War Thunder Wiki - User contributions [en]

IS-3

2020-04-28T10:55:12Z

U78096411: /* Usage in battles */

{{Specs-Card|code=ussr_is_3}}

== Description ==

[[File:GarageImage_IS-3.jpg|420px|thumb|left]]
{{break}}
The '''{{Specs|name}}''' is a rank {{Specs|rank}} Soviet heavy tank {{Battle-rating}}. It was introduced during the closed beta testing for Ground Forces before [[Update 1.41]]. The IS-3 keeps the same [[D-25T (122 mm)|D-25T]] gun as its predecessor while ''drastically'' upgrading its armour without hindering mobility too much.

Anyone familiar with the [[IS-2]] and [[IS-2 (1944)]] will sit comfortably behind the driver's controls of this behemoth.

As with previous IS models, the IS-3 sports the same D-25T 122mm cannon, with its awesome destructive potential. Experienced tankers will know which weak points to look for on most targets, although the weapon's effectiveness increases dramatically once the BR-417D ammunition is researched, upgrading its penetration from 207mm to 230mm while retaining most of the HE filler. At 7.3 BR, the IS-3 will come up against many other heavy tanks with large, slow reloading guns, making the playing field much more even. Despite this, always beware the faster, lightly armoured targets such as the [[Ru 251]], [[Leopard I]], and other vehicles that can essentially ignore the IS-3's armour like the [[FV4005|FV4005]]. As with the IS-2 mod. 1944, the IS-3 has a spindle-mounted Heavy Machine Gun, good for warding off strafing aircraft or deterring light vehicles.

The IS-3 once again demonstrates sub-par maneuverability, despite being relatively light for a heavy tank. It has an engine that produces a measly 671 horsepower, making the vehicle feel sluggish when attempting to initiate a turn from both standstills and when moving. Its' acceleration also leaves much to be desired, however, it does have a reasonably high top speed, and usually will reach it eventually regardless of the surface it is driving on. Fortunately, as with all late Soviet heavy tanks, the reverse speed of the IS-3 is very respectable, often allowing it the time necessary to back out of bad situations to reload or repair. The reverse gears and low forward gears allow the vehicle to climb surprisingly sharp slopes, despite what some might expect from such a large vehicle.

The most obvious changes over the previous IS tanks are of course the redesigned turret and the sharply angled 'pike' nose. The front is not only angled, but the armour is also relatively thick, with 110mm on both the top and bottom, angled at 54°-56° and 54° respectively. As with previous designs, the IS-3 has somewhat sub-par side and rear armour, and angling should be avoided. The redesigned turret is much more resilient than the older designs, with more angling, a much smaller flat area around the mantlet, and significantly thicker casting. The tank is somewhat vulnerable to trap shots and turret ring penetration - these can be somewhat negated by depressing the gun and blocking the vulnerable areas.

The IS-3 is the definition of a 'breakthrough' tank, which excels at close-range, front-on conflict where the chances of flanking are minimal and drivers can take advantage of the heavy frontal armour and reverse speed. When up-tiered, or against certain enemies with HEAT, HESH or ATGMs, IS-3 drivers should play cautiously as the tank is extremely vulnerable to high-penetration and chemical rounds.

== General info ==
=== Survivability and armour ===

'''Armour type:'''

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

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Armour !! Front !! Sides !! Rear !! Roof
|-
| Hull || 110 mm (54-56°) ''Front glacis'' 110 mm (54°) ''Lower glacis'' || 90 mm (0-40°) ''Top'' 20 mm (60°) ''Bottom'' || 60 mm (47°) ''Top'' 60 mm (41-42°) ''Bottom'' || 20 mm
|-
| Turret || 250 mm (1-78°) ''Turret front'' 100 + 250 mm (9-79°) ''Gun mantlet''|| 75-220 mm (33-69°) || 70-120 mm (22-52°) || 20 mm ''Front, Hatch roof'' 40 mm ''Center'' 75 mm ''Sides''
|-
|}
'''Notes:'''

