunter]]
* [[wt:en/news/2799--en/|[News] Revenue Share Program]]
* [http://forum.warthunder.com/index.php?/topic/315760-heinkel-he-219-a-7/ Official data sheet - more details about the performance]

{{AirManufacturer Heinkel}}
{{Germany strike aircraft}}
{{Germany premium aircraft}}

T-72AV (TURMS-T)

2023-06-06T03:12:50Z

U139596374: /* Pros and cons */

{{About
| about = Russian medium tank '''{{PAGENAME}}'''
| usage = other versions
| link = T-72 (Family)
}}
{{Specs-Card
|code=ussr_t_72av_turms
|images={{Specs-Card-Image|GarageImage_{{PAGENAME}}.jpg|StoreImage T-72AV (TURMS-T) 001.jpg|StoreImage T-72AV (TURMS-T) 002.jpg|StoreImage T-72AV (TURMS-T) 003.jpg|ArtImage_T-72AV_(TURMS-T).png}}
|store=9584
}}

== Description ==

The '''{{Specs|name}}''' is a premium gift rank {{Specs|rank}} Russian medium tank {{Battle-rating}}. It was introduced in [[Update "New Power"]].

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

The T-72AV is a modernized version of the Soviet-made main battle tank T-72A. The CONTACT-1 ERA on the front of the turret is no longer directly mounted on it and is instead mounted on structural steel supports that form a slight arrow shape, it is also fitted with the TURMS-T fire control system.

'''Armour type:'''

*Rolled homogeneous armour (Hull)
*Cast homogeneous armour (Turret, Engine exhaust)

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Armour !! Front (Slope angle) !! Sides !! Rear !! Roof
|-
| Hull || '''Front glacis''' ''(Composite)'' (69°)

* 16 mm (Rolled homogeneous)
* 60 mm (Rolled homogeneous)
* 105 mm (Textolite)
* 50 mm (Rolled homogeneous)

{{annotation|80 mm|Estimated through calculation of effective thickness at angle.}}
(60°) ''Lower glacis''
| 70-80 mm (0°) ''Top'' 20 mm (32°) ''Bottom'' || 40 mm (0-60°) ''Top'' 40 mm (30°) ''Middle'' 20 mm (29-55°) ''Bottom'' || 30 mm (89°) ''Front'' 20 mm (88-90°) ''Engine deck'' 5 mm ''Engine grille''
|-
| Turret || '''Front''' ''(Composite)'' (1-76°)

* 75-140 mm (Cast homogeneous)
* 115 mm (Quartz core)
* 200-280 mm (Cast homogeneous)

150 - 400 mm (5-70°) ''Gun mantlet''
| 180 - 240 mm (0-69°) || 65 mm (1-89°) || 45 mm (66-86°) 30 mm (66-77°) ''Gunner and Ejection hatch'' 100 mm (90°) ''Commander's hatch''
|-
| Cupola || 40 mm (2°) || 40 mm (6°) || 40 mm (3°) || 40 mm (90°) 45 mm ''TURMS-T module''
|-
|}
'''Notes:'''

* CONTACT-1 ERA mounted on turret front, hull front and hull sides present 5 mm effective protection against kinetic energy munitions, while presenting 370 mm effective protection against chemical energy munitions.
* Belly armour of the {{PAGENAME}} is 20 mm thick.
* Tracks are 30 mm thick, while suspension wheels are 20 mm thick.

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


{{tankMobility|abMinHp=1209|rbMinHp=690}}

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

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

{{main|2A46M (125 mm)}}

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" width="100%"
|-
! colspan="5" | [[2A46M (125 mm)|125 mm 2A46M]] || 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" | 44 || rowspan="2" | -6°/+13° || rowspan="2" | ±180° || rowspan="2" | Two-plane || 19.0 || 26.4 || 32.0 || 35.4 || 37.6 || rowspan="2" | 7.10 || rowspan="2" | 7.10 || rowspan="2" | 7.10 || rowspan="2" | 7.10
|-
! ''Realistic''
| 11.9 || 14.0 || 17.0 || 18.8 || 20.0
|-
|}

==== Ammunition ====
{{:2A46M (125 mm)/Ammunition|3BK12M, 3OF26, 3BM22, 3BM42}}

==== [[Ammo racks]] ====
[[File:Ammoracks_T-72A.png|right|thumb|x450px|[[Ammo racks]] of the [[T-72A]] (identical).]]

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! Full ammo
! Ammo part
! 1st rack empty
! 2nd rack empty
! 3rd rack empty
! 4th rack empty
! Visual discrepancy
|-
| '''44''' || ''Projectiles'' ''Propellants'' || 40 ''(+4)'' 40 ''(+4)'' || 29 ''(+15)'' 29 ''(+15)'' || 23 ''(+21)'' 23 ''(+21)'' || 1 ''(+43)'' 1 ''(+43)'' || No
|}
'''Notes''':

* The {{PAGENAME}} uses two-piece ammunition, composed of propellant bags (orange) and projectiles (yellow). Both have separate racks.
* Shells are modelled individually and disappear after having been shot or loaded.
* A propellant charge remains in rack 2 after it is emptied and is later fired as part of rack 3. For the purpose of clarity, rack 2 is considered empty even if that charge is still present.
* Rack 4 (autoloader carrousel) is a first stage ammo rack containing 22 projectiles and 22 propellant charges.
** This rack gets filled first when loading up the tank and is also emptied first.
** As the {{PAGENAME}} is equipped with an autoloader, manual reloading of the gun is not possible.
** Once the autoloader magazine has been depleted, you can't shoot until the loader has restocked the autoloader with at least one shell. The restocking time is longer than the normal reload time of the gun. Take this into account when playing.
** Simply not firing when the gun is loaded will move ammo from racks 1 to 3 into rack 4. Firing will interrupt the restocking of the ready rack.

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

{{main|NSVT (12.7 mm)|PKT (7.62 mm)}}

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" width="50%"
|-
! colspan="5" | [[NSVT (12.7 mm)|12.7 mm NSVT]]
|-
! Mount !! Capacity (Belt) !! Fire rate !! Vertical !! Horizontal
|-
| Pintle || 300 (150) || 700 || -4°/+75° || ±180°
|-
|}
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" width="50%"
|-
! colspan="5" | [[PKT (7.62 mm)|7.62 mm PKT]]
|-
! Mount !! Capacity (Belt) !! Fire rate !! Vertical !! Horizontal
|-
| Coaxial || 2,000 (250) || 700 || N/A || N/A
|-
|}

== Usage in battles ==


The T-72AV (TURMS-T) is a Russian MBT that is the mainstay in long-range engagements as the cannon is accurate at long distances. The recommended combat tactics is to acquire targets from afar with the thermal imager, use the laser rangefinder to achieve a successful hit and engage from the greatest possible distance. Avoid short-range combat at all costs.

While brawling in this tank is workable, it is not ideal. That said, the best way to engage in close-distance or urban fighting will be in a support role. Allow your teammates to push for positions, and help finish off any tanks with which they have trouble. Remember that this tank has an exceedingly slow reverse speed, so your defensive reactivity is very poor. It is best not to be caught off guard, as you will typically lose any 1 on 1 engagement in which you do not fire first.

'''Fighting in a top rank environment'''

If up-tiered to a top rank lineup match, remember that this tank is perfectly capable of destroying most of the enemies it will face. However, it is imperative that you aim for the usual weak spots on the enemy tanks. Most weak points that other Russian high-rank MBTs (such as the T-80U) rely on will still penetrate, even with the technically inferior top APFSDS round. The difference will primarily be in consistency of damage. {{PAGENAME}} players will find themselves firing more than one round into an enemy to reliably destroy them compared to just a single shot in a better, higher-rank tank.

Common headaches will include the likes of the Challanger, Leclerc, and Leopard 2A6 (as well as its derivatives), which will be exceedingly difficult to destroy frontally. In cases such as this, it is best to flank, or pick a different route to the battlefield, as the {{PAGENAME}}'s armour is far too thin to stop top-rank APFSDS rounds effectively. Put simply, the {{PAGENAME}} has an effective gun, average mobility, poor reactivity, and poor survivability. A new player will struggle while using this tank in a top-rank lineup.

=== Pros and cons ===


'''Pros:'''

* Has 2nd generation thermal sights for both the gunner and the commander
* Has a constant reload thanks to its autoloader
* Low profile, easy to hide
* ERA offers excellent protection against non-tandem ATGMS and HEAT rounds
* 3BM42 (Mango round) can penetrate most targets even at long range and in uptiers
* Has commander fire control, enabling the commander to return fire even if the gunner is killed
* Fuel tanks can absorb oncoming rounds

'''Cons:'''

* Kontakt-1 ERA offers no protection against kinetic rounds
* Only has 3 crew members
* Poor gun handling and gun depression; ill-suited to close range brawling and fighting on uneven terrain
* Very slow reverse speed
* Hull and turret armour can easily be penetrated by most rounds it faces especially in uptiers
* Sluggish mobility
* Slower reload compared to the opposition
* Does not have access to ATGMs
* Fight compartment is cramped likely to get one shotted
* Fuel tanks are prone to fuel explosions

== History ==

=== [[wt:en/news/6910-development-t-72av-turms-t-syrian-guard-en|Devblog]] ===
The T-72AV (TURMS-T) is a Soviet T-72AV tank modernized for the Syrian army. The TURMS fire control system, developed by the Italian company Officine Galileo, was previously used on C1 Ariete tanks. In the early 2000's, this fire control system was adopted for the T-72.

The system significantly improves the tank's vision capabilities, thanks to the commander's panoramic sight. It also features a high-quality thermal imaging gunner's sight, which allows the tank to effectively perform combat missions at night and in poor visibility conditions. By 2006, 122 TURMS kits were produced for the Syrian army.

== Media ==


;Skins

* [https://live.warthunder.com/feed/camouflages/?vehicle=ussr_t_72av_turms Skins and camouflages for the {{PAGENAME}} from live.warthunder.com.]

;Images
<gallery mode="packed" heights="200">
File:T-72AV TURMS WTWallpaper 001.jpg
File:T-72AV TURMS WTWallpaper 002.jpg
File:T-72AV TURMS WTWallpaper 003.jpg
File:T-72AV TURMS WTWallpaper 004.jpg
File:T-72AV TURMS WTWallpaper 005.jpg
T-72AV (TURMS-T) wide angle.jpg|T-72AV (TURMS-T) in Late Green Camouflage obtainable in-game
</gallery>

;Videos
{{Youtube-gallery|kVerE5W_kao|Premium Vehicles: T-72AV (TURMS-T) - War Thunder Wiki|pAXRsI9QB5A|'''Soviet Star: T-72AV TURMS Review''' - ''Sako Sniper''|X-tzo6wzwOw|'''The Syrian Beast - T-72A TURMS-T''' - ''JustinPlaysYT''}}

== See also ==


;Other Rank VI vehicles equipped with ERA protection

* [[M60A3 TTS]]
* [[T-69 II G]]
* [[CM11]]

== External links ==


* [[wt:en/news/6910-development-t-72av-turms-t-syrian-guard-en|[Devblog] T-72AV (TURMS-T): Syrian Guard]]

{{TankManufacturer Uralvagonzavod}}
{{USSR medium tanks}}
{{USSR premium ground vehicles}}

T-72AV (TURMS-T)

2023-05-23T18:32:26Z

U139596374: /* Pros and cons */

{{About
| about = Russian medium tank '''{{PAGENAME}}'''
| usage = other versions
| link = T-72 (Family)
}}
{{Specs-Card
|code=ussr_t_72av_turms
|images={{Specs-Card-Image|GarageImage_{{PAGENAME}}.jpg|StoreImage T-72AV (TURMS-T) 001.jpg|StoreImage T-72AV (TURMS-T) 002.jpg|StoreImage T-72AV (TURMS-T) 003.jpg|ArtImage_T-72AV_(TURMS-T).png}}
|store=9584
}}

== Description ==

The '''{{Specs|name}}''' is a premium gift rank {{Specs|rank}} Russian medium tank {{Battle-rating}}. It was introduced in [[Update "New Power"]].

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

The T-72AV is a modernized version of the Soviet-made main battle tank T-72A. The CONTACT-1 ERA on the front of the turret is no longer directly mounted on it and is instead mounted on structural steel supports that form a slight arrow shape, it is also fitted with the TURMS-T fire control system.

'''Armour type:'''

*Rolled homogeneous armour (Hull)
*Cast homogeneous armour (Turret, Engine exhaust)

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Armour !! Front (Slope angle) !! Sides !! Rear !! Roof
|-
| Hull || '''Front glacis''' ''(Composite)'' (69°)

* 16 mm (Rolled homogeneous)
* 60 mm (Rolled homogeneous)
* 105 mm (Textolite)
* 50 mm (Rolled homogeneous)

{{annotation|80 mm|Estimated through calculation of effective thickness at angle.}}
(60°) ''Lower glacis''
| 70-80 mm (0°) ''Top'' 20 mm (32°) ''Bottom'' || 40 mm (0-60°) ''Top'' 40 mm (30°) ''Middle'' 20 mm (29-55°) ''Bottom'' || 30 mm (89°) ''Front'' 20 mm (88-90°) ''Engine deck'' 5 mm ''Engine grille''
|-
| Turret || '''Front''' ''(Composite)'' (1-76°)

* 75-140 mm (Cast homogeneous)
* 115 mm (Quartz core)
* 200-280 mm (Cast homogeneous)

150 - 400 mm (5-70°) ''Gun mantlet''
| 180 - 240 mm (0-69°) || 65 mm (1-89°) || 45 mm (66-86°) 30 mm (66-77°) ''Gunner and Ejection hatch'' 100 mm (90°) ''Commander's hatch''
|-
| Cupola || 40 mm (2°) || 40 mm (6°) || 40 mm (3°) || 40 mm (90°) 45 mm ''TURMS-T module''
|-
|}
'''Notes:'''

* CONTACT-1 ERA mounted on turret front, hull front and hull sides present 5 mm effective protection against kinetic energy munitions, while presenting 370 mm effective protection against chemical energy munitions.
* Belly armour of the {{PAGENAME}} is 20 mm thick.
* Tracks are 30 mm thick, while suspension wheels are 20 mm thick.

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


{{tankMobility|abMinHp=1209|rbMinHp=690}}

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

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

{{main|2A46M (125 mm)}}

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" width="100%"
|-
! colspan="5" | [[2A46M (125 mm)|125 mm 2A46M]] || 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" | 44 || rowspan="2" | -6°/+13° || rowspan="2" | ±180° || rowspan="2" | Two-plane || 19.0 || 26.4 || 32.0 || 35.4 || 37.6 || rowspan="2" | 7.10 || rowspan="2" | 7.10 || rowspan="2" | 7.10 || rowspan="2" | 7.10
|-
! ''Realistic''
| 11.9 || 14.0 || 17.0 || 18.8 || 20.0
|-
|}

==== Ammunition ====
{{:2A46M (125 mm)/Ammunition|3BK12M, 3OF26, 3BM22, 3BM42}}

==== [[Ammo racks]] ====
[[File:Ammoracks_T-72A.png|right|thumb|x450px|[[Ammo racks]] of the [[T-72A]] (identical).]]

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! Full ammo
! Ammo part
! 1st rack empty
! 2nd rack empty
! 3rd rack empty
! 4th rack empty
! Visual discrepancy
|-
| '''44''' || ''Projectiles'' ''Propellants'' || 40 ''(+4)'' 40 ''(+4)'' || 29 ''(+15)'' 29 ''(+15)'' || 23 ''(+21)'' 23 ''(+21)'' || 1 ''(+43)'' 1 ''(+43)'' || No
|}
'''Notes''':

* The {{PAGENAME}} uses two-piece ammunition, composed of propellant bags (orange) and projectiles (yellow). Both have separate racks.
* Shells are modelled individually and disappear after having been shot or loaded.
* A propellant charge remains in rack 2 after it is emptied and is later fired as part of rack 3. For the purpose of clarity, rack 2 is considered empty even if that charge is still present.
* Rack 4 (autoloader carrousel) is a first stage ammo rack containing 22 projectiles and 22 propellant charges.
** This rack gets filled first when loading up the tank and is also emptied first.
** As the {{PAGENAME}} is equipped with an autoloader, manual reloading of the gun is not possible.
** Once the autoloader magazine has been depleted, you can't shoot until the loader has restocked the autoloader with at least one shell. The restocking time is longer than the normal reload time of the gun. Take this into account when playing.
** Simply not firing when the gun is loaded will move ammo from racks 1 to 3 into rack 4. Firing will interrupt the restocking of the ready rack.

