{{About
| about = Soviet fighter '''{{PAGENAME}}'''
| usage = other versions
| link = I-16 (Family)
}}
{{Specs-Card
|code=i-16_type28
|images={{Specs-Card-Image|GarageImage_{{PAGENAME}}.jpg}}
}}

== Description ==

The '''{{Specs|name}}''' is a premium rank {{Specs|rank}} Soviet fighter {{Battle-rating}}. It has been in the game since the start of the Open Beta Test prior to Update 1.27.

== 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 2,000 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
| 442 || 426 || rowspan="2" | {{Specs|ceiling}} || 17.4 || 18.0 || 14.6 || 14.6 || rowspan="2" | 272
|-
! Upgraded
| 490 || 463 || 15.6 || 16.5 || 22.9 || 18.0
|-
|}

==== 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 !! + !! -
|-
| 700  || {{Specs|destruction|gear}} || 395 || 362 || 260 || ~14 || ~7
|-
|}

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! colspan="4" | Optimal velocities (km/h)
|-
! Ailerons !! Rudder !! Elevators !! Radiator
|-
| < 300 || < 240 || < 280 || > 190
|-
|}

=== Survivability and armour ===
{{Specs-Avia-Armour}}
''Examine the survivability of the aircraft. Note how vulnerable the structure is and how secure the pilot is, whether the fuel tanks are armoured, etc. Describe the armour, if there is any, and also mention the vulnerability of other critical aircraft systems.''

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

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


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

* 2 x 20 mm ShVAK cannons, wing-mounted (150 rpg = 300 total)
* 2 x 7.62 mm ShKAS machine guns, nose-mounted (650 rpg = 1,300 total)

=== Suspended armament ===
{{Specs-Avia-Suspended}}

{{main|FAB-50sv (50 kg)|FAB-100sv (100 kg)|RS-82|RBS-82}}

The '''''{{PAGENAME}}''''' can be outfitted with the following ordnance:

* Without load
* 2 x 100 kg FAB-100sv bombs (200 kg total)
* 2 x 50 kg FAB-50sv bombs (100 kg total)
* 6 x RS-82 rockets
* 6 x RBS-82 rockets

== Usage in battles ==


'''Simulator:'''

The I-16 can be used in turnfighting, bomber intercepting and ground pounding. However in this mode, its characteristics appear to be quite conflicting. It is excellent in turning tightly and continuously, yet when manoeuvring it easily gets into uncontrollable spins which isn't beginner friendly. Also the rather big nose blocks the visibility a lot, offering very poor over-the-nose visibility which is a disadvantage in a turn fight, because when leading a shot the enemy will always get obstructed by the engine, making the player guess the shot. More ever, there is no trim control available in a sim battle and the I-16 always pitch up and down. Although not a lot, it is still annoying when trying to get a precise aim.

It is recommended to set the convergence within 300 m, with vertical convergence on, because the majority of turnfights happen at that range or closer.

Unlike realistic, sim requires long-range flying so discard the habit of bringing the least fuel. Bring at least 30 minutes of fuel, although it decreases the plane's performance a bit, it prevents constant refueling which saves time for patrolling and fighting.

As your I-16 roars down the runway, you will notice that it shifts severely to the side, and the nose will tip down. If you don't correct it the propeller will eventually strike the ground, causing a prang on takeoff. Thus you must put rudder input as opposed to the side it's shifting towards, and apply positive pitch to keep the propeller off the ground. You do not want to use flaps anywhere except takeoff and landing, since they are very weak and will rip at more than 260 km/h, while the average speed during a battle tends to be around 300 km/h. Once one or both flaps are gone it creates an imbalance in the roll axis, making spins more common. It also makes landing harder.

Before engaging a fight, it is better to have an altitude advantage first. When approaching the fight try to figure out which is your teammate and which is the enemy, to avoid going for a second pass, as the energy retention of the I-16 is rather slow. Also pick your target carefully. For easier aiming, you want to go for those unmanoeuvrable twin engine aircraft like [[Ju 88 (Family)|Ju 88]] or [[Ki-45 (Family)|Ki-45]], or bombers if there are any. Given the bad forward visibility of the I-16, these are the best options as they are quite slow and sluggish, and are a bigger target to hit. When dealing with fighters, it is way harder to aim. The elevator control of the I-16 is extremely sensitive, giving it good manoeuvrability, but at the same time, bad handling. The I-16 will respond in a very fast turn upon moving your stick / mouse by a little bit, which makes tracking nimble planes quite hard. But once you get used to it, try to lure every enemy into a turnfight, as that is where the I-16 shines. Several hits with the ShVAK cannon will effectively damage the enemy. If you find an enemy at your 6, utilise your great roll rate to do defensive manoeuvres like scissors to make them overshoot. Or you can simply do tight turns, most monoplanes won't be able to cut inside your turn and they might disengage. Important note: DO NOT put too much rolling and pitching input at once, as the I-16 tend to enter spins easily.

If you are not very experienced in sim, you can also go for even bigger targets (bombers) for easier aiming. However you want to be more careful when hunting bombers, since with the Sim control (whether it be mouse joystick or a real stick) the plane will manoeuvre much more gently, making itself a great target for the bomber's gunners. DO NOT follow behind a bomber's 6 unless you are sure that its tail gunners are unconscious. Chasing behind a bomber makes yourself stationary for the tail gunners, and you will be showered with bullets. Your big radial engine will usually get damaged. Instead, before attacking, get an altitude advantage over the bomber by flying around 2 km above it. The bomber should only fill up about 1/6 of your gunsight. The best position for an attack is at the bomber's high 6 so you can adjust the lead much easier. Dive at the bomber, but not directly at it, try to predict where you two will crash by imagining yourself as a missile, that's where you should aim at (deflection shooting). To maximise the damage it is better to aim for their wings and engines, as the fuselage usually soaks up quite some bullets. Only fire when the bomber passes in front of your guns. This short window might seem inadequate to do anything, but with a accurate burst on the engine the twin ShVAK can deal quite a bit of damage. Without an engine most bombers cannot go far.

Although ground pounding ability is limited, there are still bombs and rockets to choose from. The 2 bombs can effectively destroy pillboxes or tanks while the rockets, with accurate aiming, can destroy 3 targets. Once the suspended armaments are gone, use the 2 MG for soft targets like trucks, artillery and AA cars. Save the ammo for the ShVAK in case of an unwanted dogfight.

Just like the SB 2M, the I-16 can still fly when it's extremely slow, causing it to bounce up during landing which can lead to a fatal crash. The trick is similar: slow it down more than other aircraft. Make sure you are around 1 km from the start of the runway and is no more than 300 m high. When the runway fills up your gunsight, drop speed to around 210 km/h and deploy landing flaps. The good thing is, the I-16 will not pitch up drastically upon using its flaps so you don't need to counter the extra lift. Make sure that you extend landing gears early as they move very slow (takes around 15 seconds to deploy). When you are about to touch down you should be flying at around 140 km/h. You must control your rate of descent (I-16's gears are fragile) and make sure that you are slightly pitching upwards with the nose obstructing the horizon. This way the I-16 should land gently without having to brake for too long. Once you are sliding on the ground, fully deflect your elevators upwards to counter the momentum that can push the nose into the ground. You must release brakes once every 4 seconds, because if you only release them as the nose dips down, it's too late.