* Suspension wheels are 20 mm thick while tracks are 30 mm thick.
* The thickest armour of the tank is at the front – the "beak" at the front of the hull raises the effective thickness of the armour from 110 to around 180 – 200 mm, depending on the exact spot.
* The turret front of the IS-3 is an also fairly well armoured, with 250 mm of heavily sloped armour equating to around 400 mm effective thickness.
* Turret side armour is not equal throughout its length. In the side middle, it is 130 mm, then bordering the rear armour is 150 mm thick.
* Gun mantlet side and bottom are boosted by the 250 mm of the turret front, whereas the top of gun mantlet has no armour behind it.
* Side armour of the hull has an additional 5 mm of sheet metal on above the suspension area.
* Turret ring is 200mm thick with a 20mm "collar" covering the front and sides.
* Upper half of the side armor is at a very steep angle, meaning conventional rounds will simply bounce

=== Mobility ===


{{tankMobility|abMinHp= 671|rbMinHp= 460}}

The mobility and speed of the IS-3 is decent, and is somewhere between other heavy tanks of the same tier and mediums tanks of the same tier. The IS-3 drives very similar to its predecessors the [[IS-1]] and [[IS-2]]. Whenever the IS-3 turns at all, much of the speed of the tank is instantly lost, making the hull turn rate lacklustre, especially without neutral steering. This is, of course, akin to those previously mentioned predecessors.

== Armaments ==
=== Main armament ===

{{main|D-25T (122 mm)}}

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! colspan="6" | [[D-25T (122 mm)|122 mm D-25T]]
|-
! colspan="3" rowspan="1" style="width:5em" |Capacity
! rowspan="1" | Vertical guidance
! rowspan="1" | Horizontal guidance
! rowspan="1" | Stabilizer
|-
| colspan="3" | 28 || -3°/+20° || ±180° || N/A
|-
! colspan="6" | Turret rotation speed (°/s)
|-
! style="width:4em" |Mode
! style="width:4em" |Stock
! style="width:4em" |Upgraded
! style="width:4em" |Prior + Full crew
! style="width:4em" |Prior + Expert qualif.
! style="width:4em" |Prior + Ace qualif.
|-
| ''Arcade'' ||7.28||10.08||12.24||13.54||14.4
|-
| ''Realistic'' ||5.36||6.30||7.65||8.43|| 9.00
|-
! colspan="4" | Reloading rate (seconds)
|-
! colspan="1" style="width:4em" |Stock
! colspan="1" style="width:4em" |Prior + Full crew
! colspan="1" style="width:4em" |Prior + Expert qualif.
! colspan="1" style="width:4em" |Prior + Ace qualif.
|-
|26.0||23.0||21.2||20.0
|-
|}

===== Ammunition =====
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center" width="100%"
! colspan="8" | Penetration statistics
|-
! rowspan="2" data-sort-type="text" | Ammunition
! rowspan="2" class="unsortable" | Type of warhead
! colspan="6" | '''Penetration''' '''''in mm''''' '''@ 0° Angle of Attack'''
|-
! 10m
! 100m
! 500m
! 1000m
! 1500m
! 2000m
|-
| BR-471 || APHE ||205||201||183||162||144||128
|-
| BR-471B || APHEBC ||205||203||191||178||166||155
|-
| BR-471D || APCBC || 230 ||227||215||200||186||173
|-
| OF-471 || HE ||37||37||37||37||37||37
|-
|}
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center" width="100%"
! colspan="11" | Shell details
|-
! rowspan="2" data-sort-type="text" | Ammunition
! rowspan="2" class="unsortable" | Type of warhead
! rowspan="2" |Velocity in m/s
! rowspan="2" |Projectile Mass in kg
! rowspan="2" | ''Fuse delay''
''in m:''
! rowspan="2" | ''Fuse sensitivity''
''in mm:''
! rowspan="2" | ''Explosive Mass in g (TNT equivalent):''
! rowspan="2" | ''Normalization At 30° from horizontal:''
! colspan="3" | ''Ricochet:''
|-
! 0%
! 50%
! 100%
|-
| BR-471 || APHE || 795 || 25 || 1.2 ||19||246.4|| -1° || 47° || 60° || 65°
|-
| BR-471B || APHEBC ||795|| 25 || 1.2 ||19||246.4|| +4° || 48° || 63° || 71°
|-
| BR-471D || APCBC || 800 || 25 || 1.2 ||19||192.5|| +4° || 48° || 63° || 71°
|-
| OF-471 || HE || 800 || 25 || 0.1 || 0.1 || 3,600 || +0° || 79° || 80° || 81°
|-
|}

===== [[Ammo racks|Ammo racks]] =====
[[File:Ammoracks IS-3.png|right|thumb|x250px|[[Ammo racks|Ammo racks]] of the IS-3.]]