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

{{main|NSVT (12.7 mm)|PKT (7.62 mm)}}

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" width="50%"
|-
! colspan="5" | [[NSVT (12.7 mm)|12.7 mm NSVT]]
|-
! Mount !! Capacity (Belt) !! Fire rate !! Vertical !! Horizontal
|-
| Pintle || 300 (150) || 700 || -4°/+75° || ±180°
|-
|}
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" width="50%"
|-
! colspan="5" | [[PKT (7.62 mm)|7.62 mm PKT]]
|-
! Mount !! Capacity (Belt) !! Fire rate !! Vertical !! Horizontal
|-
| Coaxial || 2,000 (250) || 700 || N/A || N/A
|-
|}

== Usage in battles ==


The T-72AV (TURMS-T) is a Russian MBT that is the mainstay in long-range engagements as the cannon is accurate at long distances. The recommended combat tactics is to acquire targets from afar with the thermal imager, use the laser rangefinder to achieve a successful hit and engage from the greatest possible distance. Avoid short-range combat at all costs.

While brawling in this tank is workable, it is not ideal. That said, the best way to engage in close-distance or urban fighting will be in a support role. Allow your teammates to push for positions, and help finish off any tanks with which they have trouble. Remember that this tank has an exceedingly slow reverse speed, so your defensive reactivity is very poor. It is best not to be caught off guard, as you will typically lose any 1 on 1 engagement in which you do not fire first.

'''Fighting in a top rank environment'''

If up-tiered to a top rank lineup match, remember that this tank is perfectly capable of destroying most of the enemies it will face. However, it is imperative that you aim for the usual weak spots on the enemy tanks. Most weak points that other Russian high-rank MBTs (such as the T-80U) rely on will still penetrate, even with the technically inferior top APFSDS round. The difference will primarily be in consistency of damage. {{PAGENAME}} players will find themselves firing more than one round into an enemy to reliably destroy them compared to just a single shot in a better, higher-rank tank.

Common headaches will include the likes of the Challanger, Leclerc, and Leopard 2A6 (as well as its derivatives), which will be exceedingly difficult to destroy frontally. In cases such as this, it is best to flank, or pick a different route to the battlefield, as the {{PAGENAME}}'s armour is far too thin to stop top-rank APFSDS rounds effectively. Put simply, the {{PAGENAME}} has an effective gun, average mobility, poor reactivity, and poor survivability. A new player will struggle while using this tank in a top-rank lineup.

=== Pros and cons ===


'''Pros:'''

* Has 2nd generation thermal sights for both the gunner and the commander
* Has a constant reload thanks to its autoloader
* Low profile, easy to hide
* ERA offers excellent protection against non-tandem ATGMS and HEAT rounds
* 3BM42 can penetrate most targets even at long range and in uptiers
* Has commander fire control, enabling the commander to return fire even if the gunner is killed
* Fuel tanks can absorb oncoming rounds

'''Cons:'''

* Kontakt-1 ERA offers no protection against kinetic rounds
* Only has 3 crew members
* Poor gun handling and gun depression; ill-suited to close range brawling and fighting on uneven terrain
* Very slow reverse speed
* Hull and turret armour can easily be penetrated by most rounds it faces especially in uptiers
* Sluggish mobility
* Slower reload compared to the opposition
* Does not have access to ATGMs
* Fight compartment is cramped likely to get one shotted

== History ==

=== [[wt:en/news/6910-development-t-72av-turms-t-syrian-guard-en|Devblog]] ===
The T-72AV (TURMS-T) is a Soviet T-72AV tank modernized for the Syrian army. The TURMS fire control system, developed by the Italian company Officine Galileo, was previously used on C1 Ariete tanks. In the early 2000's, this fire control system was adopted for the T-72.

The system significantly improves the tank's vision capabilities, thanks to the commander's panoramic sight. It also features a high-quality thermal imaging gunner's sight, which allows the tank to effectively perform combat missions at night and in poor visibility conditions. By 2006, 122 TURMS kits were produced for the Syrian army.

== Media ==


;Skins

* [https://live.warthunder.com/feed/camouflages/?vehicle=ussr_t_72av_turms Skins and camouflages for the {{PAGENAME}} from live.warthunder.com.]

;Images
<gallery mode="packed" heights="200">
File:T-72AV TURMS WTWallpaper 001.jpg
File:T-72AV TURMS WTWallpaper 002.jpg
File:T-72AV TURMS WTWallpaper 003.jpg
File:T-72AV TURMS WTWallpaper 004.jpg
File:T-72AV TURMS WTWallpaper 005.jpg
T-72AV (TURMS-T) wide angle.jpg|T-72AV (TURMS-T) in Late Green Camouflage obtainable in-game
</gallery>

;Videos
{{Youtube-gallery|kVerE5W_kao|Premium Vehicles: T-72AV (TURMS-T) - War Thunder Wiki|pAXRsI9QB5A|'''Soviet Star: T-72AV TURMS Review''' - ''Sako Sniper''|X-tzo6wzwOw|'''The Syrian Beast - T-72A TURMS-T''' - ''JustinPlaysYT''}}

== See also ==


;Other Rank VI vehicles equipped with ERA protection

* [[M60A3 TTS]]
* [[T-69 II G]]
* [[CM11]]

== External links ==


* [[wt:en/news/6910-development-t-72av-turms-t-syrian-guard-en|[Devblog] T-72AV (TURMS-T): Syrian Guard]]

{{TankManufacturer Uralvagonzavod}}
{{USSR medium tanks}}
{{USSR premium ground vehicles}}

Leopard I

2023-05-17T18:01:59Z

U139596374: /* Pros and cons */

{{About
| about = German medium tank '''{{PAGENAME}}'''
| usage = other versions
| link = Leopard 1 (Family)
}}
{{Specs-Card
|code=germ_leopard_I
|images={{Specs-Card-Image|GarageImage_{{PAGENAME}}.jpg|ArtImage_{{PAGENAME}}.png}}
}}

== Description ==

The '''{{Specs|name}}''' is a rank {{Specs|rank}} German medium tank {{Battle-rating}}. It was introduced in [[Update 1.51 "Cold Steel"]].

The main strengths of the Leopard I are its high mobility and the above-average rate of fire of the main cannon. In combination with a good gun depression of -9° (meaning, you can lower the gun quite extensively), an experienced Leopard I driver can exploit uneven terrain to effectively fight his enemies without showing much of his vehicle - or being in the inconvenient situation to leave his cover to return fire.

The MG3A1 is a General Purpose Machine Gun with a low calibre, being unable to penetrate most opponents, although its high rate of fire and the manoeuvrability of the roof-mounted MG can be used to eliminate exposed crew members quickly, especially useful against vehicles such as the [[UDES 33]], or damage aircraft or the lighter utility helicopters sometimes encountered in higher-BR battles, such as the [[AH-1G]].

Considering everything, the Leopard 1 is not a bad vehicle in the right hands - unfortunately, the lack of a stabilizer and extremely sub-par armour will result in many less experienced players struggling to perform well when many of their opponents will have better, often stabilised guns and armour.

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


The Leopard's armour is not thick enough in the game to defend itself from most incoming fire, as many shell types at its battle rating are able to easily penetrate and destroy the tank. The Leopard 1 was originally built with a "perfect standard tank" idea, similar to the Main Battle Tank concept, as during its development, the armour has been considered an expendable quality and that superior speed and firepower is most important. Therefore the Leopard's armour design was only meant to withstand 20 mm calibres from the front. A big threat is the [[ZSU-57-2]], which gives any Leopard 1 a hard time with its high rate of fire of effective 57 mm AP rounds.

It is recommended to carry as little ammo as possible, about 20 rounds, as the majority will be stored in the rack at the front left of the vehicle, being an extreme vulnerability if overloaded when in a head-on engagement.

'''Armour type:'''

*Rolled homogeneous armour (Hull, Turret roof)
*Cast homogeneous armour (Turret)

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Armour !! Front (Slope angle) !! Sides (Slope angle) !! Rear !! Roof
|-
| Hull || 70 mm (60°) ''Front glacis'' 50 mm (51°) ''Bottom glacis'' || 35 (40-42°) mm ''Top hull side'' 30 mm ''Bottom hull side'' || 25 mm (12-47°) || 30 mm ''Front area'' 15 mm ''Rear area''
|-
| Turret || 65 mm ''Turret front'' 45 - 200 mm ''Gun mantlet'' || 37-45 mm (28-31°) || 25-52 mm (26-72°) || 25-35 mm ''Turret roof'' 20 mm ''Cupola area''
|-
|}
'''Notes:'''

* Suspension wheels and tracks are 20 mm thick.
* The turret mantlet has varying thicknesses ranging from 45 - 200 mm. It is thickest near the centre in contrast to the borders where it is the thinnest.

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


{{tankMobility|abMinHp=1,286|rbMinHp=734}}

The {{PAGENAME}} is powered by a MTU MB 838 CaM-500 engine, which produces a total of 830 hp (610 kW) at around 2,200-2,300 RPM.
The mobility is between the [[XM-1 (GM)]] and the [[T-55AM-1]]. Expect a speed of 40-50 km/h off-road. The reverse is about -15 km/h off-road. The neutral steering is amazing, you are able to swivel your tank easily, and can be used to boost turret rotation speeds. The suspensions are also great, very soft with great dampening effects, and give the tank a smooth drive. Overall, mobility is excellent and should be used to your advantage since the tank has limited armour.

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

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

{{main|L7A3 (105 mm)}}

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" width="100%"
|-
! colspan="5" | [[L7A3 (105 mm)|105 mm L7A3]] || 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" | -9°/+20° || rowspan="2" | ±180° || rowspan="2" | N/A || 22.8 || 31.6 || 38.4 || 42.5 || 45.2 || rowspan="2" | 8.71 || rowspan="2" | 7.70 || rowspan="2" | 7.10 || rowspan="2" | 6.70
|-
! ''Realistic''
| 14.3 || 16.8 || 20.4 || 22.6 || 24.0
|-
|}

==== Ammunition ====
'''DM13; APDS''' (Armour-Piercing Discarding Sabot) will comfortably penetrate the armour of most foes; be aware however that some vehicles such as the IS-4 or M103 are only vulnerable in specific weak spots. APDS rounds do require some finesse with their placement, and because of the lack of explosive filler, unless you're confident you can destroy the enemy before they can respond, you should attempt to disable their weaponry first to ensure your own safety. Against targets with known ammunition storage, it's possible to try to detonate it with a well-placed shot; keep in mind, however, that ammo detonations always occur with a random chance, taking out crew members is more reliable to destroy your enemies. This, of course, requires knowledge about the vehicles you may face - so be sure to use the game's X-Ray view in the hangar and analyse your potential foes for their weak spots! Also, keep in mind that with increased armour thickness the amount of shrapnel shrinks.

'''DM512; HESH''' (High-Explosive Squash-Head) works very differently than other shell types. It ignores any angle, except for ricochet and deals damage by metal-flakes which are blown off inside the armour by the exterior explosion. To create this deadly shrapnel inside the tank, make sure to only hit armour plates which are directly adjacent to the interior crew compartment of the tank. Hitting exterior parts of a tank like spaced armour, the suspension, tracks etc. will not harm crew members/modules at all. Unfortunately, HESH is particularly ineffective against particularly high true armour values (as opposed to high 'effective' armour values sourced from highly angled but thin armour - HESH loves angles!). Like all high-explosive shells, the fuse is very sensitive and can be set-off by most objects e.g. fences, trees, shrubbery. The low muzzle velocity of this shell can make it quite hard to hit targets at larger distances, although an experienced tanker may be able to use this to their advantage by lobbing a round over a small defilade or hill. It's also worth noting that HESH can be rather unreliable at times; it's best used as a fall-back ammo, or saved for particularly lightly armoured targets.

'''DM12; HEATFS''' (High-Explosive Anti Tank Fin-Stabilised): Knowledge of potential opponents vehicle layouts can be very handy - as you now have a round at your disposal that can penetrate essentially any vehicle's armour frontally. Like the APDS shot, increased armour thickness results in a reduced amount of shrapnel after penetration. You are able to take out enemies on any distance since the HEAT round does not lose penetration effectiveness with distance - very handy on big scaled maps like Kursk. There is, however, a significant downside to HEATFS: Given that it is a chemical energy round, its fuse is highly sensitive in regards to its practical application in battle. As a result, virtually anything, such as trees or even a fence, will set it off prematurely, so you cannot fire through obstructions with this kind of round. It's often a good idea to clear bushes and fences with your machine guns quickly before taking a shot. Finally, the HEATFS round is relatively expensive in terms of SL, so keep that in mind when loading up.

{{:L7A3 (105 mm)/Ammunition|DM13, DM512, DM12}}

==== [[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
|-
| '''60''' || 57 ''(+3)'' || 54 ''(+6)'' || 15 ''(+45)'' || 12 ''(+48)'' || 1 ''(+59)'' || No
|-
|}

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

{{main|MG3A1 (7.62 mm)}}

The {{PAGENAME}} mounts one coaxial 7.62 mm machine gun and one pintle-mounted 7.62 mm machine gun. These both have particularly high rates of fire, and can be used as a deterrent for close air support as well as clearing light obstacles and crew in open-top vehicles.

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" width="50%"
|-
! colspan="5" | [[MG3A1 (7.62 mm)|7.62 mm MG3A1]]
|-
! Mount !! Capacity (Belt) !! Fire rate !! Vertical !! Horizontal
|-
| Coaxial || 5,400 (200) || 1,200 || N/A || N/A
|-
| Pintle || 2,000 (200) || 1,200 || -8°/+20° || ±120°
|-
|}

== Usage in battles ==

Scan and use the terrain to your advantage. Take into consideration the moderate vehicle height, which allows you to go turret down in certain locations, allowing you to safely use your commander's binoculars to locate targets. Then, after you have located the enemy, fire a few rounds in quick succession and relocate when spotted, especially when the enemy shots come dangerously close. The Leopard is quite fast, so taking hits from a distance while on the move is a risk that you may consider worth taking.

The Leopard is not designed to take hits from any guns, nor fight in stand-off situations against heavier enemy vehicles. Frontally, the angle of the hull can bounce shots once in a while, but you're better off not to rely on this. The turret front is also the same, it's best to attempt to only fire when you can avoid receiving a shot or relocating to a position if possible. The main goal is to make the opponent incapable of returning fire. The majority of Russian rank V tanks ([[IS-3]], [[IS-4M]], [[T-10M]], [[T-54 (1951)|T-54s]], [[SU-122-54]], [[T-62]] or [[ZSU-57-2]]) gunners are disabled by penetrating the right side of the turret or hull, if they are faced towards you. If you have the possibility to hit a Russian tank's hull, which is again faced towards you, prioritize it, because it is likely to take it out with one shot to the right side of the hull (3 out of 4 crew member are sitting in a row), this does not work with the stock APDS round due to the poor damage output. American top rank tanks like the [[M103]], [[M47]] or [[M60]] are harder to take out. It is advised to take out the gunner first, which is located in the left side of the turret and then take out the rest of the remaining crew members. Hitting the ammo rack of your opponent is often the fastest way to take out an enemy vehicle, keep in mind though there is a small chance the ammo will not blow up (Best ammo types to ammo rack: HEAT-FS > HESH > APDS).