'''Enemies worth noting:'''

[[Ki-27 (Family)|Ki-27]], [[N1K1]], [[He 51 (Family)|He 51]], [[Gladiator (Family)|Gladiator]], etc. - Those commonly seen planes are equally good at turnfights and will be a hard target to down since they are very small and agile. To deal with them you need to practice leading and deflection shots, plus manoeuvres like barrel rolls and scissors. They are easily damaged by your ShVAK.

[[He 111 H-6]] - This bomber is not only quite durable, but also pretty fast. In level flight it can outrun the I-16 rather easily. Avoid being on its 6 as it will have at least 2 x 7.92 mm MG facing its tail, and their rapid rate of fire and good penetration is a big threat. Either go for a head-on or use deflection shooting and aim for its engines. If you cannot keep up with it, disengage. If it flies way higher than you, change your target.

[[Sunderland Mk IIIa]] - Its huge fuselage is very spacious and can absorb lots of bullets and shells. It also has lethal defensive firepower: two 7.7 mm in the nose, four forward-facing, two on the top and four at the tail, so attacking from behind, in front or above aren't the best options. Dive under it and suddenly pull up to shoot its defenseless underpart. Aim at the large wings and engines, avoid shooting the fuselage.

[[He 100 D-1]], [[Bf 109 E-1|Bf 109 E]] / F, [[A6M2]] - These planes might not be able to out-turn the I-16, but they can easily outrun it as the I-16 is very slow. These fighters will usually BnZ you, so you must constantly look above and behind you. If they are diving on you, do what you do in realistic: use your roll rate and dodge under their negative G areas. Most players will try to follow up, if not immediately losing track of you. Several dodges might make them impatient and if they really start to turn with you, they are already dead.

=== 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
|-
| Controllable || Controllable Not auto controlled || Not controllable Not auto controlled || Controllable Not auto controlled || Combined || Controllable 2 gears || Not controllable
|-
|}

=== Pros and cons ===


'''Pros:'''

* Excellent turning ability- with combat flaps deployed it can out-turn any Bf 109, Fw 190 A and even turn-fighters like the [[Spitfire (Family)|Spitfire]]
* Extreme roll rate allows it to do offensive / defensive scissors easily, which is an advantage over Bf 109 and [[Spitfire (Family)|Spitfire]] as their roll rates aren't as good.
* Powerful twin ShVAK cannons with good fire rate, adequate velocity and accuracy, and 150 RPG capacity allows for reasonably long engagements
* Suspended armament provides rockets and bombs which, to an extent, allows some ground attack ability
* Is a very short and small plane, offering the enemy a harder target to hit

'''Cons:'''

* Extremely poor level speed, climb rate, dive acceleration and energy retention- will get outran, out-climbed and out-dived easily by Bf 109 E / F, Fw 190 A or [[A6M2]]
* Engine tends to overheat when diving at more than 500 km/h
* Control surfaces are unresponsive over 450 km/h
* Flaps are very weak and will break over 250 km/h, severely limiting its sharp-turning potential at higher speeds
* Hard to fly in SB -- very unstable in pitch, no manual trim controls, poor over-the-nose visibility and is prone to enter flat spins
* Although manoeuvrable, it can still get out-turned by some Japanese turn-fighters
* The 20 mm cannons get less effective belts, a problem shared by the type 27 and I-153P

== History ==


{{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'}}|expand=true}}
{{Navigation-First-Simple-Line}}
The I-16 was a Soviet single-engine monoplane fighter designed in the 1930s by the Polikarpov Design Bureau. As early as 1939, few remained unconvinced that the era of the I-16 was ending. Even the installation of the more powerful M-62 and M-63 engines did not allow serial examples to exceed 500 km/h. For some time, it was believed that better performance could be achieved with the use of the M-64 engine, rated at 1,200 to 1,300 HP. Designers expected the M-64 (there was also an M-65) to be ready by 1941; however, this nine-cylinder radial engine was never adequately completed. Nikolai Polikarpov, the lead designer, attempted to improve the I-16's aerodynamics by replacing its canvas outer skin with plywood. In the summer of 1939, a prototype with upper wing surfaces covered with 2.5mm thick plywood was tested; at the same time, an I-16 Type 28 with plywood surfaces was submitted for state trials. The latter achieved 489 km/h, which was slightly better than other variants. However, the achievement was chalked up to the new M-63 engine.

While the plywood surface was recommended for production, it was in fact never used on serial production aircraft. Further flight testing of the I-16 in 1939 proved that subsequent modifications were not cost-effective. One of the proposed modifications was to address the tuck-under phenomenon in high speed dives which took place when deflecting the elevator to a positive angle of attack. Several fatal crashes led to further research into the issue. As it turned out, the I-16 was highly sensitive to angle of attack changes of the elevator.
{{Navigation-End}}

== Media ==


;Skins

* [https://live.warthunder.com/feed/camouflages/?vehicle=i-16_type28 Skins and camouflages for the {{PAGENAME}} from live.warthunder.com.]

;Videos
{{Youtube-gallery|35LSTSOxhtI|'''Premium Review: I-16 Type 28 [Soviet Zero]''' - ''Jengar''}}

== 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 aircraft;''
* ''links to approximate analogues of other nations and research trees.''

== External links ==


* [https://forum.warthunder.com/index.php?/topic/520556-i-16-type-24-28/ Official data sheet - more details about the performance]

{{AirManufacturer Polikarpov}}
{{USSR fighters}}
{{USSR premium aircraft}}

M4

2023-06-06T16:49:31Z

U147706677: /* Mobility */

{{About
| about = American medium tank '''{{PAGENAME}}'''
| other
| usage-1 = other versions
| link-1 = M4 Sherman (Family)
| usage-2 = other uses
| link-2 = M4 (Disambiguation)
}}
{{Specs-Card
|code=us_m4_sherman
|images={{Specs-Card-Image|GarageImage_{{PAGENAME}}.jpg|ArtImage_{{PAGENAME}}.png}}
}}

== Description ==

The '''{{Specs|name}}''' is a rank {{Specs|rank}} American medium tank {{Battle-rating}}. It was introduced along with the rest of the American ground tree in [[Update 1.45 "Steel Generals"]].

Armed with a 75 mm cannon and a sloped front armour, the M4 Sherman gives the balance of firepower and mobility for the US ground tree. The in-game model represents a "Sherman 1.5" design with an M55 telescopic sight in a new gun mantlet with appliqué armour added in front of the gunner and on the ammo racks.

The iconic American medium tank has a very distinctive silhouette with its high front sloping armour, flat sides, and rounded turret shape. The olive-drab green M4 medium uses a welded construction for the hull, resulting in the sharp-edged hull shape compared to the [[M4A1|cast M4A1 medium]]. The turret, constructed the same way with cast steel in all 75 mm M4 medium variants, used an M34A1 gun mount for the 75 mm M3 gun; a change from the M34 gun mount in that the M34A1 used a combination of an M55 telescopic sight and an M4 periscope with an M38 telescopic sight in it.

The hull's sloping glacis is at 56 degrees, as usual with the early model of M4 Shermans. The model is a "small hatch" variant as seen with the hatch shape being parallel with the hull. This configuration also caused the hatch to protrude from the hull's sloping contour, resulting in the interruptions in the slope that compromises the sloped armour's overall effectiveness. To mitigate this problem, armour plates are welded in front of the interruptions for additional protection. Aside from this note, some other features on the front glacis are the bundled desert-coloured jerry cans in the driver's area and the road wheel right on the transmission cover. On the side hull, one distinctive feature of the M4 Sherman was the added appliqué over the sponson ammunition area. While this does provide minute protection, they also serve as highlights for the enemy to aim for an ammo rack destruction.