The D-25T cannon fires two-piece ammunition that are stored all around the crew compartment. The majority of the projectiles are found lining the sides and rear of the turret while the majority of the propellant found in the hull, with two large piles flanking the driver and a few kept on the hull floor and rear. Next to the cannon breach on the loader's side is a small ready rack containing 5 propellant charges, with the 5 accompanying projectiles found to the loader's right against the turret side. The time it takes the loader to load one round into the ready rack from the stowage racks is about 21 seconds.

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! class="wikitable unsortable" |Full ammo
! class="wikitable unsortable" |1st rack empty
! class="wikitable unsortable" |2nd rack empty
! class="wikitable unsortable" |3rd rack empty
! class="wikitable unsortable" |4th rack empty
! class="wikitable unsortable" |5th rack empty
! class="wikitable unsortable" |6th rack empty
! class="wikitable unsortable" |Visual discrepancy
|-
|| '''28''' || 23 ''(+5)'' || 17 ''(+11)'' || 13 ''(+15)'' || 10 ''(+18)'' || 8 ''(+20)'' || 1 ''(+27)'' || style="text-align:center" | no
|-
|}

* Recommended ammo load is 12, which empty all of the racks but racks 1 and 6.
* Ammo Rack 1 is a ready rack, and takes priority in being filled at the beginning of the battle, then fills racks 6 through 2.
* Full reload speed will be realized as long as ammo exists in the ready racks. If all three ready racks are empty, a penalty to reload speed will occur.
* Simply not firing when the gun is loaded will load ammo from racks 2-6 into rack 1, as long as there is ammo in racks 2-6. Firing will interrupt the loading of the ready racks.

=== Machine guns ===

{{main|DShK (12.7 mm)|DT (7.62 mm)}}

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! colspan="7" | [[DShK (12.7 mm)|12.7 mm DShK]]
|-
! colspan="7" | ''Pintle mount''
|-
! colspan="4" rowspan="1" style="width:5em" |Capacity (Belt capacity)
! rowspan="1" | Fire rate (shots/minute)
! rowspan="1" | Vertical guidance
! rowspan="1" | Horizontal guidance
|-
| colspan="4" | 300 (50) || 600 || -4°/+85° || ±180°
|-
|}
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! colspan="7" | [[DT (7.62 mm)|7.62 mm DT]]
|-
! colspan="7" | ''Coaxial mount''
|-
! colspan="4" rowspan="1" style="width:5em" |Capacity (Belt capacity)
! rowspan="1" | Fire rate (shots/minute)
! rowspan="1" | Vertical guidance
! rowspan="1" | Horizontal guidance
|-
| colspan="4" | 2,000 (63) || 600 || N/A || N/A
|-
|}

== Usage in battles ==


The IS-3, continuing the tradition of the Russian IS line of heavy tanks, sports a powerful 122mm cannon, strong frontal armour and reasonable mobility for its class. As with its predecessors, it excels at dispatching anything it can penetrate with its explosive-filled rounds, and relies heavily on its excellent reverse speed and sharply angled armour to keep itself out of trouble. However, an IS-3 commander will increasingly encounter HEAT, HESH and ATGMs which pose a serious threat to the vehicle. The IS-3 also has a rather exposed and exploitable trap-shot directly under the gun barrel when the turret is facing directly forward, which even conventional rounds can use. It is also recommended to make sure that the enemy tank has around the same height advantage as you, as the armor plate on top of the gun breech can be penetrated by enemy shells shot from above, damaging the gun breech and possibly killing your tank.

One important thing to note is that the stock grind of this vehicle is rather bad. When stock, the vehicle is sluggish, and has a shell that really struggles to penetrate some of the well armored tanks of BRs 6.7-7.7, which you will regularly face. This will lead to you being more of a support tank when stock, but as you reasearch more modifications the IS-3 becomes better.