Remember you have a gun manoeuvrability advantage over most of your enemies: your gun depression will allow you to play hull-down, protecting the large portion of ammo in your hull (especially if fully loaded), and you can turn faster than many opponents due to the neutral steering and powerful engine of this vehicle. However, bear in mind that American tanks in particular, as well as some British tanks, will be able to match, and even outperform, your gun depression angle, so it may be better to flank these enemies using your speed.
[[File:Leopard 1 vs T55AM.png|thumb|right|300px|{{PAGENAME}} engaging a T-55AM on Cargo Port]]
Sometimes moving is not an option, but remember, directly behind your hull front sits a large portion of your ammunition, at least if you're fully loaded. Always have that in mind when positioning yourself against the enemy - and don't forget that you don't have to stack all of your ammunition racks to their maximum capacity! Sometimes it can be wise to take less ammunition with you, as it will increase your survivability when taking hits - especially with the Leopard. The Leopard's worst nemesis are the [[ZSU-57-2]], the [[PT-76-57]] and the [[IT-1]]. The [[ZSU-57-2]] can be easily destroyed by hitting one of the many ammo racks in the big turret, which often leads to an explosion of the whole tank. The [[PT-76-57]] is armed with a stabilizer, an autoloader and a laser rangefinder. Don't aim at the turret since there's no guarantee it will take out the cannon breech or the gunner, aim anywhere at the hull. The [[IT-1]] can be quite hard to deal with, since they are able to operate perfectly hull down only exposing the roof mounted ATGM. Destroying (only black damage status counts, red damage does not prevent from firing ATGM) the rocket mount/cannon barrel forces the [[IT-1]] to repair for a whole 27 seconds (maxed out + expert crew).

The Leopard 1 holds a distinct advantage over almost every other tank it will face - it's almost always faster. While in a direct shoot-out, most other vehicles can take out the Leopard, using the mobility advantage of the Leopard will allow a good tanker to get into an advantageous position and take out targets before they get the opportunity to respond. However, ensure you are aware of your surroundings and have a fall-back option: getting caught off guard on the back of a hill with nowhere to back off to and with no real support is a death sentence.

Depending on the map and opponents, ammunition choices may vary however usually it's ideal to have HEATFS as primary ammunition (reasonably easy to use at range, reliable penetration values), APDS as a backup (extremely easy to use at range, particularly with the Leo's excellent optics) and a couple of HESH rounds to deal with any light targets you might encounter. Try to keep round storage to a minimum but keep in mind that with these ammunition choices often it will take a number of rounds to guarantee a destroyed target.

The Leopard 1 is also very effective at sniping, due to its relatively small profile and speed, and high-magnification optics and HEAT-FS being unaffected by range (in terms of penetration), allowing it to get to a comfortable sniping position and relocate quickly. An effective use of this is to combine all strengths of this tank by flanking the enemies holding a specific chokepoint, sniping their vulnerable sides (whilst they are under pressure from your heavier allies at the front), before advancing rapidly after the enemies are neutralised to capture a point or finish off remaining enemies which may be crippled but hiding. However, remember to be flexible and relegate this strategy to teammates using vehicles dedicated to this role (such as the [[JPz 4-5]]), as you are still a main battle tank and have other strengths, that they may not be suited to perform.

In a nutshell, use the superb mobility with the cannon's perfection to flank and spank enemies, wait and hunt for the perfect positions and pick off the enemy tanks one by one, while always maintaining a good situational awareness. Patience is the key to success.

=== Pros and cons ===


'''Pros:'''

* Fast and very agile when fully upgraded
* High-penetration APDS and HEAT rounds
* HESH rounds extremely effective against light targets
* Reasonably fast reload time, can be reduced to 6.7 seconds
* Good gun elevation and depression
* Reasonably good turret traverse rate
* Access to smoke grenades
* Relatively small, moderately low profile
* Excellent reverse speed
* A well coordinated squad of Leopards can effectively take over a match
* Potential to be an extremely efficient vehicle in the right hands
* Some parts of the turret (mainly the mantlet) can bounce rounds from the right angles

'''Cons:'''

* Essentially non-existent armour that can't stop any more than 20 mm rounds reliably
* No main gun stabiliser
* Tankers unaccustomed to APDS may struggle with the stock vehicle
* Stock accuracy is sub-par
* Does not have the HESH round when stock
* Like all MBTs, there is ammunition stored adjacent to the driver
* 4-man crew complement, reasonably close-packed
* Easy prey for high-calibre autocannons such as those found on the ZSU-57-2
* HEATFS and APDS rounds have sub-par post-penetration effectiveness, often taking multiple rounds to destroy vehicles
* HEATFS detonates when it hits a fence or bush
* Gun is wobbly and takes a long time to set
* The optic is too zoomed in, not viable for CQC

== History ==

===Development===
The project for the Leopard started as far back as 1956 as an attempt to replace the American [[M41 (90 mm)|M47]] and [[M48A1|M48 Patton]] tanks in service at the time as they were becoming outdated to newer anti-tank technology. These American tanks did not fit the tactical concepts Germany had developed at great expense during the Second World War, so a new design was sought which would integrate this knowledge and also rebuild the German armaments industry.

Specifications for the new tank came in July 1957 asking for a design weighing no more than 30 tons, with a power-to-weight ratio of 30 horsepower per ton and could withstand 20 mm gunfire alongside protection against chemical weapons and radiation fallout, which was becoming extremely common protection system for the modern tank designs. The design stressed mobility as the main focus, while firepower comes next and armour was relegated to minimum priority. The lack of focus on the armour was because of the belief that no matter how much armour a tank can have, it will eventually fall obsolete to the advent of newer anti-tank weapons such as the HEAT rounds, which was becoming stronger and stronger by the years.

In the initial stages of development, France and West Germany, interested in this tank design, worked on it from 1957 to build a common tank and the project was designated the ''Europa-Panzer''. France had AMX, SLD Lorraine, and SOMUA with FCM Renault working on the project, while Germany had Porsche, Rheinmetall with Henschel, and Borgward working on the project. In 1958, Italy entered into the development as well, though it's not sure if they provided much to the program. By 1960, Porsche and Rheinmetall had prototypes submitted, as well as AMX from France, all the others failed to provide a prototype in time. In 1963, the Porsche prototype was selected as the winner in 1963, though even before this decision the vehicle already has priority in being built in greater number than the others. Though a tank is set, France and Germany split in the joint tank project in 1963 after France opted out of standardization with the NATO forces. This left Germany alone with their Leopard tank development, which they continued.

The Porsche Prototype II was well received, though changes were made to the design such as a new cast turret, hull design change, and relocating the radiators. The tank now mounted the 105mm L7 gun over the Rheinmetall design, as well as adding an optical range-finding system for increased gunnery. The design finished trials by the end of 1963 and production started in Munich in February of 1964. The first batches began arriving at the Bundeswehr (German Army) in September of 1965 and were put into units by November of that same year. The tank was finally designated the '''Leopard 1''', with the prototype stage labelled as the Leopard 1A0.

===Usage===
After the first delivery, many upgrades were made on the tank throughout its production and service life. The first few Leopards were designated Leopard 1A1 and continued all the way to Leopard 1A6 as it incorporates new technology such as sights, gun, radios, armour, or even small upgrades or redesigns on some parts. Some of these Leopards are even upgraded further in each variant form, for example, the [[Leopard A1A1|Leopard 1A1A1]] which had it fitted with new turret armour and night sights. Other than the different variants, the Leopard 1 was also extensively modified or made into derivatives in roles such as anti-aircraft guns, armour recovery vehicles, bridge layers, and such.

The versatility of the Leopard 1 design and its rather cheap cost in comparison to other tanks at the time made it a useful tank and it was sought out by many different countries in and out of the NATO force group. These countries put them into service in the conflict, such as Denmark, which is believed to be the first country to use the Leopard 1 in hostile engagement, when going against Bosnian Serb forces. Canada also used the Leopard 1C2 in the War in Afghanistan from 2006-2011. Greece also had Leopard 1s and is the largest user of it, with over 500 units of Leopard 1A5s still in service.

The Leopard 1 versatility and widespread use compared to other tanks in the NATO service made it a very useful weapon system for armies that couldn't afford the new American Pattons or Abrams tanks or the British Challengers and [[Chieftain Mk 3|Chieftains]]. The Leopard 1 in German service was eventually replaced by the Leopard 2 design, which entered into service in 1979 as the main battle tank with better armour and better gun compared to the Leopard 1, fully replacing it in 2003. Other countries followed suit by upgrading their tanks to either the Leopard 2, the American M1 Abrams, or their own domestic tank designs. The vehicle in its various modernized forms is still operated by third parties such as , Brazil, Turkey, and Greece. Some are kept in reserve in Chile and Ecuador due to their light frames and ease of use in soft soils like in the jungles in their countries.

In 1974, the Australian government purchased 101 Leopard 1 tanks (90 MBTs, 5 bridge-laying variants, and 6 recovery vehicles). the first leopard 1s arrived in Australia in 1976 and served with the 1st Armoured Regiment. The Leopard 1 was retired from service in July 2007.

The Belgian army received 334 Leopard 1s, equipping 8 tank regiments with 40 Leopard 1s each. The Belgian Leopards were retired from service in 2014.

Canada received 127 Leopard 1 C1 tanks in 1978-1979 to replace the Centurion tank. starting in 2000, the Canadian government upgraded the Leopard 1 C1 to Leopard 1 C2. the Leopard C2 is now obsolete and the Canadian government has opted to use the Leopard 2.

In 1976, Denmark acquired 120 Leopard 1A3 tanks. Denmark acquired another 110 Leopard 1A3 tanks in 1992, and upgraded all for a total of 230 Leopard 1A5-DKs tanks. Denmark no longer uses Leopard 1 tanks as an MBT (replaced by leopard 2), but still uses an armoured recovery vehicle variant.

Germany used a total of 2,437 Leopard 1 tanks, of various variants. The remaining Leopard 1s are in storage, replaced by the Leopard 2.

From 1971-1985, Italy obtained (Purchased from other countries or Built under license) 920 Leopard 1 tanks and 250 Special Variants. Italian Leopard 1 MBTs were retired from service by 2008, and are replaced with the native Italian C1-Ariele tank. Armoured recovery vehicles and bridge-laying variants remain in service.

The Netherlands operated 468 Leopard 1 tanks, and are replaced with Leopard 2 tanks. Armoured recovery vehicles and bridge-laying variants remain in service.

Norway operated 172 Leopard 1 tanks, the last Leopard 1 decommissioned in 2011, and are replaced with Leopard 2 tanks. Armoured recovery vehicles and bridge-laying variants remain in service.

Brazil currently operates 128 Leopard 1BE and 250 Leopard 1A5.

Chile used to operate 202 Leopard 1V, but sold some and currently have 120 in service.

Ecuador purchased all 60 of their Leopard tanks from Chile.

Greece bought 104 Leopard 1A3s in 1983. during 1992, Greece received a further 75 Leopard 1A5. Greece purchased another 192 used Leopard 1A5s. Greece is now the current operator of the most Leopard 1 tank.

Lebanon purchased 43 Belgian Leopard 1A5.

Turkey bought and upgraded 170 Leopard 1A1 tanks and upgraded all to Leopard 1T 'Volkan'. Turkey also purchased 227 A3 variants.

{{break}}
{{Navigation-Start|{{Annotation|Archive of the in-game description|An archive of the historical description of the vehicle that was presented in-game prior to Update 1.55 'Royal Armour'}}}}
{{Navigation-First-Simple-Line}}
Development of the tank began in 1957 in cooperation with France. However, this attempt to create a unified European tank was unsuccessful. The projects in both countries were conducted virtually in parallel, but in 1963, before the end of comparative testing of the French and German tanks, Germany declined to cooperate further with France. Each country began to build its own national tank — the Leopard in Germany, the AMX-30 in France.

During the development of the Leopard 1 among all combat characteristics preference was given to firepower and mobility. Later, due to the German engineers' changing perspective on the significance of tank defenses in modern combat, a number of steps were taken to increase it.

The first production order of 1,500 tanks was placed in 1963, and in September, 1965 the first serial Leopard 1 was delivered to the Bundeswehr.
{{Navigation-End}}

== Media ==


;Skins

* [https://live.warthunder.com/feed/camouflages/?vehicle=germ_leopard_I Skins and camouflages for the {{PAGENAME}} from live.warthunder.com.]

;Videos
{{Youtube-gallery|GgC8UNa8dok|'''Leopard I vs STB-1''' - ''War Thunder Official Channel''|qksBZwDbbvo|'''Leopard I - Really Changed After The Changes/Buffs?''' - ''Napalmratte''|SKeFUWKudoY|'''The Shooting Range #63''' - ''Pages of History'' section at 00:33 discusses the {{PAGENAME}}.}}

== See also ==


;Vehicles equipped with the same chassis

* [[Leopard 1 (Family)]]

;Other vehicles of similar configuration and role

* [[AMX-30 (1972)]]
* [[AMX-30]]

== External links ==


* [[wt:en/devblog/current/792|[Devblog] Leopard 1]]
* [[wt:en/news/3325--en|[Vehicle Profile] Leopard 1]]
* [[wikipedia:Leopard_1|[Wikipedia] Leopard 1]]
* [https://www.tanks-encyclopedia.com/coldwar/West_Germany/leopard-i.php <nowiki>[Tanks Encyclopedia]</nowiki> Leopard I MBT (1965)]
* [https://www.militaryfactory.com/armor/detail.asp?armor_id=58 <nowiki>[Military Factory]</nowiki> Leopard 1]

{{TankManufacturer KMW}}
{{Germany medium tanks}}

Tank ammunition

2023-05-17T17:06:10Z

U139596374: /* Anti-Concrete (AC) */

Throughout the past century of tank development, a large range of ammunition types have been produced and seen combat. As time progressed, technology improved and rounds also improved in terms of lethality, accuracy and ballistic performance. Despite this, most rounds can be categorised under one of two primary categories: '''kinetic''' rounds and '''chemical''' rounds; and further under a variety of subcategories.

== Kinetic energy shells ==
'''Kinetic rounds''' penetrate and deal damage based on a number of factors; shell type, projectile mass, round velocity and material hardness. Mass, shell type and hardness are constants, but velocity reduces with distance travelled and as such at longer ranges kinetic rounds will lose penetration ability and in some cases post-penetration efficacy. Most kinetic rounds can hit targets through lighter obstacles - trees, walls and some buildings. Under the right circumstances, solid kinetic rounds can penetrate multiple vehicles along their trajectory.

=== Solid Armour-Piercing Rounds ===
Solid AP rounds are a kinetic munition that utilise a hardened metal (often steel) shell with full-calibre diameter. The result is a simple, yet effective anti-tank round that will punch through armour with high equivalent thickness values, while retaining reasonable post-penetration effects which, when well-placed, can deal significant internal damage to components and crew directly within the shrapnelling path. The amount of spalling generated by a successful AP penetration depends on the shell mass and thickness of the penetrated armour and modules. Generally, solid AP does not stop until it has exhausted all of its force and is capable of passing through an entire vehicle if this energy is not fully expended.
==== Armour-Piercing (AP) ====
[[File:Icon rnd ap.png|left|frameless]] Armour-Piercing is a basic solid steel shot which is entirely reliant on kinetic energy to penetrate and deal damage. Providing the round possesses enough energy to penetrate any given armour, it will deal internal damage from steel fragments and spalling of the internal surfaces which can damage vehicle components, stored ammunition and crew members.

''AP is a standard early World War II ammunition for many nations. In War Thunder, AP rounds should be used as a general use anti-armour round, with careful round placement to maximise post-penetration damage. Some nations, such as the British, have modified versions of AP, usually denoted by a "HV" in the name, which is launched at a higher velocity than standard AP rounds, resulting in higher penetration potential.''