The 75 mm cast turret, designated D50878, was one produced in early 1943. The early M34A1 gun mount design added onto the tank as well as an appliqué "cheek" in front of the gunner, as the redesign of the turret and room for the power traverse caused the armour in front of the gunner to be thinner than the rest of the turret. The M34A1 gun mount is noted as early due to the presence of lifting rings on the top of the gun mount as well as mounting bolts on the sides, both that are eliminated in the later model. A curious note for keen eyes is the lack of a loader hatch on the turret top, a feature not introduced until productions in late 1943. Another note is the pistol port on the left rear side of the turret. On top of the commander's cupola is the distinctive .50 cal M2 Browning machine gun that is commonly seen on American vehicles.

The M4 medium's use of the Continental R975 radial engine results in a distinctive engine deck as well. It has a protruding hood over the air intake on top, followed by a relatively flat top all the way to the rear. Besides, the hooded air intake on both sides within the shielded wall are filler ports for the radiators. Outside of the wall are two more filler ports for the fuel tanks on both sides. On the very rear, the large engine doors are visible, featuring early door hinges used as early as the M3 medium. On both sides of the door, engine filters are also present.

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


'''Armour type:'''

*Rolled homogeneous armour (Front, Side, Rear, Hull roof)
*Cast homogeneous armour (Turret, Transmission area)

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Armour !! Front (Slope angle) !! Sides !! Rear !! Roof
|-
| Hull || 50.8 mm (56°) ''Front glacis'' 50.8 mm (12-56°) ''Transmission area'' 50.8 (13-20°) + 25.4 mm (35°) ''Protruding hatches'' || 38.1 mm 38.1 + 25.4 mm ''Appliqué addition'' || 38.1 mm (0-10°) ''Top'' 25.4 mm (33-64°) ''Bottom'' || 19.5 mm ''Sides'' 12.7 mm ''Engine deck and center''
|-
| Turret || 76.2-88.9 mm (4-67°) ''Turret front'' 50.8 + 88.9 mm ''Gun mantlet'' || 50.8 mm (0-68°) || 50.8 mm (2-66°) || 25.4 mm
|-
| Cupola || 50.8 mm || 50.8 mm || 50.8 mm || 25.4 mm
|-
|}
'''Notes:'''

* Suspension wheels are 15 mm thick, bogies are 10 mm thick, and tracks are 20 mm thick.
* Front armour has two protruding areas for driver and co-driver hatches. These are weak points as they present a flat armour surface.
* Belly armour is 12.7 mm thick.

Though most high-end anti-tank weapons can cleave through the M4 Sherman's front armour rather easily, some smaller-calibre weapons less than 75 mm would have some trouble going against the front armour. In these cases, aim for weak points like the protruding hatches in the front sloping armour, or even the crest of the transmission housing, where the slope is minimum in both areas. The turret has a very robust construction so if there is no faith in penetrating through the front hull easily, don't bother trying to penetrate the turret from the front except for the very small weak point on the gunner's position of the turret.

If a shot can be made to the M4 Sherman's sides, send it towards the front half of the tank where it would either cripple the crew or ignite one of the ammunition racks strewn all over the internals.

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


{{tankMobility|abMinHp=620|rbMinHp=354}}

The {{PAGENAME}} is powered with an engine adequate for its weight class. While accelerating up to this speed can be sluggish at first, the {{PAGENAME}} takes to a running start after Gear 4.

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

Obvious first choice for research would be Parts in tier I. For the tier II it might be worth a risk to go for M61 shot first, as its such a significant improvement over the stock shell. The other option being FPE. On tier III Filters and Crew Replenishment are very important, and in tier IV further mobility improvements with the Engine and then Transmission should be prioritized. Once done - Horizontal Drive and two modifications responsible for accuracy or Artillery Support. The least important module to research is the M89 shell due to its extremely situational use.

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

{{main|M3 (75 mm)}}

75 mm M3 gun is a competent, well-handling gun for a medium tank. Even without any modifications, its ability to fulfil its role, though where it begins to shine is with the M61 shot. Default, M72, suffers from issues typical to US and British sold shots - poor post-penetration effects. This means it's preferable to take down enemy gunner first, usually by hitting the right side of the turret.

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" width="100%"
|-
! colspan="5" | [[M3 (75 mm)|75 mm M3]] || 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" | 97 || rowspan="2" | -10°/+25° || rowspan="2" | ±180° || rowspan="2" | {{Annotation|Vertical|up to 24 km/h}} || 22.85 || 31.62 || 38.40 || 42.47 || 45.18 || rowspan="2" | 6.50 || rowspan="2" | 5.75 || rowspan="2" | 5.30 || rowspan="2" | 5.00
|-
! ''Realistic''
| 14.28 || 16.80 || 20.40 || 22.56 || 24.00
|-
|}

==== Ammunition ====
When discussing {{PAGENAME}} shells, one always has to account for the fact that it's a medium tank. This means short to medium engagement range, so realistically it can benefit more from its short-range penetration figures than long-range sniping tanks would.

* M72 shot; {{Annotation|AP|Armour-Piercing}} - Solid shot, stock shell. Acceptable penetration, poor post-penetration damage.
* M48 shell; {{Annotation|HE|High-Explosive fragmentation shell}} - Low-velocity shell useful against soft targets, in particular when hitting an open-topped vehicle. Harmless against any vehicle with more than 10 mm of armour.
* M61 shot; {{Annotation|APCBC|Armour-Piercing Capped Ballistic Capped}} - This shell has a better penetration than the M72 thanks to its ballistic cap and a good post-penetration damage thanks to its explosive filler.
* M89; smoke shell - Useful to blind enemy vehicles that are too remote for you to disable so that you can progress towards objectives.

{{:M3 (75 mm)/Ammunition|M72 shot, M48 shell, M61 shot, M89}}

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

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! Full ammo
! 1st rack empty
! 2nd rack empty
! 3rd rack empty
! 4th rack empty
! 5th rack empty
! 6th rack empty
! 7th rack empty
! 8th rack empty
! Visual discrepancy
|-
| '''97''' || 91 ''(+6)'' || 88 ''(+9)'' || 86 ''(+11)'' || 78 ''(+19)'' || 63 ''(+34)'' || 46 ''(+51)'' || 31 ''(+66)'' || 1 ''(+96)'' || style="text-align:center" | No
|-
|}
[[File:Ammoracks_{{PAGENAME}}.png|right|thumb|x250px|[[Ammo racks]] of the {{PAGENAME}}]]
'''Notes''':

* To go into battle with the turret basket empty of ammo, pack 78 ''(+19)'' shells (racks 1 to 4 emptied).
* To go into battle with the turret basket and the flanks empty of ammo, pack 31 ''(+66)'' shells (racks 1 to 7 emptied).
* The 8th rack is large and located in a weak spot: the bottom section of the armour. In case of penetration, there is a high risk of ammo rack detonation. Make sure not to expose your flanks unnecessarily.

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

{{main|M2HB (12.7 mm)|M1919A4 (7.62 mm)}}

The M4 Sherman is armed with two machine guns, a 12.7 mm heavy machine gun on the pintle-mount atop the M4 Sherman turret, the famous .50 cal "Ma Deuce" machine gun. This weapon is the same type as the one used in American aircraft, though at a slower fire rate. However, this leads to the anti-aircraft power of the weapon as most formidable against low strafing attacking aircraft.