=== General Gameplay ===
One of the most important points about the IS-3 is that angling does not work - your pike nose will become easier to get through as you angle your tank, so handle all enemies head-on, if possible. However your gun is still the same 122 mm cannon as on the initial [[IS-2]] at which is situated at a lower battle rating, so it is understandable that you will struggle to penetrate many heavy enemies frontally now at the higher battle rating, even with the new shell that can go through 230mm of armor at close range.

In the current meta, faster vehicles are more viable than heavier ones, and the IS-3 is at a big disadvantage especially in Realistic. Your armour is amazing in a downtier (to Battle Ratings 6.3 / 6.7), but it's basically non-existent in an uptier (to Battle Ratings 8.0 / 8.3, where you start seeing APFSDS and HEAT shells all the time), so knowing when to take this tank out is also a big part of gameplay with it.

'''Arcade Battles'''

Surprisingly, the IS-3 can do very well in Arcade. Many enemies in Arcade don't seem to know that the best way to kill the IS-3 with a conventional round is via a shot-trap, so your survivability is increased. Moreover, when fully upgraded, the IS-3 becomes extremely mobile in Arcade allowing you to get into cover after shooting, or quickly advance on an unsuspecting enemy. The best strategy against a single enemy is to just rush them - the terrain usually bounces your tank around slightly making it very difficult to penetrate, and the sheer sight of a heavy tank speeding towards the enemy will cause some panic.

The more experienced tanker will know when to take the IS-3 out in battle and when to use other vehicles. If you know that the game is an uptier (e.g. by checking the statistics tab, or by the map draw) you should decide against the IS-3 and take out a tank like the [[BMP-1]], which fits better into the high tier meta. Also, long-range engagements are a gamble, since your top round and long reload times make it difficult to successfully attack enemies, while they might have a HEAT shell that disregards distance. However, the rush strategy can work here as well, especially if you turn your tank in random directions once in a while, making it harder for opponents to aim at you.

'''Realistic Battles'''

In Realistic, the IS-3 is much more difficult to play, because enemies take more time to aim at weakspots and your mobility is toned down. Due to that, you need to take time with your own shots and know your opponents - is there an ammo-rank in the side of the Caernarvon, or should you shoot at the driver's position? and etc. Generally, you need to play with stealth in Realistic, because the person who shoots first is usually the one that gets the kill. Flanking can, and does, work with the IS-3, not because of speed, but because your teammates are shot and you can return fire at the perpetrators and continue your advance. Moreover, some light tanks that are prevalent at the higher Battle Ratings outright cannot penetrate you with their main guns (most of them have ATGMs, though).

Against ATGMs, it's a good idea to use your machine guns to shoot at the ground in front of your tank - this makes a small smoke-screen out of dirt and rubble that makes it difficult for enemies to aim their ATGMs. Keep in mind though, that you should still move your tank away from the initial position, because enemies will try to predict where you are going (it's a good idea to shoot machine guns increasingly to the left, while moving to the right, because it causes a sense of your tank moving with machine guns, while actually, you're moving in the other direction).

'''General Tips'''

The IS-3 is relatively versatile, but excels in close-range combat against conventional rounds - it is very good at taking on other heavy tanks such as the [[T32|T32]] and [[Caernarvon]].

* It has a reasonably decent top speed, and on solid ground, acceptable acceleration, allowing it to reach cap points and combat areas fairly promptly and set up in positions to allow it to make the most of the frontal armour.
* When down tiered (6.3-6.7 games), the IS-3 performs excellently, able to push forward and play its 'breakthrough' role with impunity.
* Good climbing capabilities allow the IS-3 to reach some surprising positions for sniping or supporting teammates pushing points. Despite the gun's effectiveness being reduced at the range, the armour of the vehicle becomes much more effective as weak spots become significantly harder to hit.
* Since the IS-3 can keep up with most medium tanks like the Centurions, Panthers or T-44s, it can be played as early-game heavy support for those lighter, more vulnerable hulls to assist in taking objectives.
* In up tiered games (7.7-8.3), the IS-3 can come across a lot of chemical rounds and must be played significantly more carefully, as its armour simply cannot compete with the high penetration of these rounds.