==== Armour-Piercing, Capped (APC) ====
[[File:Icon rnd apc.png|left|frameless]] APC rounds have a nose cone (or cap) of softer metal which is fixed to the front of the solid shot. When this strikes the target armour the shock of the impact is transferred away from the tip of the round to the neck, helping prevent shattering. Additionally, the cap will collapse on contact with armour and the deformation will cause the round to angle towards the armour, more efficiently directing energy into the armour and improving the angled performance of the round. A downside of the cap is a decrease in long-range accuracy due to the cap interfering with the shell's aerodynamics.
[[File:APC Normalization.gif|thumb|Display of shell normalization as an effect of a capped (APC) shell (clickable gif)]]

''APC is commonly found as a mid-tier shell for both the British and French on their mid-to-late WW2 vehicles. In War Thunder, APC is best used as a short-to-mid range round for combatting angled armour that regular AP rounds may not easily penetrate.''

==== Armour-Piercing, Ballistic Capped (APBC) ====
[[File:Icon rnd apbc.png|left|frameless]] APBC rounds utilise a ballistic cap, designed to improve aerodynamic performance and hence round performance at longer ranges. The cap usually utilises a soft or brittle metal which collapses on impact and does not aid penetration or angled performance.

''APBC is found on some early Soviet vehicles, but is relatively uncommon otherwise compared to APCBC. In War Thunder, APBC is best used as a longer-range alternative to APC or APHE rounds which often exhibit less favourable ranged performance.''

==== Armour-Piercing, Capped, Ballistic Capped (APCBC) ====
[[File:Icon rnd apcbc.png|left|frameless]] APCBC rounds combine the standard cap and the ballistic cap, improving the round's aerodynamic and penetration performance. As such, APCBC rounds tend to exhibit the best all-round characteristics of any conventional kinetic rounds.

''APCBC is a common shell for British, French and American mid-to-late WW2 vehicles. US rounds usually have explosive filler, acting like an APHEBC shell, while British and French rounds don't. The APCBC should be the preferred option given a selection of full-calibre solid shot rounds, when available, and should be situationally switched for APHE rounds when they're available.''

=== HE-Filled Armour-Piercing Rounds ===
HE-Filled Armour-Piercing Rounds take the concept of armour-piercing rounds and add a deadly twist - a quantity of HE filler on a timed fuse, designed to explode after a successful penetration. While the concept sacrifices some structural integrity and thus penetrating power, the destructive ability of an APHE round is nearly unrivalled. The fuse only activates if the shell collides with a surface of reasonable thickness, mostly dictated by shell calibre - though there are exceptions with a slower or faster fuse. After the fuse activates, the contained explosive will be ignited after passing a specified distance, resulting in significantly increased internal damage to a target. Vehicles with rolled homogeneous armour side skirts of reasonable thickness can detonate fast fuse APHE early, sometime avoiding internal damage entirely. Tanks with large or numerous modules directly behind weak spots (for example, front-mounted transmissions) can block the entire round from further penetration, or simply block the post-penetration effect from passing. Keep this in mind, and try to aim for locations that will allow detonation as centrally within the target as possible.

==== Armour-Piercing, High-Explosive (APHE) ====
[[File:Icon rnd aphe.png|left|frameless]] APHE rounds utilise a similar form to AP rounds, but incorporate a small chamber of high-explosive filler within the round. This often slightly reduces the round's mass and construction strength and as such APHE rounds tend to exhibit slightly worse penetration performance than their solid shot counterparts. However, upon successful penetration, APHE rounds often cause significantly more damage within a vehicle. APHE rounds have a fuse which will only activate on sufficiently thick armour.

''APHE is primarily found on Soviet, German and Japanese vehicles earlier in the tech tree, and on a selection of earlier American vehicles. It should be prioritised for use when penetration is highly likely, or switched for AP or APCR if improved penetration is required.''

==== Armour-Piercing, High-Explosive, Ballistic Capped (APHEBC) ====
[[File:Icon rnd aphebc.png|left|frameless]] APHEBC rounds, similarly to APHE, utilise APBC concepts with the addition of high-explosive filler. Again, the rounds tend to exhibit slightly worse penetrative performance than their solid shot brethren, but significantly more post-penetration damage. APHEBC rounds have a fuse which will only activate on sufficiently thick armour.

''APHEBC is primarily found on Soviet and Italian vehicles earlier in the tech tree as a mid-tier round, and on some American and German vehicles. It's ideally used against targets where angled performance is required and HE filler is preferable.''

==== Armour-Piercing, High-Explosive, Capped, Ballistic Capped (APHECBC) ====
[[File:Icon rnd aphecbc.png|left|frameless]] APHECBC rounds utilise standard APCBC designs with added explosive filler. APHECBC is often referred to as APCBC in-game, and can be identified instead by the graphic or the explosive filler content on the round's stat card. As with other APHE rounds, APHECBC significantly improves the post-penetration lethality over that of a standard APCBC round. APHECBC rounds have a fuse which will only activate on sufficiently thick armour.

''APHECBC is found throughout the Soviet tech tree as a high-tier round, and on some Japanese, American and German vehicles. APHECBC should be used preferentially and interchangeably with a high-penetration round where available.''

==== Anti-Concrete (AC) ====
[[File:Icon_rnd_ac.png|left|54px|frameless]] AC rounds are designed as an anti-emplacement ammunition. Their intended role was to penetrate reinforced concrete and detonate inside the fortified positions (bunkers, pillboxes). It works like an APHE round but has an atypically high explosive filler capable of causing overpressure and severe spalling.

''The Anti-Concrete round is found on the Lancia 3Ro (100/17) tank destroyer. It can be used like an APHE round.''

''As of currently, This round has been removed.''

=== Sub-Calibre Armour-Piercing Rounds ===
Sub-Calibre AP rounds are, essentially, what they say on the label - the penetrator itself is of a smaller calibre than the gun barrel, using a sabot to make up the calibre difference. How the sabot is handled is dependent on the type of round - it may be either discarding or non-discarding. Sub-calibre rounds sacrifice post-penetration effectiveness for high round velocities and high penetration values.

==== Armour-Piercing, Composite, Rigid (APCR) ====
[[File:Icon rnd apcr.png|left|frameless]] APCR rounds often use tungsten carbide or other extremely hard metals as a sub-calibre penetrator, wrapped within a softer full-calibre sabot - the APCR concept is essentially a predecessor to the APDS design. Upon impact, the soft shell will deform, allowing the hard metal penetrator contained within to penetrate the target's armour with force spread over a smaller surface area, resulting in significantly better penetration ability. APCR rounds often suffer due to their more concentrated post-penetration damage, as well as faster penetration drop-off over range than a standard AP round of the same calibre. Due to their design, APCR perform extremely poorly when fired upon angled armour, and will ricochet on much smaller angles than AP or APDS.

''APCR is found throughout most tech trees, most commonly available to vehicles from mid-WW2 through to early cold war vehicles. APCR rounds are best used against minimally angled armour, where other rounds will be unable to penetrate.''

==== Armour-Piercing, Discarding Sabot (APDS) ====
[[File:Icon rnd apds.png|left|frameless]] APDS rounds utilise a hard core as a sub-calibre penetrator, with a full calibre sabot. Unlike APCR rounds, APDS rounds discard their sabot after exiting the cannon barrel. The result is an extremely high-velocity round with particularly high penetration values and good ranged accuracy. Unlike APCR, APDS does not suffer when used against angled armour. APDS produces a minimal amount of post-penetration damage - this can be attributed to the shell degradation the thicker the armour it has to penetrate. The thicker the armour, the more it deteriorates and the less spalling it will cause. Once the round deteriorates far enough, it will shatter. This is especially apparent for small-calibre APDS, or when used against some extremely heavy vehicles. Due to this, careful aim is required when utilising APDS rounds to maximise their post-penetration effect.

''APDS is first made available on post-WW2 British vehicles as well as Swedish WW2 vehicles such as the [[Lago I]], and is available to most vehicles in possession of a [[Royal Ordnance L7A1 (105 mm)|105 mm L7]]-derived cannon. In War Thunder, APDS is best used as a long-range round, with multiple shots often being a necessity due to the lack of post-penetration damage. APDS can be quite ineffective against lightly-armoured vehicles and the frontal armour of super heavy tanks.''

==== Armour-Piercing, Fin-Stabilised, Discarding Sabot (APFSDS) ====
[[File:Icon rnd apfsds.png|left|frameless]] APFSDS is the pinnacle of the kinetic anti-armour rounds. As with APDS, APFSDS utilises an extremely hard penetrator and a discarding sabot, however the penetrator is usually significantly longer than that of APDS and incorporates fins for improved long-range ballistics. The additional penetrator length improves the post-penetration damage effects. APFSDS rounds are the most powerful kinetic rounds available in-game.

''APFSDS is first made available to some late Rank V vehicles, and is mainly the primary round for most Rank VI or VII vehicles. Due to the extremely high velocity most APFSDS rounds are fired at, they are easy to aim and maintain their effective performance at even extreme ranges. APFSDS is quite ineffective against lightly-armoured vehicles and should be aimed at critical components to maximise their damage potential.''

== Chemical energy shells ==
'''Chemical energy shells''' deal damage based on a chemical reaction, and unlike kinetic shells, their ability to penetrate and deal damage are unaffected by the shell's velocity. This means that target distance often doesn't affect the round's effectiveness. However, this also means that enemy tanks spaced and composite armour can be much more effective at preventing the damage, depending on the shell type used. Many chemical shells utilise extremely sensitive fuses and will detonate upon touching anything, while almost none of them can be fired through solid obstacles. Many chemical rounds have a very low muzzle velocity, reducing their effective range but allowing the user to launch them over terrain.

=== High-Explosive Rounds ===
High-Explosive rounds are a simple shell packed full of a high-explosive material, primarily designed for anti-infantry and anti-emplacement applications. However, this translates surprisingly well when applied to light vehicles - significantly more so than armour-piercing rounds or in some cases even APHE rounds. Unfortunately, most HE-based rounds are relatively useless against well-armoured vehicles and force their user to target flaws in an enemy tank design.

==== High-Explosive (HE) ====
[[File:Icon rnd he.png|left|frameless]] High-Explosive rounds are primarily intended for use as an anti-infantry/anti-emplacement round, as their destruction power comes from the explosive filler in the shell. As such, HE rounds tend to have minimal armour-piercing capability and are better used against particularly lightly-armoured and open-topped vehicles. On occasion, it can prove effective against the side or roof of some lightly-armoured vehicles. High-calibre HE rounds may cause enough area damage to destroy a tank regardless of the round placement.

''HE rounds are available to almost every vehicle in-game. However, low-calibre HE rounds are ineffective against all but the most lightly-armoured targets, so this type of round should only be utilised by vehicles with large-calibre guns (122 mm and above).''

==== High-Explosive Time Fuse (HE-TF) ====
[[File:Icon rnd hevt.png|left|frameless]] HE-TF rounds use the simple concept of a timed fuse, resulting in an explosion at a pre-set range. While HE-TF rounds are no more effective than HE rounds against most heavy armour, they can be particularly effective against light vehicles with a known range or against aircraft (one of their original design uses).

''HE-TF rounds are available to a number of vehicles originally designed for anti-air purposes, such as the [[YaG-10 (29-K)]] and the [[8,8 cm Flak 37 Sfl.]]. They're best used against aircraft by rangefinding the aircraft in question, setting the fuse range to a reasonable assumption based on the result and leading sensibly. They can be extremely effective against aircraft if used correctly, but are mostly ineffective against armoured vehicles.''

==== High-Explosive Variable Time Fuse [Self-Destroying] (HE-VT*) ====
[[File:Icon rnd he prx.png|left|frameless]] HE-VT rounds are an advanced round fitted with a specialised proximity fuse, designed to detonate the round upon reaching close proximity with a target. These are usually designed for anti-air applications, and are generally ineffective against most ground targets.

''HE-VT rounds are available to some later anti-air vehicles, such as the [[OTOMATIC]], or some light tanks, like the [[Begleitpanzer 57]], and are capable of destroying aircraft or helicopters if the round passes within close proximity of the target. They are extremely effective against mid-ranged aircraft but cannot be relied upon for use against armour.''

==== High-Explosive Grenade ====
[[File:Icon grn he.png|left|frameless]] HE Grenades are specialised HE rounds designed to be fired from cannons which may not be otherwise capable of firing high-calibre rounds. They usually operate in a different manner to conventional cannon rounds, utilising a propellant rather than a charge, resulting in a relatively low round velocity and sub-par ballistics. However, this design has proven useful, as the low velocity can be used to sling rounds over small terrain deformations, onto weak roof armour, or into trenches or bunkers.

''HE Grenades are available to vehicles with recoilless cannon designs or other non-standard cannon designs. They are generally as effective as an equivalent HE round, however have significantly lower muzzle velocity and as such are extremely inaccurate at long ranges. HE Grenades are found on various vehicles, such as the [[BMP-1]].''

==== Anti-Personnel Fragmentation Grenade (VOG) ====
[[File:Icon rnd VOG-30.png|left|frameless|54x54px]] Anti-Personnel Fragmentation Grenades are grenades intended for use against infantry; they use a lightweight explosive charge alongside a thin casing to produce a large lethal radius via shrapnel.

''The [[BMP-2M]] is equipped with an automatic grenade launcher. VOGs are useful as a substitute to pintle-mounted machine guns, able to destroy terrain elements like bushes, trees, and buildings. They are almost completely ineffective against tanks, lacking the required explosive filler and muzzle velocity.''

==== Rocket (R) ====
{{main|:Category:Rocket launchers|l1=List of vehicles able to equip rockets}}
[[File:Icon spr rocket.png|left|frameless]] Rockets are unguided high-explosive self-propelled rounds which are often significantly higher calibre than standard tank cannons. They can be mounted as ancillary weaponry on some vehicles, or in some cases mounted on specialised rocket-carrier vehicles.

''Rockets can be unreliable and inaccurate, but due to their often large calibre, large amount of HE filler, and ability to continuously launch them until the rack is empty, they can prove effective against some armoured vehicles. Rockets can be found either mounted ancillary to a conventional cannon, as on the [[RBT-5]] and [[Calliope]], or on dedicated rocket carriers such as the [[BM-13N]], [[U-SH 405]], and [[Type 75 MLRS]].''

=== Anti-Emplacement Rounds ===
Anti-Emplacement rounds are designed specifically for combatting emplacements, however have proven to have some anti-tank value. They rely on different mechanics compared to normal rounds*, and can prove particularly ineffective against heavy armour.

==== Shrapnel ====
[[File:Shrapnel Round Icon.png|left|frameless]] Shrapnel rounds are a chemical round utilising a thin shell and a chamber of metal fillings or ball bearings with a small explosive charge. Upon successful penetration, shrapnel rounds cause a significant amount of damage. However, due to the thin outer shell, shrapnel rounds only perform well against particularly light armour and are completely ineffective when used against even moderately armoured targets.

''Shrapnel rounds are available exclusively to early Soviet vehicles. Shrapnel is exclusively useful against lightly armoured targets, and shouldn't be used against front-facing armour of any other tank.''

==== High-Explosive Squash Head (HESH) ====
[[File:Icon rnd hesh.png|left|frameless]] HESH rounds are designed as an anti-emplacement round. The squash head, usually comprised of some form of plastic explosive, is designed to squash onto a surface and detonate, causing the opposite side of the surface to rupture. If the given surface happens to be metal, this will often result in metal shards flying off the surface at high velocity. While in the past, HESH rounds have had improved performance on angled targets, their performance is now completely uniform at all ranges and angles. Recently due to the advent of "[[Damage mechanics#Overpressure|Overpressure]]", HESH has benefited an increase in performance and increased lethality, even when failing to hit the target directly. HESH also has relatively low fuse sensitivity, therefore it can be launched through some foliage and weak obstacles without detonating, unlike HE or HEAT.

''HESH rounds are available to most British vehicles from Rank V, and other vehicles in possession of an L7-derived gun. HESH should be primarily used against lighter armour or side armour, while specifically avoiding side skirts and any other forms of spaced armour, although occasionally the HE splash effect can cause unexpected results. HESH is completely ineffective against heavy armour or composite armour designs.''