The second machine gun is a general-purpose 7.62 mm M1919A4 Browning machine gun mounted in the coaxial position. A typical machine gun not too unlike on many other vehicles, the machine gun is just average.

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" width="50%"
|-
! colspan="5" | [[M2HB (12.7 mm)|12.7 mm M2HB]]
|-
! Mount !! Capacity (Belt) !! Fire rate !! Vertical !! Horizontal
|-
| Pintle || 600 (200) || 577 || -10°/+25° || ±60°
|-
|}
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" width="50%"
|-
! colspan="5" | [[M1919A4 (7.62 mm)|7.62 mm M1919A4]]
|-
! Mount !! Capacity (Belt) !! Fire rate !! Vertical !! Horizontal
|-
| Coaxial || 3,000 (250) || 500 || N/A || N/A
|-
|}

== Usage in battles ==


The M4 Sherman is an effective medium-range combat tank. Equipped with a fast-firing 75 mm gun and with good handling characteristics, the M4 can be an extremely useful asset in most battles.

In battle the M4 performs well as an all-rounder; the thick turret front and 10 degrees of gun depression make the tank ideal for taking hull-down positions which protect the thinner hull armour from being penetrated by enemy fire. The sloped front upper glacis, when angled, also provides good protection against enemy fire. An unusual - and useful - difference is that the upper glacis is sloped at 56 degrees rather than the standard 45 degrees, making it more of a threat and more powerful due to improving the chances of a round ricochet. The only downfall may be the 2 crew member position in the front that protrudes out to form a flat surface, but both are covered with an additional 20 mm plate. The reasonable mobility of the Sherman makes flanking a viable tactic. The main weakness of the M4 is the side armour - not only is it vertical and thin, but behind it most of the ammunition is stowed. The tall silhouette of the tank also makes finding suitable cover difficult. Overall, the M4 Sherman can be considered as an armoured jack-of-all-trades - it will serve a tanker well, however it will not excel in any particular role.

In battle, try to use terrain as cover. Hull-down positions are especially strong in the M4 Sherman, as it has a good 10 degrees of gun depression. The gun mantlet and turret are reasonably strong, but avoiding shots is still the best strategy. In this respect, a hull-down position hides the vulnerable hull. If this is not available, then angling the hull armour to present a greater slope is often a good idea, as this can bounce some low-powered cannon at any range and at longer ranges, render the hull impenetrable.

Another way to play the M4 Sherman is to tap into its traditional cavalry role, its mobility. The M4 Sherman is a great flanker as it is fast enough to get the jump on the enemy's side. Defeat the enemy at their weak front lines or go around the entire enemy force. Once in position at their sides or rear, ambush them. Ideally, the enemy should be too busy focusing on allies attacking in the front to notice the M4 instantly. Take out the weaker light or medium tanks, the 75 mm gun is not very ideal against heavy tanks like the [[KV-1 (L-11)|KV-1]] so take out its friends to allow allies more room to outmanoeuvre the KV tank. An organized attack will increase the M4 chances on the battlefield and success.

The presence of a pivot-mounted .50 calibre machine gun gives the Sherman some flexibility. It can engage softer targets such as some tank destroyers and many SPAAGs at short ranges when loading a HE shell would be inconvenient. While not ideal, they provide the Sherman tank with some measure of protection against aircraft- sometimes enough to dissuade a pilot from making another pass. It can be an effective rang-finder for targets at longer ranges where the M1919 in the turret would be less effective. While it pales in comparison to the destructive effect of tank guns, it provides the Sherman with some flexibility over other comparable vehicles, who are restricted to their rifle-calibre coaxial machine guns.

There will be concerns about certain vehicles:

[[M4A2]] / [[M4A4 (1st PTG)|A4]] - These Sherman tanks are widely used by over 3 nations that spread across both the Allied and the Axis side, so no matter which nation you play they can be quite tough to destroy in the hands of a skilled tanker. Given the rather weak penetration of your short 75 mm gun, their hull can be almost impossible to penetrate when angled, hull down or 300 m away. For a M4A4, there are 2 apparent bulges on the upper front plate, a penetration through there can guarantee a knock-out most of the times. But in case the opponent covers them up or when it's a M4A2, aim for the middle parts of the gun mantlet or the turret armour unprotected by the mantlet, you can at least make them defenseless. Note that their guns are equally weak against you, so wiggle around to disrupt their aim while you reload, you have a good chance of bouncing some shells.

[[Churchill I]], [[Churchill III]], [[Pz.Kpfw. Churchill (Germany)|Pz.Kpfw. Churchill]] - The Churchills, with their complex hulls and sturdy turrets, can be quite hard to penetrate at range. Again, manoeuvre as close to them as possible, the idea distance being no more than 200 m. If they are angling their hull but facing their turret at you, only go for the turret. For the Mk I Churchills, aim at the near-vertical part of their rounded cheeks to ensure successful penetrations. For the Mk III and the German Churchill, also aim for their flat turret which is at most 89 mm. The shell should go in easily and knock out most, if not all of the crew. Only when you are facing their hull without any angles should you shoot the hull, otherwise shoot the turret only, as their big tracks can easily get in front of the frontal hull. The side hull have multiple layers of armour, some of which are weirdly angled and can absorb plenty of shells.

[[KV-1 (Family)|KV-1 and variants]] - A vehicle that the M4 Sherman will have trouble against is the KV-1. While the [[KV-1 (L-11)|L-11]] is underpowered, the [[KV-1 (ZiS-5)|ZiS-5]] is potent enough to punch through the Sherman's front, and the Sherman is unable to penetrate the KV-1's thick frontal armour. If this heavy tank is encountered, try to shoot it in its sides and rear, where its armour is thinner and unsloped, though it will still have to be at a close range to penetrate the armour. In addition, shots to the sides will most likely hit fuel tanks or ammunition storage, causing a fire or ammunition detonation and at best, time to reassess the situation.

[[Pz.IV F2|Panzer IV F2]]/[[Pz.IV G|G]]/[[Pz.IV H|H]]/[[Pz.IV J|J]] - The historical nemesis of any Sherman, the Panzer IV is one of the Shermans biggest threats at this rank. The long barrel 75 mm gun will easily penetrate the Sherman from the front. The F2 variant is admittedly easy to deal with. A single APCBC to its hull or turret should end it pretty quickly, even at long range. The other variants are slightly harder to deal with. They have thicker hull armour, at 80 mm, which will be much harder to penetrate with the APCBC over 500 m. Luckily the turret armour remains the same at 50 mm. Either aim here with APCBC or sacrifice damage potential and use the AP round to penetrate the hull.

[[StuG III F]]/[[StuG III G|G]] - Another historical nemesis of the Sherman, and another big threat. The StuG III packs the same punch as the Panzer IV line with its long barrel 75 mm gun, whilst losing the turret, which turns out to be both an advantage and a disadvantage. Lacking a turret means that it will have to traverse the whole vehicle to target an enemy, but it also means that it has a lower profile. The StuG's armour profile is also more complex than the Panzer IV, with less flat areas. Certain areas are sloped and very bouncy. Luckily, there is a big weak spot. There are two flat plates on the front of the hull. The flat plate on the right is the drivers port. Shoot that and you are able to knock out the driver, gunner and loader in one go. This is a very efficient way to destroy this vehicle. With the F variant, you can use APCBC to instantly knock out this vehicle with a single shot. With the G variant, it is more reliable to use AP at ranges over 500 m to ensure penetration.