Play this tank almost any way that is favourable. A few tips to increase this vehicle's performance:

* Always face towards the enemies directly, avoid exposing the weak hull sides.
* Cover the frontal weak spots if necessary with the gun's large barrel by pointing it downwards. It's better to have the gun barrel destroyed than it is to lose crew members and be potentially unable to reverse out of bad situations.
* Stop only to fire. Movement makes the weak spots harder to target. Even when there is no destination to move to, go back and forth a few meters just so that the IS-3 hull wobbles a bit on start and stop.
* Plan aggressive pushes and movements around enemy locations. The gun has negligible depression and very bad horizontal traverse, making reacting to enemies slow and risky, and impossible if they're on lower ground.
* Avoid engaging vehicles over hills by climbing the hill as it will be hard to aim with only -3° depression and the lower plate will be vulnerable due to the angling.
* Avoid fighting tanks with HEAT/HESH/APFSDS.
* Be careful when brawling at extremely close ranges, as the top of the turret is quite vulnerable due to the vehicle's low profile.
* Avoid facing elevated opponents, as this decreases LOS thickness for hull and exposes turret top.
* Carrying less ammo helps increase survivability from penetrating shots to the turret (ammunition is spread around the edges of the turret).

=== The Stock Grind ===
This vehicle can be a pain to play when stock, because enemies will try to kill you in any way, often by setting you on fire 3 times in a row. Your tracks and gun barrel are frequent targets as well, and without Parts or FPE gameplay is going to be painful. Due to this, you must '''research Parts and FPE first''', this is extremely important. Generally, you would want to be behind your teammates, to let them get shot more instead of you, when reloaded you can poke out and shoot your shot, right before going back into the cover or behind teammates. Sniping is an option, but it's not the most viable since there's quite a lot of bullet drop and missing your shots will cause the very long reload.

===Modules===
In tier, I, ''Parts'' and ''Horizontal Drive should, of course, be the prioritized modules for repairs and turret traverse speed. These two will also unlock Tier II modifications and grant access to the very vital ''FPE'' and ''M61 shot'', the former for preservation against fires and the latter to improve damage in the battlefield.''

Then in tier III, ''Crew Replenishment'' should be obtained for crew survival improvement and the APCR ''T45 shot'' for improved armour-piercing power. After that, everything else could be done at one's own priorities, but ''Engine'' should be invested for better automotive performances and ''M89'' for the smoke capabilities.

=== Pros and cons ===


'''Pros''':

* Very good frontal armour. Upper and lower plates are basically immune to all conventional shells
* First Soviet heavy tank that comes with the V-shaped hull and ridiculously strong spaced armour lining the sides
* Really strong turret. Even the sides of the turret are heavily armoured and angled
* Very powerful 122 mm gun; top APHE shell has high penetration and very good damage potential
* Good top speed and manoeuvrability
* Fearsome reputation

'''Cons''':

* Horrifying reload speed; despite the armour, fighting two tanks at once is ill-advised
* Armor is still no match for APDS and HEAT
* Terrible gun depression; finding a good hull-down location to use the gun is difficult
* Despite the good turret, the left side of the gun mantlet can be penetrated by conventional rounds with good penetration (Like the 88 mm shell found on the Tiger II)
* Bottom of the gun mantlet is an infamous shot trap
* While a small target, the entirety of the turret ring is exposed
* Ammo is strewn throughout the entire crew compartment
* Roof-mounted 12.7 mm machine gun only has a 50 box magazine before needing to reload
* Only four crew members in a small crew compartment; any APHE shell that penetrates will likely knock out the entire crew

== History ==


===Development===
Late in 1944, development of the next generation of the IS heavy tanks started, following after the [[IS-2 (1944)|IS-2]] tank. The tank was to be better in armour compared to the IS-2 as a response to the new [[Tiger II (H)|Tiger II]] that showed up and is able to penetrate the front armour of the hull. The project was codenamed ''Kirovets-1'' and was headed by General Nikolai Dukhov.<ref name="ZalogaIS">Zaloga Steven. ''IS-2 Heavy Tank 1944-73'' Great Britain: Osprey Publishing Ltd., 1994</ref> Design bureaus at the Chelyabinsk Tractor Plant "Tankograd" (ChTZ) and Factory No. 100 worked on the design of the vehicle. A focus on the armour improvement came from a study by an engineer in the teams that most tank losses occurred from hits to the front turret, with the front hull coming in second. The two design bureaus came up with their own ideas on how to make the armour of the tank more effective, with ChTZ developing an extremely rounded turret and No.100 developing a new angled front armour in a shape of a "beak". Soviet command decided that the design should use both features in the armour as both ideas were promising. The prototype vehicle was then produced at ChTZ and completed in October 1944 when it trialled and accepted for production as the '''IS-3'''. Production for the IS-3 started in 1945 at ChTZ alongside the IS-2 production. As the first tanks rolled off production lines, it was determined that the design was rushed and unproven with its multiple mechanical problems, some of which included the armour plates welds cracking open from the vibration of cross-country movement and muzzle blast from the gun. Because of this, the IS-3 was not available in large numbers to be committed into battle, leading to their absence in the final months of World War II before Germany surrendered in May 1945.<ref name="ZalogaIS" />