=== High-Explosive Anti-Tank Rounds ===
High-Explosive Anti-Tank (HEAT) rounds make use of shaped charges to penetrate armour, forcing superplastic metal through into the crew compartment, damaging crew and modules. HEAT rounds prove particularly effective at long ranges, as their method of action does not lose effectiveness with range. Unfortunately though, the fuse on a HEAT round must be extremely sensitive, causing the rounds to detonate even on bushes and wooden fences that other chemical rounds of high calibre have a chance to pass through. All HEAT-derived rounds have concentrated post-penetration damage, similar to APDS, which travels in a tight cone from the impact point. This often works in favor of the shell when a direct hit is achieved, in some cases allowing it to burn through modules such as frontally-mounted transmissions, dealing further damage to the vehicle's internals. This same effect can prove troublesome when a round collides on a sub-par angle or after penetration there's simply nothing within its cone of effect.

==== High-Explosive, Anti-tank (HEAT) ====
[[File:Icon rnd heat.png|left|frameless]] HEAT rounds are designed specifically as an anti-tank round. They operate with a shaped charge that uses an explosive to force superplastic metal through a vehicle's armour, causing internal damage to crew and modules.

''HEAT rounds are available to a variety of WW2 German and Japanese vehicles, as well as higher-performance HEAT becoming available to some late French and American vehicles, as HEATFS rounds cannot be fired from rifled cannons. HEAT is limited in effectiveness and its usage should be carefully considered as many vehicles have armour it cannot penetrate. Due to its low velocity, HEAT often requires a high angle of attack and will arrive at a target on an angle - as such the often impressive 0° penetration statistics will often prove irrelevant, with angled penetration values being more accurate.''

==== High-Explosive, Anti-Tank, Fin-Stabilized (HEATFS) ====
[[File:Icon rnd heatfs.png|left|frameless]] HEATFS rounds are an improvement over the HEAT concept, using improved penetrative chemicals and utilising fins for improved ballistic performance. HEATFS rounds maintain their penetration values at all ranges, and are well-suited to long-range engagements. HEATFS rounds are particularly sensitive, and may detonate on light obstacles such as shrubs or fences.

''HEATFS rounds become available to many nations from Rank V, although notably the British do not receive HEATFS at any stage due to its incompatibility with rifled cannons. At late Rank VI and Rank VII, HEATFS may prove ineffective in many cases due to the prevalence of ERA and composite armour. Despite this, it can still be used for ranged engagements against light tanks and medium tanks with insufficient ERA or composite protection, as particularly late HEATFS rounds have extremely high penetration power. High-calibre HEATFS rounds will cripple light tanks, while APFSDS is not as effective at it.''

==== High-Explosive, Anti-Tank, Fin-Stabilised, Proximity Fuse [Self-Destroying] (HEATFS VT*) ====
[[File:Icon rnd heatfs.png|left|frameless]]HEATFS VT rounds are specialised HEATFS rounds which utilise a proximity fuse to detonate when in close proximity to a target. They can be used to destroy low-flying aircraft or helicopters, while maintaining their effectiveness against ground vehicles utilising normal HEATFS technology.

''HEATFS VT rounds are extremely specialised. They are available to only the [[M1A2 Abrams]] and have an identical icon to the standard HEATFS. They combine the anti-armour power of a standard HEATFS round with the anti-aircraft effectiveness of a HE-VT round. Their proximity fuse will detonate only above a specified altitude, so they can be used normally against other armoured vehicles.''

==== High-Explosive, Anti-Tank Grenade ====
[[File:Icon grn heat.png|left|frameless]] HEAT Grenades are specialised HEAT rounds, designed for use where normal tank rounds may not be possible to utilise. They often use a propellant rather than a standard charge, and as such suffer from low velocity and sub-par round ballistics. Despite this, they can prove effective against tanks due to their HEAT technology.

''HEAT Grenades are available to vehicles with recoilless cannons or other non-standard cannon designs. Their effectiveness is similar to that of an equivalent HEAT round, however due to their low muzzle velocity they can be inaccurate at long ranges. HEAT Grenades are found on various light vehicles, such as the [[M50]], [[T114]], [[Type 60 SPRG (C)]], [[FIAT 6614]], [[R3 T106 FA]], and [[BMP-1 (Family)]].''

=== Guided Missiles ===
Guided missiles utilise a guidance system (of various types, such as MCLOS, SACLOS, Radar, Heat-Seeking) to accomplish their intended role. They sacrifice round velocity for long-range precision. Different missile types are effective in different applications - some have anti-tank properties, while others are effective against air targets.

==== Anti-Tank Guided Missile (ATGM) ====
{{main|Anti-tank guided missiles}}
[[File:Icon spr atgm.png|left|frameless]] ATGMs largely utilise the same concept as HEAT, however they integrate some form of propulsion and are usually guideable, either manually (MCLOS) or semi-automatically (SACLOS). ATGMs usually pack a large amount of explosive and often have particularly powerful shaped charges. However, they require specialised equipment to fire and tend to be heavy, often resulting in long reload times, especially for hybrid vehicles.

''ATGMs become available through Rank V, and are primarily carried by specialised ATGM carriers, although some tanks have ATGM-capable main cannons and some exceptional designs such as the [[Strv 81 (Rb.52)]] or the [[AMX-13 (HOT)]] mount ATGMs on ancillary pylons. ATGMs are powerful and SACLOS guided missiles are easily aimed, however they travel slowly and well-aware targets may be able to move into cover prior to the ATGM reaching them.''

==== Anti-Tank Guided Missile, Overfly Top Attack (ATGM-OTA) ====
[[File:Icon spr atgm.png|left|frameless]] This missile's icon is the same as the normal ATGM, but its mechanism is completely different. It uses a proximity fuse to detonate '''above''' enemy tanks, sending the HEAT warhead right into the target's roof. Though this missile's penetration is rather low in the stats card, players should not be discouraged as tank's roof is one of the most lightly armoured area on all tanks. This missile type could also defeat tanks by overpressure effect alone, with a giant high-explosive warhead detonating through the top of tanks.

''At the time of the writing, the TOW-2B (and foreign variants with different names) and the Swedish [[Rbs 56]] are the only top-down attack missiles in the game. The TOW-2B is carried by specialized ATGM carriers, like the [[Wiesel 1A2]] or the [[CM25|M113]], exception being made only to the [[M3A3 Bradley]] and [[Dardo]] IFVs, which carry it too as a secondary weapon. Players should try to aim the missile about 1 meter above the target, as higher may result in little to no damage, but aiming too low could also have the missile detonating too early which, again, would cause little to no damage.''

==== Anti-Tank Guided Missile, Proximity Fuse [Self-Destroying] (ATGM-VT*) ====
[[File:Icon spr atgm prx.png|left|frameless]] Proximity ATGMs utilise proximity fuses to detonate when in close proximity to aircraft. This, combined with their guidance systems (SACLOS) allows them to be used effectively against low-flying aircraft or helicopters.

''Proximity Fuse ATGMs can prove extremely effective against low-flying aircraft or helicopters, and utilise a similar proximity fuse concept to SAM missiles - although often ATGMs pack significantly more HE filler than SAMs do. ATGM-VT missiles are available to specialised ATGM carriers such as the [[Shturm-S]].''

==== Anti-Tank Guided Missile, Tandem Charge (ATGM Tandem) ====
[[File:Icon spr atgm tandem.png|left|frameless]] Tandem ATGMs utilise a twin-stage warhead to overcome ERA - the first stage causes the ERA to detonate, while the second stage penetrates the armour below as normal. This concept does not work against NERA or composite armour.

''Tandem ATGMs are effective against ERA-protected vehicles, and often have very high penetration values. Tandem charge ATGMs are available to high-rank Soviet or Russian ATGM carriers such as the [[Shturm-S]] and [[BMP-3]].''

==== Anti-Tank Guided Missile, HE (ATGM-HE) ====
[[File:Icon spr atgm he.png|left|frameless]] HE ATGMs are a simplification of a standard ATGM; rather than a shaped HEAT charge, HE missiles simply utilise a large quantity of explosive to damage or destroy emplacements or light vehicles or other ATGM tanks.

''HE ATGMs are only effective against light vehicles and missile carriers in most cases, despite packing large quantities of HE filler. They are available to specialised ATGM carriers such as the [[Shturm-S]].''

==== Surface to Air Missile (SAM) ====
[[File:Icon spr sam.png|left|frameless]] SAMs are high-velocity anti-air missiles, designed specifically to combat aircraft using a variety of technologies; often including proximity fuses and radar or heat-seeking guidance.

''SAMs are very effective at long distances against aircraft, particularly helicopters. They are often extremely high velocity and pack a large amount of HE filler for a powerful airburst effect. SAMs are available to specialised anti-air vehicles such as the [[ZPRK 2S6|2S6 Tunguska]] or the [[ADATS]], which, notably, has multi-purpose missiles that are also effective against armoured vehicles. Most SAMs pack less HE filler than an HE ATGM and are only reliably effective against lightly armoured ground vehicles.''

=== Utility Rounds ===
Utility rounds are ineffective for use against other vehicles, but provide value in some sort of utility.

==== Smoke ====
{{main|Smoke screen|l1=Smoke}}
[[File:Icon rnd smoke.png|left|frameless]] Smoke shells are not designed as a damaging shell, and largely consist of chemicals designed to create a smoke screen. The produced smoke has a limited lifetime.

''Smoke shells are available to various vehicles throughout most tech trees, however their effectiveness is somewhat limited compared to dedicated smoke launchers. The main advantage of smoke shells is that unlike ESS or hull-mounted smoke canisters, they can be launched anywhere the equipped vehicle can aim, allowing for strategic placement for pushes or flanking manoeuvres, or simply firing at an enemy vehicle to force them to move from their position.''

== Media ==


;Videos
{{Youtube-gallery|TQEq6hjxGdM|'''The Shooting Range #292''' - ''Tactics & Strategy'' section at 07:52 discusses playing HE wielders.|srKv5v9zoGA|'''The Shooting Range #216''' - ''Special'' section at 08:28 discusses Volumetric rounds.|CZqzMhbnvO4|'''Tank Shells Guide''' - War Thunder Official Channel|Qyr_aw3YTe8|'''The Shooting Range #2''' - ''Science of War'' section at 05:11 discusses HESH rounds.|6O3MBjdSsIk|'''Tank Shells Guide - War Thunder ammo types explained''' - ''HowToPlay1337''|ajeqij4_jwM|'''Ammo Types in War Thunder EXPLAINED''' - ''skDoger''|_xCgMBOiA8U|'''High-explosive power''' - ''War Thunder Official Channel''|lK9Ck3P6AvM|'''Top 7 best rounds''' - ''War Thunder Official Channel''|fCc_B-wm0wA|'''Post-War Heat Shells''' - ''War Thunder Official Channel''}}

== See also ==


* [[Ammo racks]] - How all tank ammunition is stored within the tank

== External links ==


* [https://forum.warthunder.com/index.php?/topic/576042-update-of-the-apds-penetration-values/ <nowiki>{Devblog]</nowiki> Update of the APDS penetration values]
* [[wt:en/news/7084-development-new-features-upcoming-with-the-ixwa-strike-update-en|[Devblog] New features upcoming with the "Ixwa Strike" update - Shell impact animations]]
* [[wt:en/news/6856-development-volumetric-shells-in-the-raining-fire-update-en|[Devblog] Volumetric shells in the "Raining Fire" update]]

[[Category:Ammunition]]

Tank ammunition

2023-05-17T17:05:50Z

U139596374: /* Anti-Concrete (AC) */

Throughout the past century of tank development, a large range of ammunition types have been produced and seen combat. As time progressed, technology improved and rounds also improved in terms of lethality, accuracy and ballistic performance. Despite this, most rounds can be categorised under one of two primary categories: '''kinetic''' rounds and '''chemical''' rounds; and further under a variety of subcategories.

== Kinetic energy shells ==
'''Kinetic rounds''' penetrate and deal damage based on a number of factors; shell type, projectile mass, round velocity and material hardness. Mass, shell type and hardness are constants, but velocity reduces with distance travelled and as such at longer ranges kinetic rounds will lose penetration ability and in some cases post-penetration efficacy. Most kinetic rounds can hit targets through lighter obstacles - trees, walls and some buildings. Under the right circumstances, solid kinetic rounds can penetrate multiple vehicles along their trajectory.

=== Solid Armour-Piercing Rounds ===
Solid AP rounds are a kinetic munition that utilise a hardened metal (often steel) shell with full-calibre diameter. The result is a simple, yet effective anti-tank round that will punch through armour with high equivalent thickness values, while retaining reasonable post-penetration effects which, when well-placed, can deal significant internal damage to components and crew directly within the shrapnelling path. The amount of spalling generated by a successful AP penetration depends on the shell mass and thickness of the penetrated armour and modules. Generally, solid AP does not stop until it has exhausted all of its force and is capable of passing through an entire vehicle if this energy is not fully expended.
==== Armour-Piercing (AP) ====
[[File:Icon rnd ap.png|left|frameless]] Armour-Piercing is a basic solid steel shot which is entirely reliant on kinetic energy to penetrate and deal damage. Providing the round possesses enough energy to penetrate any given armour, it will deal internal damage from steel fragments and spalling of the internal surfaces which can damage vehicle components, stored ammunition and crew members.

''AP is a standard early World War II ammunition for many nations. In War Thunder, AP rounds should be used as a general use anti-armour round, with careful round placement to maximise post-penetration damage. Some nations, such as the British, have modified versions of AP, usually denoted by a "HV" in the name, which is launched at a higher velocity than standard AP rounds, resulting in higher penetration potential.''

==== Armour-Piercing, Capped (APC) ====
[[File:Icon rnd apc.png|left|frameless]] APC rounds have a nose cone (or cap) of softer metal which is fixed to the front of the solid shot. When this strikes the target armour the shock of the impact is transferred away from the tip of the round to the neck, helping prevent shattering. Additionally, the cap will collapse on contact with armour and the deformation will cause the round to angle towards the armour, more efficiently directing energy into the armour and improving the angled performance of the round. A downside of the cap is a decrease in long-range accuracy due to the cap interfering with the shell's aerodynamics.
[[File:APC Normalization.gif|thumb|Display of shell normalization as an effect of a capped (APC) shell (clickable gif)]]

''APC is commonly found as a mid-tier shell for both the British and French on their mid-to-late WW2 vehicles. In War Thunder, APC is best used as a short-to-mid range round for combatting angled armour that regular AP rounds may not easily penetrate.''

==== Armour-Piercing, Ballistic Capped (APBC) ====
[[File:Icon rnd apbc.png|left|frameless]] APBC rounds utilise a ballistic cap, designed to improve aerodynamic performance and hence round performance at longer ranges. The cap usually utilises a soft or brittle metal which collapses on impact and does not aid penetration or angled performance.

''APBC is found on some early Soviet vehicles, but is relatively uncommon otherwise compared to APCBC. In War Thunder, APBC is best used as a longer-range alternative to APC or APHE rounds which often exhibit less favourable ranged performance.''

==== Armour-Piercing, Capped, Ballistic Capped (APCBC) ====
[[File:Icon rnd apcbc.png|left|frameless]] APCBC rounds combine the standard cap and the ballistic cap, improving the round's aerodynamic and penetration performance. As such, APCBC rounds tend to exhibit the best all-round characteristics of any conventional kinetic rounds.

''APCBC is a common shell for British, French and American mid-to-late WW2 vehicles. US rounds usually have explosive filler, acting like an APHEBC shell, while British and French rounds don't. The APCBC should be the preferred option given a selection of full-calibre solid shot rounds, when available, and should be situationally switched for APHE rounds when they're available.''