=== Pros and cons ===


'''Pros:'''

* Excellent gun depression of -10° plus the angled frontal turret allows it to utilise hills very well
* Great penetration and post-penetration damage when using M61 shells; can frontally penetrate and knock out most opponents like the [[Pz.IV F2]], [[Chi-Nu]] and T-34 with a single shot
* Great turret traverse speed allows it to deal with multiple threats easily
* Capable armour when angled and at a distance
* Adequate top speed allows it to get to positions in time, or to do tactical manoeuvres like flanking
* Pintle-mounted HMG provides an anti-aircraft defence or anti-tank duty against tanks like [[Marder III]]
* Fitted with a vertical stabilizer, allowing more accurate fire on the move compared to other tanks, as well as better usage of shoot-n-scoot tactics

'''Cons:'''

* Large profile and weak side armour; flankers like the Sd.Kfz.234/2 can easily see and penetrate it
* Frontal armour is still inadequate, it will get frontally penetrated and knocked out with a single shot by tanks like [[Pz.IV F2]]/[[Pz.IV G|G]], [[StuG III F]]/[[StuG III G|G]] or [[M10 (Family)|M10]]
* The best M61 shell struggles to penetrate heavy targets like [[KV-1 (ZiS-5)]], [[Churchill III]] or even the T-34 and M10 when angled
* Trajectory is curved and velocity is low due to its short barrel, thus distant/moving targets are hard to shoot at
* Hull traverse is quite slow, making it sluggish in a turn. Also the narrow tracks offer poor ground flotation, thus poor off-road capabilities. Can only reach its top speed on paved or hard surfaces
* Roof armour of 19.5 mm thick is vulnerable to aircraft strafing runs with AP rounds. For example the widely used [[M2 Browning (12.7 mm)|M2 Browning]]

== History ==


The Battle of France in 1940 proved to America that their current tank arsenal would not be able to withstand a German assault. The only tanks in their inventory at that time was the [[M2A4|M2 light tank]] and the [[M2|M2 medium tank]], both are inadequate against the German [[Pz.III F|Panzer IIIs]] and the [[Pz.IV F1|Panzer IVs]]. The US Army, in response, ordered for a tank armed with a 75 mm gun. While a 75 mm gun was available for use, a turret able to mount the gun was not. So while the turret and tank design underwent development, the 75 mm would be mounted on the stopgap [[M3 Lee|M3 Lee]] tank in a sponson mount. This interim design put the 75 mm on a lower and limited traverse mount that restricted its firing angle, but it did give the Western Allies a tank with the gun, so it was issued by the thousands until a better design could be produced.

During the M3 medium's development, the designs of the 75 mm armed vehicle were being drawn up and submitted by the Ordnance Department. Specifications on the tank design were strict in order to maximize logistical support. Restrictions were made on the tank's height, width, and weight in order to make it able to be transported over bridges, roads, railroads, and on naval ships. These specifications would help the Army by making the tank be very flexible on strategic, logistical, and tactical grounds. On April 1941, the Armored Force Board chose the simplest of the designs, which was a redesigned M3 hull and chassis with a turret mounting the 75 mm gun designated the ''T6'', completed in September 1941. This tank would then designated the '''Medium Tank M4''' in American service. The tank would eventually become the most used Allied tank during World War II as it was lent out by the thousands in the Lend-Lease program to the Allied countries. The British designated the M4 the "[[Sherman II|Sherman]]", which coined into the tank's name '''M4 Sherman''' that it would be known as in history. The production for the Shermans began on October 1941 and would continue to be produced until the end of the war in 1945 with around 50,000 units produced, making it the second most-produced tank in World War II before the [[T-34 (1942)|T-34 tank]].

=== Design ===
Many variants of the Shermans were produced, but they all followed a similar layout. The driver and bow gunner sat in the front driving compartment, the fighting compartment in the middle housed the turret its three crew member, and in the back was the engine compartment. The Sherman used many features present in previous American tank designs, the vertical volute suspension system (VVSS) and radial engine from the [[M2A4|M2 Light Tanks]], and the sloping armour of the [[M2|M2 Medium Tanks]]. This became a contributing factor on the Sherman's reliability on the field, as most of the design flaws were ironed out with the previous tank designs. The tank-mounted the 75 mm M3 gun, giving the tank very good AP and HE capabilities. The Sherman's turret traverse speed was very fast, able to traverse a full 360 degrees in only 15 seconds, which is considerably faster than the traverse speed on most German tanks. Another unique feature on the Sherman was the installation of a gyroscopic stabilizer on the gun and sight, making the Sherman one of the first produced tanks to incorporate those features. While the stabilization was only done for the vertical plane, it kept the gun stable enough to be able to shoot on the move effectively, with a study showing a 70 % hit probability on an enemy 300 to 1,200 yards away when moving at a speed of 15 mph. However, this feature was controversial among the crew and experiences with it vary.

The '''M4 Sherman''' model ran on a gasoline Continental R975 radial engine and was one of the first models of the Sherman developed. The early M4 Sherman featured the M38 telescopic sight in the M4 periscope with no zoom, but experience in North Africa and recommendations from the British changed the sight into the M55 telescopic sight integrated into the gun mantlet.<ref name="ZalogaArmorT1">Zaloga Steven. ''Armored Thunderbolt: The U.S. Army Sherman in World War II'' Stackpole Books, 2008, "Baptism Of Fire"</ref> This change in optics required appliqué armour to be added at the turret area in front of the gunner since the modification left the area weaker than the overall turret. This problem would be fixed in later-production models of the M4 Sherman. The tank's hull was welded, with the front armour plate placed on a 56-degree sloping angle. An early design defect with the design was the protruding armoured hatches for the driver and assistant driver. These protrusions create "shot traps" as they were in a near vertical position that gave less protection on the front armour than the sloping areas. This was fixed on later models as well. Up to 6,748 M4A1s were produced from July 1942 to January 1944, out of the 49,234 total Sherman units produced in the war.

===Combat usage===
====European Theater====
The Shermans first saw combat in the North African Campaign in the Second Battle of El Alamein on October 1942 in the hands of the British. It was much quicker to reinforce the British armoured divisions with the more than 300 Shermans sent to North Africa than it was to create new American ones. It proved much better than the German [[Pz.III F|Panzer IIIs]] and [[Pz.IV F1|Panzer IVs]], able to eliminate them at distances more than 2,000 yards away. The Americans received their first Shermans in the next month in Operation Torch. However better the Shermans were to the German tanks at the time, the Allied armoured units still suffered casualties against the German tanks and anti-tank guns, most notably in the Battle of Kasserine Pass. In Italy, the Shermans proved much more mobile than the German Panzers, able to travel cross-country on the hilly terrain with ease. However, it was at this stage that the Sherman's shortcoming began to take face in the advent of the newer German tanks, the [[Tiger H1|Tiger Is]] and [[Panther D|Panthers]]. These two tanks featured armour that proved impenetrable when fired at the front, and with guns that could take out the Shermans from farther than the Sherman's effective combat range. The Shermans have to hit the side of these tanks for penetration and at ranges that were considered suicidal. Although programs were initiated to [[M4A1 (76) W|up-gun the Sherman with a 76 mm gun]], American leaders determine that the Panther and Tigers would not be produced in large quantities and were not as great as a threat as these two vehicles could still be destroyed by the 75 mm gun and standard anti-tank equipment.