Despite its rough introduction and prevalent mechanical issues, the IS-3 continued production with gradual fixes to the front hull, final drive, and engine mounts. The Chelyabinsk factory produced IS-3s from 1945 to 1951 for a total of 1,800 tanks.<ref name="ZalogaIS" />

===Usage===
Though the IS-3 was not available in large numbers at the start, the Soviets attempted to transport the IS-3 to Germany in April 1945 to assist in the fightings, but they arrived too late to be committed to any fighting. It is reported that the IS-3 did see service during the Soviet invasion of Manchuria in August 1945 to fulfil Stalin's promise in the Yalta Conference to invade Japan after the capitulation of Germany, however not much information is present about this topic.<ref name="ZalogaIS" />

The end of the most destructive war in history did not waver the Soviet's opinion of the IS-3 however, and the Soviet command had the 52 IS-3 tanks from the 2nd Guards Tank Army paraded in the Berlin Victory Parade on September 7, 1945.<ref name="ZalogaIS" /> The reveal of the IS-3 in the parade came as a huge shock to the Western Allies who saw the IS-3 as a nigh-invulnerable breakthrough tank with their heavy armour. The response to the tank was there to develop their own heavy tanks able to do the same job and with a gun able to fight the IS-3, such as the British [[Conqueror|Conqueror]] and the American [[M103|M103]] heavy tanks. Despite its very ominous stature, the IS-3 was still plagued with mechanical issues at this point with its poor armour quality and mechanical reliability. A short modernization program from 1948 to 1952 was made to fix these issues with tanks in production and in the depots with no change to the name designation. The IS-3 was then modernized further in the 1960s to keep it up with changing times. The modifications done were similar to the IS-2M, which gave the IS-3 extra external fuel tanks, storage bins, and protective side skirts as well as an improved engine, engine filtration, new radios, new machine guns, new gun optics, and many more small changes. The modernized IS-3 was named the ''IS-3M''.<ref name="ZalogaIS" />

One of the few actions the IS-3 saw in the post-war era with the Soviet Union was in 1956 during the Hungarian Revolution with a single heavy tank regiment. The Soviet's heavy tank regiments used to consist of 21 heavy tanks during World War II. In 1947, the regiment composition is changed to between 44-46 heavy tanks and 21 heavy assault guns in a mixed formation. Another change between 1958-1959 saw this mixed unit changed to consist of only heavy tanks but now consists of up to 100 heavy tanks. Despite their armour, a number of heavy tanks were lost before the Soviets were able to crush the revolution. The IS-3 after that did not see much action afterwards in the Soviet Union's hands before it started to be replaced by the newer [[T-10M|T-10]] heavy tank in the 1960s. During this time, many heavy tanks were transported to the border between the Soviet Union and China in face of the rising tension between the two countries.<ref name="ZalogaIS" />