=== HE-Filled Armour-Piercing Rounds ===
HE-Filled Armour-Piercing Rounds take the concept of armour-piercing rounds and add a deadly twist - a quantity of HE filler on a timed fuse, designed to explode after a successful penetration. While the concept sacrifices some structural integrity and thus penetrating power, the destructive ability of an APHE round is nearly unrivalled. The fuse only activates if the shell collides with a surface of reasonable thickness, mostly dictated by shell calibre - though there are exceptions with a slower or faster fuse. After the fuse activates, the contained explosive will be ignited after passing a specified distance, resulting in significantly increased internal damage to a target. Vehicles with rolled homogeneous armour side skirts of reasonable thickness can detonate fast fuse APHE early, sometime avoiding internal damage entirely. Tanks with large or numerous modules directly behind weak spots (for example, front-mounted transmissions) can block the entire round from further penetration, or simply block the post-penetration effect from passing. Keep this in mind, and try to aim for locations that will allow detonation as centrally within the target as possible.

==== Armour-Piercing, High-Explosive (APHE) ====
[[File:Icon rnd aphe.png|left|frameless]] APHE rounds utilise a similar form to AP rounds, but incorporate a small chamber of high-explosive filler within the round. This often slightly reduces the round's mass and construction strength and as such APHE rounds tend to exhibit slightly worse penetration performance than their solid shot counterparts. However, upon successful penetration, APHE rounds often cause significantly more damage within a vehicle. APHE rounds have a fuse which will only activate on sufficiently thick armour.

''APHE is primarily found on Soviet, German and Japanese vehicles earlier in the tech tree, and on a selection of earlier American vehicles. It should be prioritised for use when penetration is highly likely, or switched for AP or APCR if improved penetration is required.''

==== Armour-Piercing, High-Explosive, Ballistic Capped (APHEBC) ====
[[File:Icon rnd aphebc.png|left|frameless]] APHEBC rounds, similarly to APHE, utilise APBC concepts with the addition of high-explosive filler. Again, the rounds tend to exhibit slightly worse penetrative performance than their solid shot brethren, but significantly more post-penetration damage. APHEBC rounds have a fuse which will only activate on sufficiently thick armour.

''APHEBC is primarily found on Soviet and Italian vehicles earlier in the tech tree as a mid-tier round, and on some American and German vehicles. It's ideally used against targets where angled performance is required and HE filler is preferable.''

==== Armour-Piercing, High-Explosive, Capped, Ballistic Capped (APHECBC) ====
[[File:Icon rnd aphecbc.png|left|frameless]] APHECBC rounds utilise standard APCBC designs with added explosive filler. APHECBC is often referred to as APCBC in-game, and can be identified instead by the graphic or the explosive filler content on the round's stat card. As with other APHE rounds, APHECBC significantly improves the post-penetration lethality over that of a standard APCBC round. APHECBC rounds have a fuse which will only activate on sufficiently thick armour.

''APHECBC is found throughout the Soviet tech tree as a high-tier round, and on some Japanese, American and German vehicles. APHECBC should be used preferentially and interchangeably with a high-penetration round where available.''

==== Anti-Concrete (AC) ====
[[File:Icon_rnd_ac.png|left|54px|frameless]] AC rounds are designed as an anti-emplacement ammunition. Their intended role was to penetrate reinforced concrete and detonate inside the fortified positions (bunkers, pillboxes). It works like an APHE round but has an atypically high explosive filler capable of causing overpressure and severe spalling.

''The Anti-Concrete round is found on the Lancia 3Ro (100/17) tank destroyer. It can be used like an APHE round.''

''As of currently, This rounds has been removed.''

=== Sub-Calibre Armour-Piercing Rounds ===
Sub-Calibre AP rounds are, essentially, what they say on the label - the penetrator itself is of a smaller calibre than the gun barrel, using a sabot to make up the calibre difference. How the sabot is handled is dependent on the type of round - it may be either discarding or non-discarding. Sub-calibre rounds sacrifice post-penetration effectiveness for high round velocities and high penetration values.

==== Armour-Piercing, Composite, Rigid (APCR) ====
[[File:Icon rnd apcr.png|left|frameless]] APCR rounds often use tungsten carbide or other extremely hard metals as a sub-calibre penetrator, wrapped within a softer full-calibre sabot - the APCR concept is essentially a predecessor to the APDS design. Upon impact, the soft shell will deform, allowing the hard metal penetrator contained within to penetrate the target's armour with force spread over a smaller surface area, resulting in significantly better penetration ability. APCR rounds often suffer due to their more concentrated post-penetration damage, as well as faster penetration drop-off over range than a standard AP round of the same calibre. Due to their design, APCR perform extremely poorly when fired upon angled armour, and will ricochet on much smaller angles than AP or APDS.

''APCR is found throughout most tech trees, most commonly available to vehicles from mid-WW2 through to early cold war vehicles. APCR rounds are best used against minimally angled armour, where other rounds will be unable to penetrate.''

==== Armour-Piercing, Discarding Sabot (APDS) ====
[[File:Icon rnd apds.png|left|frameless]] APDS rounds utilise a hard core as a sub-calibre penetrator, with a full calibre sabot. Unlike APCR rounds, APDS rounds discard their sabot after exiting the cannon barrel. The result is an extremely high-velocity round with particularly high penetration values and good ranged accuracy. Unlike APCR, APDS does not suffer when used against angled armour. APDS produces a minimal amount of post-penetration damage - this can be attributed to the shell degradation the thicker the armour it has to penetrate. The thicker the armour, the more it deteriorates and the less spalling it will cause. Once the round deteriorates far enough, it will shatter. This is especially apparent for small-calibre APDS, or when used against some extremely heavy vehicles. Due to this, careful aim is required when utilising APDS rounds to maximise their post-penetration effect.

''APDS is first made available on post-WW2 British vehicles as well as Swedish WW2 vehicles such as the [[Lago I]], and is available to most vehicles in possession of a [[Royal Ordnance L7A1 (105 mm)|105 mm L7]]-derived cannon. In War Thunder, APDS is best used as a long-range round, with multiple shots often being a necessity due to the lack of post-penetration damage. APDS can be quite ineffective against lightly-armoured vehicles and the frontal armour of super heavy tanks.''

==== Armour-Piercing, Fin-Stabilised, Discarding Sabot (APFSDS) ====
[[File:Icon rnd apfsds.png|left|frameless]] APFSDS is the pinnacle of the kinetic anti-armour rounds. As with APDS, APFSDS utilises an extremely hard penetrator and a discarding sabot, however the penetrator is usually significantly longer than that of APDS and incorporates fins for improved long-range ballistics. The additional penetrator length improves the post-penetration damage effects. APFSDS rounds are the most powerful kinetic rounds available in-game.

''APFSDS is first made available to some late Rank V vehicles, and is mainly the primary round for most Rank VI or VII vehicles. Due to the extremely high velocity most APFSDS rounds are fired at, they are easy to aim and maintain their effective performance at even extreme ranges. APFSDS is quite ineffective against lightly-armoured vehicles and should be aimed at critical components to maximise their damage potential.''

== Chemical energy shells ==
'''Chemical energy shells''' deal damage based on a chemical reaction, and unlike kinetic shells, their ability to penetrate and deal damage are unaffected by the shell's velocity. This means that target distance often doesn't affect the round's effectiveness. However, this also means that enemy tanks spaced and composite armour can be much more effective at preventing the damage, depending on the shell type used. Many chemical shells utilise extremely sensitive fuses and will detonate upon touching anything, while almost none of them can be fired through solid obstacles. Many chemical rounds have a very low muzzle velocity, reducing their effective range but allowing the user to launch them over terrain.

=== High-Explosive Rounds ===
High-Explosive rounds are a simple shell packed full of a high-explosive material, primarily designed for anti-infantry and anti-emplacement applications. However, this translates surprisingly well when applied to light vehicles - significantly more so than armour-piercing rounds or in some cases even APHE rounds. Unfortunately, most HE-based rounds are relatively useless against well-armoured vehicles and force their user to target flaws in an enemy tank design.

==== High-Explosive (HE) ====
[[File:Icon rnd he.png|left|frameless]] High-Explosive rounds are primarily intended for use as an anti-infantry/anti-emplacement round, as their destruction power comes from the explosive filler in the shell. As such, HE rounds tend to have minimal armour-piercing capability and are better used against particularly lightly-armoured and open-topped vehicles. On occasion, it can prove effective against the side or roof of some lightly-armoured vehicles. High-calibre HE rounds may cause enough area damage to destroy a tank regardless of the round placement.

''HE rounds are available to almost every vehicle in-game. However, low-calibre HE rounds are ineffective against all but the most lightly-armoured targets, so this type of round should only be utilised by vehicles with large-calibre guns (122 mm and above).''

==== High-Explosive Time Fuse (HE-TF) ====
[[File:Icon rnd hevt.png|left|frameless]] HE-TF rounds use the simple concept of a timed fuse, resulting in an explosion at a pre-set range. While HE-TF rounds are no more effective than HE rounds against most heavy armour, they can be particularly effective against light vehicles with a known range or against aircraft (one of their original design uses).

''HE-TF rounds are available to a number of vehicles originally designed for anti-air purposes, such as the [[YaG-10 (29-K)]] and the [[8,8 cm Flak 37 Sfl.]]. They're best used against aircraft by rangefinding the aircraft in question, setting the fuse range to a reasonable assumption based on the result and leading sensibly. They can be extremely effective against aircraft if used correctly, but are mostly ineffective against armoured vehicles.''

==== High-Explosive Variable Time Fuse [Self-Destroying] (HE-VT*) ====
[[File:Icon rnd he prx.png|left|frameless]] HE-VT rounds are an advanced round fitted with a specialised proximity fuse, designed to detonate the round upon reaching close proximity with a target. These are usually designed for anti-air applications, and are generally ineffective against most ground targets.

''HE-VT rounds are available to some later anti-air vehicles, such as the [[OTOMATIC]], or some light tanks, like the [[Begleitpanzer 57]], and are capable of destroying aircraft or helicopters if the round passes within close proximity of the target. They are extremely effective against mid-ranged aircraft but cannot be relied upon for use against armour.''

==== High-Explosive Grenade ====
[[File:Icon grn he.png|left|frameless]] HE Grenades are specialised HE rounds designed to be fired from cannons which may not be otherwise capable of firing high-calibre rounds. They usually operate in a different manner to conventional cannon rounds, utilising a propellant rather than a charge, resulting in a relatively low round velocity and sub-par ballistics. However, this design has proven useful, as the low velocity can be used to sling rounds over small terrain deformations, onto weak roof armour, or into trenches or bunkers.

''HE Grenades are available to vehicles with recoilless cannon designs or other non-standard cannon designs. They are generally as effective as an equivalent HE round, however have significantly lower muzzle velocity and as such are extremely inaccurate at long ranges. HE Grenades are found on various vehicles, such as the [[BMP-1]].''

==== Anti-Personnel Fragmentation Grenade (VOG) ====
[[File:Icon rnd VOG-30.png|left|frameless|54x54px]] Anti-Personnel Fragmentation Grenades are grenades intended for use against infantry; they use a lightweight explosive charge alongside a thin casing to produce a large lethal radius via shrapnel.

''The [[BMP-2M]] is equipped with an automatic grenade launcher. VOGs are useful as a substitute to pintle-mounted machine guns, able to destroy terrain elements like bushes, trees, and buildings. They are almost completely ineffective against tanks, lacking the required explosive filler and muzzle velocity.''

==== Rocket (R) ====
{{main|:Category:Rocket launchers|l1=List of vehicles able to equip rockets}}
[[File:Icon spr rocket.png|left|frameless]] Rockets are unguided high-explosive self-propelled rounds which are often significantly higher calibre than standard tank cannons. They can be mounted as ancillary weaponry on some vehicles, or in some cases mounted on specialised rocket-carrier vehicles.

''Rockets can be unreliable and inaccurate, but due to their often large calibre, large amount of HE filler, and ability to continuously launch them until the rack is empty, they can prove effective against some armoured vehicles. Rockets can be found either mounted ancillary to a conventional cannon, as on the [[RBT-5]] and [[Calliope]], or on dedicated rocket carriers such as the [[BM-13N]], [[U-SH 405]], and [[Type 75 MLRS]].''

=== Anti-Emplacement Rounds ===
Anti-Emplacement rounds are designed specifically for combatting emplacements, however have proven to have some anti-tank value. They rely on different mechanics compared to normal rounds*, and can prove particularly ineffective against heavy armour.

==== Shrapnel ====
[[File:Shrapnel Round Icon.png|left|frameless]] Shrapnel rounds are a chemical round utilising a thin shell and a chamber of metal fillings or ball bearings with a small explosive charge. Upon successful penetration, shrapnel rounds cause a significant amount of damage. However, due to the thin outer shell, shrapnel rounds only perform well against particularly light armour and are completely ineffective when used against even moderately armoured targets.

''Shrapnel rounds are available exclusively to early Soviet vehicles. Shrapnel is exclusively useful against lightly armoured targets, and shouldn't be used against front-facing armour of any other tank.''

==== High-Explosive Squash Head (HESH) ====
[[File:Icon rnd hesh.png|left|frameless]] HESH rounds are designed as an anti-emplacement round. The squash head, usually comprised of some form of plastic explosive, is designed to squash onto a surface and detonate, causing the opposite side of the surface to rupture. If the given surface happens to be metal, this will often result in metal shards flying off the surface at high velocity. While in the past, HESH rounds have had improved performance on angled targets, their performance is now completely uniform at all ranges and angles. Recently due to the advent of "[[Damage mechanics#Overpressure|Overpressure]]", HESH has benefited an increase in performance and increased lethality, even when failing to hit the target directly. HESH also has relatively low fuse sensitivity, therefore it can be launched through some foliage and weak obstacles without detonating, unlike HE or HEAT.

''HESH rounds are available to most British vehicles from Rank V, and other vehicles in possession of an L7-derived gun. HESH should be primarily used against lighter armour or side armour, while specifically avoiding side skirts and any other forms of spaced armour, although occasionally the HE splash effect can cause unexpected results. HESH is completely ineffective against heavy armour or composite armour designs.''

=== High-Explosive Anti-Tank Rounds ===
High-Explosive Anti-Tank (HEAT) rounds make use of shaped charges to penetrate armour, forcing superplastic metal through into the crew compartment, damaging crew and modules. HEAT rounds prove particularly effective at long ranges, as their method of action does not lose effectiveness with range. Unfortunately though, the fuse on a HEAT round must be extremely sensitive, causing the rounds to detonate even on bushes and wooden fences that other chemical rounds of high calibre have a chance to pass through. All HEAT-derived rounds have concentrated post-penetration damage, similar to APDS, which travels in a tight cone from the impact point. This often works in favor of the shell when a direct hit is achieved, in some cases allowing it to burn through modules such as frontally-mounted transmissions, dealing further damage to the vehicle's internals. This same effect can prove troublesome when a round collides on a sub-par angle or after penetration there's simply nothing within its cone of effect.

==== High-Explosive, Anti-tank (HEAT) ====
[[File:Icon rnd heat.png|left|frameless]] HEAT rounds are designed specifically as an anti-tank round. They operate with a shaped charge that uses an explosive to force superplastic metal through a vehicle's armour, causing internal damage to crew and modules.

''HEAT rounds are available to a variety of WW2 German and Japanese vehicles, as well as higher-performance HEAT becoming available to some late French and American vehicles, as HEATFS rounds cannot be fired from rifled cannons. HEAT is limited in effectiveness and its usage should be carefully considered as many vehicles have armour it cannot penetrate. Due to its low velocity, HEAT often requires a high angle of attack and will arrive at a target on an angle - as such the often impressive 0° penetration statistics will often prove irrelevant, with angled penetration values being more accurate.''

==== High-Explosive, Anti-Tank, Fin-Stabilized (HEATFS) ====
[[File:Icon rnd heatfs.png|left|frameless]] HEATFS rounds are an improvement over the HEAT concept, using improved penetrative chemicals and utilising fins for improved ballistic performance. HEATFS rounds maintain their penetration values at all ranges, and are well-suited to long-range engagements. HEATFS rounds are particularly sensitive, and may detonate on light obstacles such as shrubs or fences.