During the invasion of France, it was clear that the Sherman's current build with a 75 mm gun was no longer going to cut it against the German armoured forces. While the Sherman was adequate against what little Panzer III and IVs the Germans have left and against infantry and fortifications with the 75 mm gun, the Panthers and Tigers were in much large quantity than expected, and proved better in armour and firepower to the Shermans. Though in the bocage country of France, the Allies lost more tanks to hidden anti-tank guns and infantry weapons than to tanks. Despite these losses, the mass production of M4 Sherman back in the United States ensured that enough tanks were available for the Allied Forces as they spearhead through France, plus the lack of any other capable tanks meant they had to use the Shermans for the time being. The large quantities of Shermans produced during the war gave the Allied armoured units a major advantage of being fully equipped as the German panzer divisions were rarely in full strength, with some US infantry divisions having more tracked vehicles than some of the panzer divisions. Due to the high attrition rates, tank crews sometimes add [[Add-on Armor|improvised armour]] onto their Shermans in the form of sandbags and logs in hopes of increased survival, but these were determined to be ineffective from evaluations. A more effective method was to have metal armour welded on in improvisation, and an official project was made for such "assault tanks" that ended with the [[M4A3E2|M4A3E2 "Jumbos"]] with 254 made for the fighting in Europe. The Allies continued to use 75 mm Shermans until the Battle of the Bulge in Winter 1944, when the commanders request only 76 mm Shermans to be brought into Europe as the battle showed the intense armour disparity with the German's large numbers of [[Panther G|Panthers]] and [[Tiger II (H)|Tiger II tanks]]. While new units arriving in Europe were armed exclusively with 76 mm armed-Shermans, the veteran units kept the 75 mm Shermans, to which it continued to do well against softer targets with little threat from German armour due to their declining numbers.

====Pacific Theater====
The M4 Sherman's importance in the Pacific theatre was less than that of the European theatre due to the different tactical doctrine established from the amphibious nature of combat. Only about 20 tank battalions fielded by the US Army were sent to support the Pacific theatre of operations, compared to the total 16 armoured divisions and 70 tank battalions they have in service. The low priority in tanks was due to the following reasons. Firstly, the jungle terrain on most of the islands fought on was unsuitable for the deployment of large-scale armoured units, relegating armour support to light tanks such as the [[M3 Stuart|M3 Stuarts]]. Secondly, the Japanese forces' armoured units were rather inferior to the American tank forces by 1943. While the Japanese [[Ha-Go|Type 95 Ha-Go]] tank was comparable to the [[M2A4|M2A4 Light Tank]], the Shermans out gun these tanks by a large margin. Such a large margin that the tank crew prefer to use high-explosive shots against the Japanese tank than regular armour-piercing as the AP rounds would penetrate straight through without causing much damage in the interior of the tank. The Japanese developed the [[Chi-Nu|Type 3 Chi-Nu]] and the [[Chi-To|Type 4 Chi-To]] to fight back the Shermans, but these two never saw combat as they were kept at the Japanese homeland for the defence against the Allied invasion.

The Shermans, when deployed, were superior to most of the Japanese anti-tank equipment and often were essential to some of the Marines advances on some of the island assaults. In 1945, the equipping of flamethrower Shermans known as ''M4A3R3'', nicknamed "Zippos", were a significant boost to the infantry's firepower in having a very long range of fire compared to the standard infantry-modelled flamethrowers with the benefit of being in an armoured vehicle. The Japanese solution against the Shermans, other than with their 47 mm anti-tank guns, were often suicidal tactics ranging from placing satchel charges right onto the tank, using pole-mounted anti-tank mines to reach and destroy the tank or even simply throwing oneself underneath a tank with mine or other explosive and triggering it manually.

==== Lend-Lease ====
The Sherman tank was given out in large numbers to American Allies during World War II under the Lend-Lease policy. While America retained about 20,361 Shermans in the Army and Marine Corps, 17,184 went to Britain (about 34% of Shermans produced and 78% of Shermans given out) and the Soviet Union obtained 4,102 Shermans.<ref name="ZalogaArmorT2">Zaloga Steven. ''Armored Thunderbolt: The U.S. Army Sherman in World War II'' Stackpole Books, 2008, "The British Sherman"</ref> China obtained 812 Shermans, Brazil with 53, and New Zealand and Australia for 153 Shermans total. Other countries using the Shermans were Poland, Free France, and Czechoslovakia. The British deployed the Sherman among their armoured squadrons in such a large number to become the standard tank of their armoured forces. The increased threat of German tanks in the European theatre also provoked the British to up-gun the M4 Sherman with a more capable gun, resulting in the [[Sherman Firefly|Firefly]].

==== Post-War ====
After the war, the Shermans continued serving America and its allies as the [[M4A3 (76) W|M4A3E8]] with a new suspension and the 76 mm gun. The [[M26|M26 Pershing]] that was introduced late in World War II was phased out for the Shermans due to its unreliability, and the Sherman stayed until the [[M46|M46 Patton]] was introduced. After being phased out of American service, many other countries still used the Sherman as their main tank, mainly Israel where they up-gun the tank with the much powerful post-war French 75 mm and 105 mm gun as the M-50 and M-51 respectively (nicknamed "Super Shermans"). These proved successful as they were able to fight against the Soviet-supplied [[T-54 (1947)|T-54 tanks]] and [[T-34-85]]s in Middle East service, proving the Sherman as a successful and adaptable design for many years to come.

{{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}}
The Americans did an excellent job recognizing the problems with the M3's main-calibre weaponry being mounted in a side sponson. Immediately after it began full-scale production, they began work on a new, more modern tank with a 75 mm cannon in a fully traversing turret. Its prototype, termed the T6, was ready for trials at the Aberdeen Proving Ground in September 1941.

The M4 was a medium tank boasting a welded hull, a cast turret, and the 350 hp Continental R-975, a gas-powered radial engine. Design of the M4 began in 1941, and by July 1942 it was ready for full-scale production. Between July 1942 and January 1944, 6,748 M4s rolled off the line. The tank's welded hull boosted its ammunition capacity in comparison with cast hulls by expanding its internal armoured capacity. The hull's front plate initially had viewing slits, though armour covers were welded over them and periscopes were added. The front part of the hull's gear compartment on older models consisted of three sections bolted together. Tanks had a narrow mantlet for the M34 artillery mount, while subsequent units employed a fully cast forward hull section and M34A1 artillery mount with a wide mantlet. The last batches, which were made beginning at the end of 1943, had the front of their hulls made from cast and rolled pieces. At the beginning of 1944 the frontal plate became one piece, moving the driver and gunner hatches to the top of the hull. The angled frontal armour went from 56° to 47° from vertical.

The Pressed Steel Car Company kicked off production of the first M4 tanks in July 1942. Four more companies were added later.

M4 tanks saw combat in Africa, Italy, the Western front, and the Pacific islands through 1945.

Shermans proved a strong option with good reliability and manoeuvrability in addition to armament and armour suiting its roll as a medium tank.
{{Navigation-End}}

== Media ==


;Skins

* [https://live.warthunder.com/feed/camouflages/?vehicle=us_m4_sherman Skins and camouflages for the {{PAGENAME}} from live.warthunder.com.]