The IS-3 would also be supplied to the Soviet Union's allies such as Poland, Czechoslovakia, North Korea, and Egypt. Poland and Czechoslovakia never adopted the tank after trials however, thus leaving only North Korea and Egypt as the main foreign users of the IS-3. The Egyptians used the IS-3M, 100 of which were received from the Soviets, against the Israelis in the Six-Day War in 1967. Of all the tanks used in that war, the IS-3M was the most feared by the Israelis due to the thick front armour. Israeli infantry's standard anti-tank weaponry could not penetrate through the front, and tanks as modern as the [[M48A1|M48 Patton]] also could not defeat the IS-3M. Nevertheless, the better tactics and training among the Israeli tank units were able to prevail against the IS-3M, with the IS-3 being commented by the Egyptians for its low rate of fire and outdated fire-controls to the crew's deficiency in combat. Of the 100, 73 tanks were lost during the Six-Day War. The Israeli managed to capture a number of IS-3 and pressed them into service, though only for a short period before its faults become more problematic than its benefits. The engine on the IS-3 proved to be unsuitable in the desert climate of the Middle East, and an attempt by the Israeli to alleviate this by replacing the engine with one from the [[T-54 (1951)|T-54]], though this did not prove fruitful. In the Yom Kippur War in 1973, both the Egyptians and Israeli used the IS-3M to a smaller degree than the Six Day War, the IS-3 not seeing much combat in the Egyptian forces and were used as dug-in pillboxes on the Jordan River by the Israelis.<ref name="ZalogaIS" />

===Decline and Discontinuation===
With the introduction of the lighter and more mobile [[T-54 (1951)|T-54]] main battle tank in the 1950s, the IS-3 saw less usage among the Soviet front-line as it started to become obsolete. Further development to improve and continue the IS tank series became the [[IS-4M|IS-4]], IS-7, and the [[T-10M|T-10]] tanks. However, in 1960, Nikita Khrushchev, the new premier of the Soviet Union after Stalin died, ordered heavy tank production to be terminated in wake of a new military strategy of missiles rather than conventional forces.<ref name="ZalogaIS" /> His orders are not without reason, heavy tanks are difficult to maintain and transport across the huge Soviet Union, which also did not have many bridges that could support a heavy tank. Another reason was the changing anti-tank technology that made tank armour extremely vulnerable, especially against the new anti-tank missiles that are becoming more and more efficient at their task in destroying tanks. Still, the order did not mean the dissolution of heavy tank units as by 1978, there were still up to 2,300 heavy tanks in the Far East. To this day, many heavy tanks are still either in inactive reserves or dug in as pillboxes along the borders of the Soviet Union.<ref name="ZalogaIS" /> The heavy tank's place in the Soviet Union's military was replaced by the main battle tanks (MBT) like the T-64, which presented a much better firepower, armour, and mobility for only a weight of 35 tons, a technological sign on the rising prevalence of the MBT.

=== In-game description ===
In spite of the fact that the IS-2 lived up to expectations, a decision was made a year after the end of the war to create a tank with even higher characteristics. Its unique welded hull and cast turret construction significantly increased its armour strength in comparison to the IS-2, from which it took many key parts and components.

The hull was welded together from rolled armour plates and contained no cast armour pieces. The dual-sloping inclined nose design allowed a driver's hatch to be placed in it, significantly improved visibility in the field and provided high armour strength to the frontal hull. For increased fire safety, its fuel tanks were moved from the fighting compartment to the engine compartment. It was armed with a 122 mm D-25T cannon with a coaxial 7.62 mm DT machine gun. The turret's roof was equipped with a 12.7 mm DShK anti-aircraft machine gun. It had no bow or rear machine guns.

At the beginning of their deployment, a range of flaws resulting from a number of design errors and miscalculations was revealed in these tanks. Among other issues, these included failures in the engine, gearbox, and parts of the armoured hull in the region of the engine compartment. In 1948-1952, all IS-3 tanks were reworked and modernised. The engine brackets were reinforced, the gearbox fixings changed, the underturret plate strengthened, the main friction coupling design updated, and the sealing enhanced on the final drive and road wheels. The 10-RK radio set was replaced with the 10-RT radio set. These changes increased the tank's mass to 48.8 tonnes.

The first experimental group of IS-3 heavy tanks left their factories in 1945. In total, 2,311 of them were made by mid-1946.
They were not deployed in combat in the Great Patriotic War. There are some indications that the IS-3 was used in the defeat of the Japanese army in August 1945.