''HEATFS rounds become available to many nations from Rank V, although notably the British do not receive HEATFS at any stage due to its incompatibility with rifled cannons. At late Rank VI and Rank VII, HEATFS may prove ineffective in many cases due to the prevalence of ERA and composite armour. Despite this, it can still be used for ranged engagements against light tanks and medium tanks with insufficient ERA or composite protection, as particularly late HEATFS rounds have extremely high penetration power. High-calibre HEATFS rounds will cripple light tanks, while APFSDS is not as effective at it.''

==== High-Explosive, Anti-Tank, Fin-Stabilised, Proximity Fuse [Self-Destroying] (HEATFS VT*) ====
[[File:Icon rnd heatfs.png|left|frameless]]HEATFS VT rounds are specialised HEATFS rounds which utilise a proximity fuse to detonate when in close proximity to a target. They can be used to destroy low-flying aircraft or helicopters, while maintaining their effectiveness against ground vehicles utilising normal HEATFS technology.

''HEATFS VT rounds are extremely specialised. They are available to only the [[M1A2 Abrams]] and have an identical icon to the standard HEATFS. They combine the anti-armour power of a standard HEATFS round with the anti-aircraft effectiveness of a HE-VT round. Their proximity fuse will detonate only above a specified altitude, so they can be used normally against other armoured vehicles.''

==== High-Explosive, Anti-Tank Grenade ====
[[File:Icon grn heat.png|left|frameless]] HEAT Grenades are specialised HEAT rounds, designed for use where normal tank rounds may not be possible to utilise. They often use a propellant rather than a standard charge, and as such suffer from low velocity and sub-par round ballistics. Despite this, they can prove effective against tanks due to their HEAT technology.

''HEAT Grenades are available to vehicles with recoilless cannons or other non-standard cannon designs. Their effectiveness is similar to that of an equivalent HEAT round, however due to their low muzzle velocity they can be inaccurate at long ranges. HEAT Grenades are found on various light vehicles, such as the [[M50]], [[T114]], [[Type 60 SPRG (C)]], [[FIAT 6614]], [[R3 T106 FA]], and [[BMP-1 (Family)]].''

=== Guided Missiles ===
Guided missiles utilise a guidance system (of various types, such as MCLOS, SACLOS, Radar, Heat-Seeking) to accomplish their intended role. They sacrifice round velocity for long-range precision. Different missile types are effective in different applications - some have anti-tank properties, while others are effective against air targets.

==== Anti-Tank Guided Missile (ATGM) ====
{{main|Anti-tank guided missiles}}
[[File:Icon spr atgm.png|left|frameless]] ATGMs largely utilise the same concept as HEAT, however they integrate some form of propulsion and are usually guideable, either manually (MCLOS) or semi-automatically (SACLOS). ATGMs usually pack a large amount of explosive and often have particularly powerful shaped charges. However, they require specialised equipment to fire and tend to be heavy, often resulting in long reload times, especially for hybrid vehicles.

''ATGMs become available through Rank V, and are primarily carried by specialised ATGM carriers, although some tanks have ATGM-capable main cannons and some exceptional designs such as the [[Strv 81 (Rb.52)]] or the [[AMX-13 (HOT)]] mount ATGMs on ancillary pylons. ATGMs are powerful and SACLOS guided missiles are easily aimed, however they travel slowly and well-aware targets may be able to move into cover prior to the ATGM reaching them.''

==== Anti-Tank Guided Missile, Overfly Top Attack (ATGM-OTA) ====
[[File:Icon spr atgm.png|left|frameless]] This missile's icon is the same as the normal ATGM, but its mechanism is completely different. It uses a proximity fuse to detonate '''above''' enemy tanks, sending the HEAT warhead right into the target's roof. Though this missile's penetration is rather low in the stats card, players should not be discouraged as tank's roof is one of the most lightly armoured area on all tanks. This missile type could also defeat tanks by overpressure effect alone, with a giant high-explosive warhead detonating through the top of tanks.

''At the time of the writing, the TOW-2B (and foreign variants with different names) and the Swedish [[Rbs 56]] are the only top-down attack missiles in the game. The TOW-2B is carried by specialized ATGM carriers, like the [[Wiesel 1A2]] or the [[CM25|M113]], exception being made only to the [[M3A3 Bradley]] and [[Dardo]] IFVs, which carry it too as a secondary weapon. Players should try to aim the missile about 1 meter above the target, as higher may result in little to no damage, but aiming too low could also have the missile detonating too early which, again, would cause little to no damage.''

==== Anti-Tank Guided Missile, Proximity Fuse [Self-Destroying] (ATGM-VT*) ====
[[File:Icon spr atgm prx.png|left|frameless]] Proximity ATGMs utilise proximity fuses to detonate when in close proximity to aircraft. This, combined with their guidance systems (SACLOS) allows them to be used effectively against low-flying aircraft or helicopters.

''Proximity Fuse ATGMs can prove extremely effective against low-flying aircraft or helicopters, and utilise a similar proximity fuse concept to SAM missiles - although often ATGMs pack significantly more HE filler than SAMs do. ATGM-VT missiles are available to specialised ATGM carriers such as the [[Shturm-S]].''

==== Anti-Tank Guided Missile, Tandem Charge (ATGM Tandem) ====
[[File:Icon spr atgm tandem.png|left|frameless]] Tandem ATGMs utilise a twin-stage warhead to overcome ERA - the first stage causes the ERA to detonate, while the second stage penetrates the armour below as normal. This concept does not work against NERA or composite armour.

''Tandem ATGMs are effective against ERA-protected vehicles, and often have very high penetration values. Tandem charge ATGMs are available to high-rank Soviet or Russian ATGM carriers such as the [[Shturm-S]] and [[BMP-3]].''

==== Anti-Tank Guided Missile, HE (ATGM-HE) ====
[[File:Icon spr atgm he.png|left|frameless]] HE ATGMs are a simplification of a standard ATGM; rather than a shaped HEAT charge, HE missiles simply utilise a large quantity of explosive to damage or destroy emplacements or light vehicles or other ATGM tanks.

''HE ATGMs are only effective against light vehicles and missile carriers in most cases, despite packing large quantities of HE filler. They are available to specialised ATGM carriers such as the [[Shturm-S]].''

==== Surface to Air Missile (SAM) ====
[[File:Icon spr sam.png|left|frameless]] SAMs are high-velocity anti-air missiles, designed specifically to combat aircraft using a variety of technologies; often including proximity fuses and radar or heat-seeking guidance.

''SAMs are very effective at long distances against aircraft, particularly helicopters. They are often extremely high velocity and pack a large amount of HE filler for a powerful airburst effect. SAMs are available to specialised anti-air vehicles such as the [[ZPRK 2S6|2S6 Tunguska]] or the [[ADATS]], which, notably, has multi-purpose missiles that are also effective against armoured vehicles. Most SAMs pack less HE filler than an HE ATGM and are only reliably effective against lightly armoured ground vehicles.''

=== Utility Rounds ===
Utility rounds are ineffective for use against other vehicles, but provide value in some sort of utility.

==== Smoke ====
{{main|Smoke screen|l1=Smoke}}
[[File:Icon rnd smoke.png|left|frameless]] Smoke shells are not designed as a damaging shell, and largely consist of chemicals designed to create a smoke screen. The produced smoke has a limited lifetime.

''Smoke shells are available to various vehicles throughout most tech trees, however their effectiveness is somewhat limited compared to dedicated smoke launchers. The main advantage of smoke shells is that unlike ESS or hull-mounted smoke canisters, they can be launched anywhere the equipped vehicle can aim, allowing for strategic placement for pushes or flanking manoeuvres, or simply firing at an enemy vehicle to force them to move from their position.''

== Media ==


;Videos
{{Youtube-gallery|TQEq6hjxGdM|'''The Shooting Range #292''' - ''Tactics & Strategy'' section at 07:52 discusses playing HE wielders.|srKv5v9zoGA|'''The Shooting Range #216''' - ''Special'' section at 08:28 discusses Volumetric rounds.|CZqzMhbnvO4|'''Tank Shells Guide''' - War Thunder Official Channel|Qyr_aw3YTe8|'''The Shooting Range #2''' - ''Science of War'' section at 05:11 discusses HESH rounds.|6O3MBjdSsIk|'''Tank Shells Guide - War Thunder ammo types explained''' - ''HowToPlay1337''|ajeqij4_jwM|'''Ammo Types in War Thunder EXPLAINED''' - ''skDoger''|_xCgMBOiA8U|'''High-explosive power''' - ''War Thunder Official Channel''|lK9Ck3P6AvM|'''Top 7 best rounds''' - ''War Thunder Official Channel''|fCc_B-wm0wA|'''Post-War Heat Shells''' - ''War Thunder Official Channel''}}

== See also ==


* [[Ammo racks]] - How all tank ammunition is stored within the tank

== External links ==


* [https://forum.warthunder.com/index.php?/topic/576042-update-of-the-apds-penetration-values/ <nowiki>{Devblog]</nowiki> Update of the APDS penetration values]
* [[wt:en/news/7084-development-new-features-upcoming-with-the-ixwa-strike-update-en|[Devblog] New features upcoming with the "Ixwa Strike" update - Shell impact animations]]
* [[wt:en/news/6856-development-volumetric-shells-in-the-raining-fire-update-en|[Devblog] Volumetric shells in the "Raining Fire" update]]

[[Category:Ammunition]]

Leopard A1A1

2023-05-15T17:10:08Z

U139596374: I added another con

{{About
| about = German medium tank '''{{PAGENAME}}'''
| other
| usage-1 = other versions
| link-1 = Leopard 1 (Family)
| usage-2 = other uses
| link-2 = Leopard (Disambiguation)
}}
{{Specs-Card
|code=germ_leopard_I_a1
|images={{Specs-Card-Image|GarageImage_{{PAGENAME}}.jpg|ArtImage_{{PAGENAME}}.png}}
}}

== Description ==

The '''{{Specs|name}}''' (also known as the '''1A1A1''') is a rank {{Specs|rank}} German medium tank {{Battle-rating}}. It was introduced in [[Update 1.63 "Desert Hunters"]]. The Leopard A1A1 represents a significant improvement over the original [[Leopard I]] design, most notably the inclusion of a two-plane stabiliser system and the availability of the DM23 APFSDS round.

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

[[File:Leo A1A1 Armour Heatmap.png|thumb|Leopard A1A1 armour heatmap]]
The Leopard A1A1's armour, much like its predecessor, is relatively negligible: designed with the intention of mobility and firepower over survivability, the Leopard will survive hits from little more than 20 mm cannons frontally, and full-calibre rounds will have no trouble penetrating it. As such, the Leopard's armour shouldn't be relied on, even when combating light vehicles such as the [[M3 Bradley]] or [[Warrior]] IFVs. Notably, the Leopard A1A1's light armour often results in kinetic rounds penetrating the vehicle without significant damage being caused, allowing it surprising survivability against rounds such as APFSDS. It is, however, particularly vulnerable to chemical or HE-filled rounds. The A1A1 does utilise some add-on armour in locations (noticeable on the UFP and the gun mantlet) which slightly increases its survivability against some autocannons.

'''Armour type:'''

*Rolled homogeneous armour (Hull, Turret roof)
*Cast homogeneous armour (Turret)

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Armour !! Front (Slope angle) !! Sides (Slope angle) !! Rear !! Roof
|-
| Hull || 70 mm (60°) ''Front glacis'' 50 mm (50°) ''Bottom glacis'' || 35 (39-41°) mm ''Top hull side'' 30 + 5 mm ''Bottom hull side'' || 25 mm (14-48°) || 30 mm ''Front area'' 15 mm ''Rear area''
|-
| Turret || 65 + 35 mm ''Turret front'' 45-200 + 35 mm ''Gun mantlet'' || 37-45 + 10-20 mm || 38-52 + 10 mm || 25-35 mm ''Turret roof'' 20 mm ''Cupola area''
|-
|}
'''Notes:'''

* Suspension wheels and tracks are 20 mm thick.
* The turret mantlet has a varying thickness of 45 - 200 mm thick. It is thickest near the center.
* 20 mm of track armour added onto front hull glacis
* Additional spaced armour is added to the turret, 35 mm on the front and 20 to 10 mm on the sides and rear
* Hull roof is rated to be 54 mm effective against HE.

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


{{tankMobility|abMinHp=1,286|rbMinHp=734}}

The {{PAGENAME}}, while somewhat heavier than its predecessor, still displays reasonably good mobility with a power to weight ratio of 19.57 when upgraded. Despite this, it will regularly face faster competitors - of note, the [[XM-1 (GM)]] and the [[OF-40 (MTCA)]]. The mobility should not be overestimated - but it often is acceptable for flanking manoeuvres or quickly moving into advantageous positions.

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

After the Parts and FPE modules are researched, the NVD modification and the DM23 are the priority for research. These drastically improve the Leopard's lethality. After that, the Rangefinder module may be useful for those looking for a long-range sniping playstyle. The Smoke grenade module and mobility upgrades are useful in a more close-up playstyle.

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

{{main|L7A3 (105 mm)}}

The Leopard A1A1 mounts a late-generation L7 cannon. With the addition of a two-plane stabilizer, this gun can be easily used on the move, it also negates the gun 'bounce' when stopping. The A1A1 also has the optional DM23 APFSDS available as a tier 4 upgrade, with improved penetration values and ballistics. These combined make the Leopard a tank to be reckoned with.

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" width="100%"
|-
! colspan="5" | [[L7A3 (105 mm)|105 mm L7A3]] || 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" | -9°/+20° || rowspan="2" | ±180° || rowspan="2" | Two-plane || 22.85 || 31.62 || 38.40 || 42.46 || 45.18 || rowspan="2" | 8.71 || rowspan="2" | 7.70 || rowspan="2" | 7.10 || rowspan="2" | 6.70
|-
! ''Realistic''
| 14.28 || 16.80 || 20.40 || 22.60 || 24.00
|-
|}

==== Ammunition ====

* '''DM13; APDS''' - (Armour-Piercing Discarding Sabot) is capable of penetrating the majority of the foes it meets, but these rounds do require finesse as to their placing. Because the shell lacks an explosive filler, your best bet is to try and either knock out the majority of the enemy tank's crew or to destroy the enemy by ammo or fuel detonation through hitting their respective storage capacities. Keep in mind though that ammo and fuel detonations always occur with a random chance, taking out crew members is more reliable to destroy your enemies. This, of course, requires knowledge about the vehicles you may face - so be sure to use the X-Ray view in the hangar and analyse your potential foes for their weak spots! Also, keep in mind that with increased armour thickness the amount of shrapnel shrinks.

* '''DM512; HESH''' - (High-Explosive Squash-Head) works very differently to other shell types. It ignores any angle, except for ricochet, and deals damage by metal-flakes which are blown off inside the armour by the exterior explosion. To create this deadly shrapnel inside the tank, make sure to only hit armour plates which are a direct part of the interior crew compartment of the tank. Hitting exterior parts of a tank like spaced armour, the suspension, tracks etc. will not harm crew members/modules at all. Currently, only true armour thickness (as opposed to the line of sight thickness) will provide sufficient means of protection, benefitting the USSR turret designs and in general German tanks. Like all high-explosive shells, the fuse is very sensitive and can be set-off by most objects e.g. fences, trees, pillars. The slow muzzle velocity of this shell can make it quite hard to hit targets at longer distances, but at the same time it can be handy because its arc trajectory, allows it to land hits on enemies hiding behind shallow hills.

* '''DM12; HEATFS''' - (High-Explosive Anti Tank Fin Stabilized): Knowledge of potential opponents vehicle layouts will be very handy to use - as you now have a round at your disposal that can penetrate any vehicle's armour frontally. Like the APDS shot, increased armour thickness results in reduced amount of spalling (shrapnel) after penetration. You are able to take out enemies on any distance, since the HEAT round does not lose penetration with distance travelled - very handy on large maps like Kursk. Unlike APDS it has one downside: given that it is a chemical round, its fuse is highly sensitive in regards to its practical application in battle. As a result, virtually anything, such as trees or even a fence, will set it off prematurely, so you cannot fire through obstructions with this kind of round.