;Videos
{{Youtube-gallery|GOuPWRJqlK8|'''Pages of History: M4 Sherman''' - ''War Thunder Official Channel''}}

== See also ==


;Vehicles equipped with the same chassis

* [[M4 Sherman (Family)]]

== External links ==


* [[wt:en/news/2988/current/|[Vehicle Profile] M4 Sherman [Decal Included]]]
* [[wikipedia:M4_Sherman|[Wikipedia] M4 Sherman]]
* [https://tanks-encyclopedia.com/ww2/US/M4_Sherman <nowiki>[Tanks Encyclopedia]</nowiki> Medium Tank M4 Sherman]
* [https://www.militaryfactory.com/armor/detail.asp?armor_id=40 <nowiki>[Military Factory]</nowiki> M4 Sherman (Medium Tank, M4)]

=== References ===
<references />

{{USA medium tanks}}

M22

2023-06-01T16:59:07Z

U147706677: /* Usage in battles */

{{Specs-Card
|code=us_m22_locust
|images={{Specs-Card-Image|GarageImage_{{PAGENAME}}.jpg|ArtImage_{{PAGENAME}}.png}}
}}

== Description ==

The '''{{Specs|name}}''' is a rank {{Specs|rank}} American light tank {{Battle-rating}}. It was one of the first American tanks to be released with the American ground tree in [[Update 1.45 "Steel Generals"]]. One of the tiniest tanks in the game, the Locust is able to manoeuvre some of the smaller areas on the battlefield to get a clean shot on an opponent.

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


Outside of heavy machine guns, autocannons rounds, and low-calibre AP shells fired at a bad angle-of-attack, the M22's armour offers very little ballistic protection against the standard kinetic shells encountered, while any substantial APHE shell will knock out the tank instantly. With only three men in the tank clumped together around the centre, a single penetrating shot through the centre is bound to knock out two or more crew member and leave the tank immobile or incapacitated. Angling the tank is still a good idea, try to angle the front 30 degrees to increase effective thickness, though do not overangle as that will expose the weak sides of the tank.

Aircraft coming in at certain angles can possess the necessary penetration values to utterly shred apart the Locust, especially the thin roof armour of 9.5 mm at the turret and hull. However, an oblique angle towards the front armour is already enough to get through the sloped 12.7 mm armour plate present.

'''Armour type:'''

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

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Armour !! Front (Slope angle) !! Sides !! Rear !! Roof
|-
| Hull || 12.7 mm (64-65°) ''Front glacis'' 25.4 mm (7-62°) ''Lower glacis'' 25.4 mm (9-85°) ''Driver's port'' || 9.5 mm (34-51°) ''Top'' 12.7 mm ''Bottom'' || 12.7 mm (11-15°) ''Lower''
12.7 mm +9 mm ''Upper''
| 9.5 mm
|-
| Turret || 25.4 mm (25-36°) ''Turret front'' 25.4 mm (22-53°) ''Gun mantlet'' || 25.4 mm (3-6°) || 25.4 mm || 9.5 mm
|}
'''Notes:'''

* Suspension wheels are 15 mm thick, the bogies and tracks are 10 mm thick.
* Belly armour is 12.7 mm thick.

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


{{tankMobility|abMinHp=297|rbMinHp=170}}

Aside from its small size, the M22's next famous value is its speed as a light tank. This allows the light tank to zip across the battlefield, possible getting to locations that can annoy enemies like a locust.

In Arcade Battles, be wary of going too fast with the enhanced engine power, especially on paved roads, as it could put the M22 in a speed the transmission would not be able to steer properly without "snaking" the tank. Another worst case scenario is running full speed into an immovable object, which can disable certain components or even flat out knock out the tank.

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

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

{{main|M6 (37 mm)}}

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" width="100%"
|-
! colspan="5" | [[M6 (37 mm)|37 mm M6]] || colspan="5" | Turret rotation speed (°/s) || colspan="4" | Reloading rate (seconds)
|-
! Mode !! Capacity !! Vertical !! Horizontal !! Stabilizer
! Stock !! Upgraded !! Full !! Expert !! Aced
! Stock !! Full !! Expert !! Aced
|-
! ''Arcade''
| rowspan="2" | 50 || rowspan="2" | -10°/+30° || rowspan="2" | ±180° || rowspan="2" | N/A || 19.5 || 27.0 || 32.8 || 36.3 || 38.6 || rowspan="2" | 3.77 || rowspan="2" | 3.33 || rowspan="2" | 3.07 || rowspan="2" | 2.90
|-
! ''Realistic''
| 12.2 || 14.4 || 17.4 || 19.3 || 20.5
|-
|}

==== Ammunition ====

* '''M74B1; AP''' - Solid shot, stock shell. Poor penetration and post-penetration damage. The M74B1 should not be used after having unlocked the M51B1 shell.
* '''M63 Shell; SAPHEI''' - Semi armour-piercing high-explosive incendiary shell. The M63 has negligible penetration with little HE filler, it should only be used at point blank range against extremely poorly armoured vehicles and/or open-topped vehicles.
* '''M51B1; APCBC''' - Solid Shot. The M51B1has a decent penetration for the tier and better angled performance compared to the M74B1, but will still struggle against heavily armoured targets.

{{:M6 (37 mm)/Ammunition|M74B1, M63 shell, M51B1}}

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

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! Full ammo
! 1st rack empty
! 2nd rack empty
! 3rd rack empty
! Visual discrepancy
|-
|| '''50''' || 39 ''(+11)'' || 25 ''(+25)'' || 1 ''(+49)'' || No
|-
|}
'''Notes''':

* Racks disappear after firing all the shells in the rack.
* Left side empty: 39 ''(+11)'' shells.

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

{{main|M1919A4 (7.62 mm)}}

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

== Usage in battles ==


'''Primary Role'''

Perhaps the best word to describe this tank is "tiny". Along with the [[ASU-57]] and the [[L3/33 CC]], the M22 is among the smallest ground vehicles in the game, which is both pro and a con,. The Locust is a light tank and has the primary role of scouting and harassment. The Locust's small size also means the crew is compacted into a small area and a crew knock-out is very likely.

;'''Run and Gun'''

The Locust is very fast, but requires a high degree of caution and skill to handle at high speeds. Use this advantage to get to favorable positions, typically on the flanks of the enemy. The tiny size of the tank helps by presenting a smaller target to the enemy and allows the usage of cover that could not be typically used by an larger vehicle. With fast maneuvering and sneaky movements that best utilize the terrain, the Locust can cross the battlefield quickly and carry out harassing strikes against the enemy. A skilled player can swiftly move from one capture point to another, destroy any opposition there, and capture the point, though this can be extremely risky, as much of the other team will be "cap rushing" as well as frequently calling down artillery onto cap points, and aircraft tend to focus their attention on caps. Use your best judgment as to the best way you can use the Locust's strengths to support your team, and adapt to the changing battle...something the Locust, with its great speed, excels at.

;'''Get in Close'''

A riskier tactic, but one that can be extremely effective against a lone enemy is to close to point-blank range. Many tanks cannot hit an adjacent Locust due to their slow turret traverse and/or their gun depression—notably early Soviet tanks and taller German ones (when facing an up-tier). Circling the tank and avoiding their gun while using the Locust's fast reload time to put shots into their rear and weak points can yield success. However, Locust players must be careful if there are any other enemies around they will easily destroy you while you are preoccupied. One must also be careful to not accidentally destroy themselves by being too close to the tank when it explodes.

=== Pros and cons ===


'''Pros:'''

* High hp/ton ratio, allowing fast acceleration
* Great speeds across flat terrain
* Extremely low profile; tanks without a lot of gun depression can't shoot at the Locust at close range
* Locust is shorter than the hulls of many tanks, so many opponents may not even be able to aim at the Locust if it's close enough
* The gun has no trouble penetrating tanks at its BR range
* Easy to turn a complete 180° at low speed and at a stop

'''Cons:'''

* High acceleration and speed make tank handling rather difficult unless familiar with specs
* Handling becomes sluggish at higher speeds, noticeably in 3rd Gear
* Small crew of 3 confined in tiny space, no spare crew members to take over incapacitated ones, a penetrating shot can take out two of them easily
* Relatively weak armour
* Due to its low suspension, it may get stuck in the soft or uneven ground
* Strange driving issue, in arcade mode, that causes the Locust to shudder, wobble, and not accelerate at a constant rate
* Doesn't have armour-piercing rounds with explosive filler, and solid shots have poor post-penetration

== History ==

===Development===
The development of this tank began in late 1941 as a request from the British military for an airmobile light tank that could travel on a glider. The British airborne forces used gliders as a mean to transport troops and equipment, and by 1941 the gliders were rated to be able to carry a tank weighing about 5.5 tons in a 300 to 350-mile flight. The British had a light tank design, the [[Tetrarch_Mk_I|Mk. VII Tetrarch]], but it was not built for the focus of airborne operations so the request was made for a purely-built airborne light tank to replace the Tetrarch, and for the tank to be made not in Britain due to constraints in industrial capacity.

The request to the Americans called for a tank weighing between 9-10 tons with a 37 mm cannon and a coaxial machine gun with a crew of three. The tank was to have a maximum speed of 64 km/h (40 mph) and could operate in a 320 km radius (200 miles). The turret and front armour thickness were to be between 40-50 mm and the sides 30 mm thick. US Ordnance Department requested three companies, General Motors, J. Walter Christie, and Marmon-Herrington to design a suitable tank, of which the Marmon-Herrington design was accepted. The design was made into a prototype in late 1941 and was designated the ''Light Tank T9''. This design had a crew of three and weighed 7.4 tons, with a 37 mm gun and coaxial machine gun, plus two more machine guns on the right side of the bow. The turret was powered and had a gun stabilizer. The tank was powered by a 162 hp six-cylinder Lycoming engine and the armour thickness was 12.5 mm on the entire hull side of the tank while the sloped area on the sides of the hull was 9.5 mm thick. The tank could go up to 40 mph (64 km/h) with the engine. The T9 was built to be mounted on a Douglas C-54 Skymaster plane, but it could still fit into a glider due to its dimensions and weight. The tank underwent a few changes, such as improvement in the tank suspension and removal of the two machine guns on the bow, the gun stabilizer, and the power traverse on the turret to reduce the weight. The result was designated the ''Light Tank T9E1''. Production was meant to start somewhere in 1942, but issues in the design change and factories caused the production to be delayed until April 1943. The tanks were produced from then until 1945, with a total unit of 830.

The tank was specified the '''Light Tank M22''' at some time in 1943, but this classified it as a "limited standard" equipment due to some faults discovered. Testings showed that loading the M22 tank on a C-54 plane required lots of time and complex equipment, plus the plane had to be landed on an airfield to be unloaded. The durability and reliability of the M22 were also brought into question, concerned that these factors would make it unsuitable for airborne operations and that the design was effectively obsolete. The M22 never saw service in American combat units except for training, and even with the establishment of two units with the M22s, they saw no combat due to America's lack of investment in airborne tanks. The British on the other hand believed that the M22 would be adequate at its role so adopted it as the '''Locust''', giving the name '''Light Tank M22 Locust''' to the tank.

===Combat usage===
The British usage in World War II had the airborne light tanks used in 1st and 6th Airborne Division as the Light Tank 'C' Squadron. Although the M22 Locust started replacing the Tetrarch before the initiation of Operation Overlord, the Tetrarch was still used until October 1944, when a restructuring retired all Tetrarch and replaced them with Locusts. The 6th Airborne Division was involved in Operation Varsity in 1945, where eight Locusts were loaded onto Hamilcar gliders and flown to the battlefield on March 24. Of the eight Locusts sent, six landed intact, but two never reached their rendezvous point due to enemy action or mechanical breakdown. Of the four remaining Locusts, only two were undamaged at the rendezvous point. The tanks were deployed at a fortified area, where they engage German troops while being supported by an infantry company, the Locusts were forced to withdraw after the heavy losses in infantry denied them support. The four tanks and what is left of the infantry were finally relieved by the 44th Royal Tank Regiment and the rest of the 6th Airborne Division. Operation Varsity was the only operation the Locust would ever see action in World War II.

The M22 Locust, while serving rather well as an airborne tank, was reported to be obsolete by January 1946 by the War Office in Britain. New designs were to take over the Locust's role in the airborne formations. What's left of the Locusts in British inventory were given to foreign militaries. Belgium used some as command tanks in their armoured regiments. America received a few tanks back which was converted into agricultural tractors. Egypt used the Locusts in a large number to replace their ageing tank models from the interwar period, these saw service in the 1948 Arab-Israeli War.

Today, sixteen M22 Locusts are known to have survived, though many have replica turrets. Of the batch, only three are known to be in running condition.

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In 1941 an airmobile light tank designated the T9 entered development, with three major companies assigned the project: Christie, GMC, and Marmon-Herrington. The design provided by Marmon-Herrington proved the winner, as it satisfied practically every client requirement.

Trials of the new tank began in the fall of 1941, and in November 1942 the third T9E2 pre-production prototype was built.

Production began in March 1943 and continued through February 1944. Marmon-Herrington assembled and delivered over the space of that year 830 of the 1,800 tanks ordered. The first 26 had a box-shaped compartment for the driver, though it was removed for subsequent models. The frontal plate was then made from a single piece.

The tank was designated the M22 beginning September 1944, though the lack of heavy transport planes in the American army kept it out of the war.

The UK acquired 260 M22s via Lend-Lease, referring to them as Locusts. The British liked the tank thanks to its good mobility, small size, and reasonable weight. Its weak armament and armour, which was no thicker than 25 mm, were considered drawbacks. Some 37 mm cannons were equipped with Littlejohn adaptors, which were designed to boost initial velocity with special shells.

The M22 only saw combat in 1945. Its biggest battle was Operation Varsity, when 12 tanks were flown in using Hamilcar gliders on March 22, 1945. Some M22s may have taken part in the 1944 Normandy invasion.
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== Media ==


;Skins

* [https://live.warthunder.com/feed/camouflages/?vehicle=us_m22_locust Skins and camouflages for the {{PAGENAME}} from live.warthunder.com.]

;Videos
{{Youtube-gallery|YuBjyMQLRy0|'''Airmobile tanks''' discusses the {{PAGENAME}} at 2:43 - ''War Thunder Official Channel''|Cdd0WWkWvRE|'''Tank Chat #87''' - ''Tank Museum''}}

== See also ==


;Other vehicles of similar configuration and role

* [[Tetrarch Mk I]]

== External links ==


* [[wt:en/devblog/current/716|[Devblog] Developers about the M22]]
* [[wikipedia:M22_Locust|[Wikipedia] M22 Locust]]
* [https://tanks-encyclopedia.com/ww2/us/light-tank-airborne-m22-locust <nowiki>[Tanks Encyclopedia]</nowiki> Light Tank (Airborne) M22 Locust]
* [https://www.militaryfactory.com/armor/detail.asp?armor_id=252 <nowiki>[Military Factory]</nowiki> M22 Locust (Light Tank, Airborne, M22)]
* [http://the.shadock.free.fr/Surviving_Panzers.html <nowiki>[The Shadock]</nowiki> Surviving M22 Locusts]

{{TankManufacturer Marmon-Herrington}}
{{USA light tanks}}