* '''DM23; APFSDS''' - (Armour-Piercing Fin-Stabilized Discarding Sabot) is the best ammunition choice for the battle rating. It has great muzzle velocity and can penetrate almost every opponent frontally with ease, with the [[T-64B]] and [[IS-7]] being the exceptions.

{{:L7A3 (105 mm)/Ammunition|DM13, DM512, DM12, DM23}}

==== [[Ammo racks]] ====
[[File:Ammoracks_Leopard_I.png|right|thumb|x250px|[[Ammo racks]] of the [[Leopard I]] (identical)]]

{| 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
|-
| '''60''' || 57 ''(+3)'' || 54 ''(+6)'' || 15 ''(+45)'' || 12 ''(+48)'' || 1 ''(+59)'' || No
|-
|}

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

{{main|MG3A1 (7.62 mm)}}

The {{PAGENAME}} mounts one coaxial 7.62 mm machine gun and one pintle-mounted 7.62 mm machine gun. These both have particularly high rates of fire, and can be used as a deterrent for close air support as well as clearing light obstacles and crew in open-top vehicles.

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" width="50%"
|-
! colspan="5" | [[MG3A1 (7.62 mm)|7.62 mm MG3A1]]
|-
! Mount !! Capacity (Belt) !! Fire rate !! Vertical !! Horizontal
|-
| Coaxial || 5,000 (200) || 1,200 || N/A || N/A
|-
| Pintle || 2,000 (200) || 1,200 || -8°/+20° || ±120°
|-
|}

== Usage in battles ==

The recommended usage is the Hit and Run tactic. Try to avoid detection.

Scan and use the terrain to your advantage. Take into consideration the moderate vehicle height, which allows you to go turret down in certain locations, allowing you to safely use your commander's binoculars to locate targets! Then, after you have located the enemy, fire a few rounds in quick succession and relocate when spotted, especially when the enemy shots come dangerously close. The Leopard is quite fast, so taking hits from a distance while on the move is a risk that you may consider worth taking.

Always remember: The Leopard is not designed to take hits from large calibre guns, nor fight in stand-off situations against heavier enemy vehicles. Frontally, the angle of the hull can bounce shots once in awhile, but you're better off not to rely on this. The turret front is also the same, it's best to attempt to only fire when you can avoid receiving a shot or relocating to a position if possible. The main goal is to make the opponent incapable of returning fire. The majority of Soviet rank V tanks ([[IS-3]], [[IS-4M]], [[T-10M]], [[T-54 (1951)|T-54s]], [[SU-122-54]], [[T-62]] or [[ZSU-57-2]]) gunners are disabled by penetrating the right side of the turret or hull, if they are faced towards you. If you have the possibility to hit a Soviet tanks hull, which is again faced towards you, prioritize it because it is likely to take it out with one shot to the right side of the hull (3 out of 4 crew members are sitting in a row). American top tier tanks like the [[M103]], [[M47]] or [[M60]] are harder to take out. It is advised to take out the gunner first, which is located on the left side of the turret and then take out the rest of the remaining crew members. Hitting the ammo rack of your opponent is often the fastest way to take out an enemy vehicle, keep in mind though there is a small chance the ammo will not blow up (Best ammo types to ammo rack: HEATFS > APDS > HESH).

Sometimes moving is not an option, but remember, directly behind your hull front sits a large portion of your ammunition, at least if you're fully loaded. Always have that in mind when positioning yourself against the enemy - and don't forget that you don't have to stack all of your ammunition racks to their maximum capacity! Sometimes it can be wise to take less ammunition with you, as it will increase your survivability when taking hits - especially with the Leopard. The Leopard's worst nemeses are the [[ZSU-57-2]] and the [[IT-1]]. The ZSU-57-2 can be easily killed if hitting one of the many ammo racks in the big turret, which most often leads to an explosion of the whole tank. The IT-1 on the other hand can be quite hard to deal with, since they are able to operate perfectly hull down only exposing the roof mounted ATGM. Hitting (only black damage status counts, red damage does not prevent from firing ATGM) the rocket mount/cannon barrel forces the IT-1 to repair for a whole 27 seconds (maxed out + expert crew). To perform a full 360° turn use the neutral (N) or third (3) gear (~11 sec).

''In a nutshell:'' Use the superb mobility with the cannon's perfection to flank and spank enemies, wait and hunt for the perfect positions and kill the enemy tanks one by one, while always maintaining a good situational awareness. Patience is the key to success. That is the Leopard 1, a perfect tactical MBT!

=== Pros and cons ===


'''Pros:'''

* Fast, agile, and a relatively good acceleration
* Very efficient and flat-shooting DM23 APFSDS shell
* Good optics providing a nice zoom for longer distances
* Wide gun depression and elevation, good slew and elevation rates
* Better fire on the move accuracy due to its good stabilizer
* Side skirts provide additional spaced armour, which protects against HESH shells as well as some heavier MG/autocannon fire, and can help bounce bigger shells

'''Cons:'''

* Extra armour increases weight - slightly reducing mobility
* Insufficient armour (basically a glass cannon) for protection
* APFSDS is tier 4 modification - there is a long grind with APDS and HEATFS before it is unlocked
* Ammo rack in the front - a very easy target, and if more ammo than minimum is carried, the tank will blow up once the ammo is struck
* No available heavy machine gun, often helpless against helicopter attacks
* Small internal compartment (only 4 crew members) - a penetrating hit, which happens more often than a nonpenetrating one, can easily disable the tank by killing three crew members
* Stock APDS is rather lacklustre, especially against angled Soviet armour
* Bad gun elevation speed
* The Optic is too zoomed in for CQC

== History ==


===Development===
The project for the Leopard started as far back as 1956 as an attempt to replace the American [[M47]] and [[M48A1|M48 Patton]] tanks in service at the time as they were becoming outdated to newer anti-tank technology. Specifications for the new tank came in July 1957 asking for a design weighing no more than 30 tons, with a power-to-weight ratio of 30 horsepower per ton and could withstand 20 mm gunfire alongside protection against chemical weapons and radiation fallout, which was becoming extremely common protection system for the modern tank designs. The design stressed mobility as the main focus, while firepower comes next and armour was relegated to minimum priority. The lack of focus on armour was because of the belief that no matter how much armour a tank can have, it will eventually fall obsolete to the advent of newer anti-tank weapons such as the HEAT rounds, which was becoming stronger and stronger by the years.

In the initial stages of development, France, and West Germany, interested in this tank design, worked on it from 1957 to build a common tank and the project was designated the ''Europa-Panzer''. France had AMX, SLD Lorraine, and SOMUA with FCM Renault working on the project, while Germany had Porsche, Rheinmetall with Henschel, and Borgward working on the project. In 1958, Italy entered into the development as well, though it's not sure if they provided much to the program. By 1960, Porsche and Rheinmetall had prototypes submitted, as well as AMX from France, all the others failed to provide a prototype in time. In 1963, the Porsche prototype was selected as the winner in 1963, though even before this decision the vehicle already has priority in being built in greater number than the others. Though a tank is set, France and Germany split in the joint tank project in 1963 after France opted out of standardization with the NATO forces. This left Germany alone with their Leopard tank development, which they continued.

The Porsche Prototype II was well received, though changes were made to the design such as a new cast turret, hull design change, and relocating the radiators. The tank now mounted the 105 mm L7 gun over the Rheinmetall design, as well as adding an optical range-finding system for increased gunnery. The design finished trials by the end of 1963 and production started in Munich in February 1964. The first batches began arriving to the Bundeswehr (German Army) in September of 1965 and were put into units by November of that same year. The tank was finally designated the '''Leopard 1''', with the prototype stage labelled as the ''[[Leopard I|Leopard 1A0]]''.

===Usage===
After the first delivery, many upgrades were made on the tank throughout its production and service life. The first few Leopards were designated ''Leopard 1A1'' and continued all the way to ''Leopard 1A6'' as it incorporates new technology such as sights, gun, radios, armour, or even small upgrades or redesigns on some parts. Some of these Leopards are even upgraded further in each variant form, for example, the '''Leopard 1A1A1''' which had it fitted with new turret armour and night sights. Other than the different variants, the Leopard 1 was also extensively modified or made into derivatives in roles such as anti-aircraft guns, armour recovery vehicles, bridge layers, and such.

The versatility of the Leopard 1 design and its rather cheap cost in comparison to other tanks at the time made it a useful tank and it was sought out by many different countries in and out of the NATO force group. These countries put them into service in the conflict, such as Denmark, which is believed to be the first country to use the Leopard 1 in hostile engagement, when going against Bosnian Serb forces. Canada also used the Leopard 1 extensively in the War in Afghanistan in 2006 as convoy protection units. Greece also had Leopard 1s and is the largest user of it, with over 500 units of ''Leopard 1A5s'' in service.

The Leopard 1 versatility and widespread use compared to other tanks in the NATO service made it a very useful weapon system for armies that couldn't afford the new American Pattons or Abrams tanks or the British Challengers and [[Chieftain Mk 3|Chieftains]]. The Leopard 1 in German service was eventually replaced by the Leopard 2 design, which entered into service in 1979 as the main battle tank with better armour and better gun compared to the Leopard 1, fully replacing it in 2003. Other countries followed suit by upgrading their tanks to either the Leopard 2, the American M1 Abrams, or their own domestic tank designs. The vehicle in its various modernized forms are still operated by third parties such as Canada, Brazil, Turkey, and Greece. Some are kept in reserve in Chile and Ecuador due to their light frames and ease of use in soft soils like in the jungles in their countries.

== Media ==


;Skins

* [https://live.warthunder.com/feed/camouflages/?vehicle=germ_leopard_I_a1 Skins and camouflages for the {{PAGENAME}} from live.warthunder.com.]

;Images
<gallery mode="packed-hover" heights="150">
File:LeopardA1A1 BundeswehrNATOcamo.jpg|The Leopard A1A1 with NATO woodland camouflage and Bundeswehr emblem
</gallery>

;Videos
{{Youtube-gallery|be_H5-0xhiM|A Leopard A1A1 at Militracks on the move}}

== See also ==


;[[Leopard 1 (Family)|Related development]]

* [[Leopard A1A1 (L/44)]] - premium version of the vehicle

== External links ==


* [[wt:en/news/4233-development-leopard-a1a1-modernized-blitzkrieg-en/|[Devblog] Leopard A1A1 - Modernized Blitzkrieg]]
* [http://www.army-guide.com/eng/product152.html [Army-Guide.com<nowiki>]</nowiki> Leopard 1 overview page]

{{TankManufacturer KMW}}
{{Germany medium tanks}}

2C

2023-04-27T18:58:13Z

U139596374: /* History */

{{About
|about = French heavy tank '''{{PAGENAME}}'''
|usage = the other version
|link = 2C bis
}}
{{Specs-Card
|code=fr_char_2c
|images={{Specs-Card-Image|GarageImage_{{PAGENAME}}.jpg|ArtImage_{{PAGENAME}}.png}}
}}

== Description ==

The '''{{Specs|name}}''' is a rank {{Specs|rank}} French heavy tank {{Battle-rating}}. It was introduced in [[Update "Sky Guardians"]].

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

Armour protection is mediocre, at best. The frontal armour will do little to stop standard guns like the American 37 mm or the Soviet 45 mm, and the sides are vulnerable to autocannons or even the infamous M2 Browning at close ranges. What you do have, however, is a whopping 12 crewmen, which means that even if your main crew has been disintegrated, you are still in the fight as long as you don't get ammo-racked.

'''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}}

The mobility of the 2C is sluggish; you will have little chance capturing points at the start. The 2C does have an electric transmission, giving it the benefit of being able to quickly reverse from a bad situation instead of needing to turn 180 degrees like most tanks.

{{tankMobility|abMinHp=646|rbMinHp=442}}

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

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

{{main|APX Canon de 75 mm modèle 1897 (75 mm)}}

The 75 mm, despite looking impressive, is best attributed as lackluster, even underpowered. Your penetration is on par with German short 75 mm guns, but unlike the German versions, the 2C's gun only has access to its basic APHE round and a HE round. There is no HEAT shells available to counter Matilda or Churchill tanks, and you will suffer against M4 Shermans without proper support. Even the reload rate is inferior, with 5.5 seconds at max crew where pre-F2 Pz.IVs can already achieve about 4 seconds out of the box.

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" width="100%"
|-
! colspan="5" | [[APX Canon de 75 mm modèle 1897 (75 mm)|75 mm APX Canon de 75 mm modèle 1897]] || 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" | 128 || rowspan="2" | ±20° || rowspan="2" | ±140° || rowspan="2" | - || 8.1 || 11.2 || 13.6 || 15.0 || 16.0 || rowspan="2" | 7.15 || rowspan="2" | 6.32 || rowspan="2" | 5.83 || rowspan="2" | 5.50
|-
! ''Realistic''
| 5.9 || 7.0 || 8.5 || 9.4 || 10.0
|-
|}

==== Ammunition ====
{{:APX Canon de 75 mm modèle 1897 (75 mm)/Ammunition|Mle1900, Mle1916}}

==== [[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
! Visual discrepancy
|-
| '''128''' || 97 ''(+31)'' || 67 ''(+61)'' || 61 ''(+67)'' || 55 ''(+73)'' || 28 ''(+100)'' || 1 ''(+127)'' || No
|-
|}
{{Clear}}

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

{{main|Hotchkiss Mle 1914 (8 mm)}}

The two machine guns on the 2C are of dubious utility. The front one has limited traverse arcs by virtue of being bow-mounted, so its use is limited to whatever you point your tank towards. The rear turret is of more doubtful use, however, as it cannot fire to the front and, being a normal MG, lacks the power to damage anything short of open-tops.

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" width="50%"
|-
! colspan="5" | [[Hotchkiss Mle 1914 (8 mm)|8 mm Hotchkiss Mle 1914]]
|-
! Mount !! Capacity (Belt) !! Fire rate !! Vertical !! Horizontal
|-
| Bow || 5,000 (150) || 600 rpm || __° || __°
|-
| Rear turret || 5,000 (150) || ___ || __° || __°
|-
|}

== 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:'''

* Neutral steering gives the tank decent reflex mobility
* Can climb over rough terrain with ease due to its World War I design
* Reverse gearbox lets you pull out quickly of dangerous situations
* Has a dozen crew members, highly survivable
* Flank attacks from behind are easily shrugged off due to containing no essential crew
* Large unoccupied zones, can absorb shells

'''Cons:'''

* Awfully slow top speed
* Armour is mediocre at best, very vulnerable to high calibre HE or autocannons
* Limited turret traverse, very prone to flanking
* Poor elevation and depression angles
* Extremely large, easily spotted and hit

== History ==

''The FCM 2C was a French "super heavy" tank designed to conquer the "no man's land" of WW1. It was dimensionally the largest tank ever produced, and for a time the heaviest. Ready for production by February 1918, the war ended before any of the vehicles were completed, and so the order of 300 was eventually reduced to just 10, finished in 1921. The standard 2C mounted a 75 mm APX 1897 field gun, similar to the cannon which would be mounted on the [[M3 GMC]] tank destroyer. The 2C had many innovative design features for the time, including a hybrid drive, leaf spring suspension, the world's first three-man turret, and stroboscopic cupolas. All of the 2Cs were named after ancient regions of France.''

''One 2C, No. 99 "Champagne", was given a new two-man cast turret with a 155 mm howitzer. The commander was given his own compartment behind the turret. The side machine gun ports were also removed. This variant would be known as the 2C bis. Eventually, Champagne would be returned to its original configuration and its turret would be used as a makeshift static emplacement in the Mareth Line. Champagne would be the only 2C to survive the invasion of France, with the other nine tanks either being scuttled by their own crew to prevent capture, or breaking down.''

== Media ==


;Skins

* [https://live.warthunder.com/feed/camouflages/?vehicle=fr_char_2c Skins and camouflages for the {{PAGENAME}} from live.warthunder.com.]

== See also ==


;Related development

* [[2C bis]]

== External links ==

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

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

{{France heavy tanks}}