== Media ==


;Videos
{{Youtube-gallery|_-YJo8JRBEM|'''Shooting Range #190''' - ''Metal Beasts'' section at 1:00 discusses the IS-3.}}

;Skins

* [http://live.warthunder.com/feed/camouflages/?q=%23is3 Skins and camouflages for the IS-3 from live.warthunder]

==References==
<references />

== 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 ==


* [http://forum.warthunder.com/index.php?/topic/227061-vehicle-profile-is-3/#entry4370635 [Vehicle Profile<nowiki>]</nowiki> IS-3]

{{USSR heavy tanks}}

IS-3

2020-04-21T12:00:36Z

U78096411: /* Mobility */

{{Specs-Card|code=ussr_is_3}}

== Description ==

[[File:GarageImage_IS-3.jpg|420px|thumb|left]]
{{break}}
The '''{{Specs|name}}''' is a rank {{Specs|rank}} Soviet heavy tank {{Battle-rating}}. It was introduced during the closed beta testing for Ground Forces before [[Update 1.41]]. The IS-3 keeps the same [[D-25T (122 mm)|D-25T]] gun as its predecessor while ''drastically'' upgrading its armour without hindering mobility too much.

Anyone familiar with the [[IS-2]] and [[IS-2 (1944)]] will sit comfortably behind the driver's controls of this behemoth.

As with previous IS models, the IS-3 sports the same D-25T 122mm cannon, with its awesome destructive potential. Experienced tankers will know which weak points to look for on most targets, although the weapon's effectiveness increases dramatically once the BR-417D ammunition is researched, upgrading its penetration from 207mm to 230mm while retaining most of the HE filler. At 7.3 BR, the IS-3 will come up against many other heavy tanks with large, slow reloading guns, making the playing field much more even. Despite this, always beware the faster, lightly armoured targets such as the [[Ru 251]], [[Leopard I]], and other vehicles that can essentially ignore the IS-3's armour like the [[FV4005|FV4005]]. As with the IS-2 mod. 1944, the IS-3 has a spindle-mounted Heavy Machine Gun, good for warding off strafing aircraft or deterring light vehicles.

The IS-3 once again demonstrates sub-par maneuverability, despite being relatively light for a heavy tank. It has an engine that produces a measly 671 horsepower, making the vehicle feel sluggish when attempting to initiate a turn from both standstills and when moving. Its' acceleration also leaves much to be desired, however, it does have a reasonably high top speed, and usually will reach it eventually regardless of the surface it is driving on. Fortunately, as with all late Soviet heavy tanks, the reverse speed of the IS-3 is very respectable, often allowing it the time necessary to back out of bad situations to reload or repair. The reverse gears and low forward gears allow the vehicle to climb surprisingly sharp slopes, despite what some might expect from such a large vehicle.

The most obvious changes over the previous IS tanks are of course the redesigned turret and the sharply angled 'pike' nose. The front is not only angled, but the armour is also relatively thick, with 110mm on both the top and bottom, angled at 54°-56° and 54° respectively. As with previous designs, the IS-3 has somewhat sub-par side and rear armour, and angling should be avoided. The redesigned turret is much more resilient than the older designs, with more angling, a much smaller flat area around the mantlet, and significantly thicker casting. The tank is somewhat vulnerable to trap shots and turret ring penetration - these can be somewhat negated by depressing the gun and blocking the vulnerable areas.

The IS-3 is the definition of a 'breakthrough' tank, which excels at close-range, front-on conflict where the chances of flanking are minimal and drivers can take advantage of the heavy frontal armour and reverse speed. When up-tiered, or against certain enemies with HEAT, HESH or ATGMs, IS-3 drivers should play cautiously as the tank is extremely vulnerable to high-penetration and chemical rounds.

== General info ==
=== Survivability and armour ===

'''Armour type:'''

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

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Armour !! Front !! Sides !! Rear !! Roof
|-
| Hull || 110 mm (54-56°) ''Front glacis'' 110 mm (54°) ''Lower glacis'' || 90 mm (0-40°) ''Top'' 20 mm (60°) ''Bottom'' || 60 mm (47°) ''Top'' 60 mm (41-42°) ''Bottom'' || 20 mm
|-
| Turret || 250 mm (1-78°) ''Turret front'' 100 + 250 mm (9-79°) ''Gun mantlet''|| 75-220 mm (33-69°) || 70-120 mm (22-52°) || 20 mm ''Front, Hatch roof'' 40 mm ''Center'' 75 mm ''Sides''
|-
|}
'''Notes:'''

* Suspension wheels are 20 mm thick while tracks are 30 mm thick.
* The thickest armour of the tank is at the front – the "beak" at the front of the hull raises the effective thickness of the armour from 110 to around 180 – 200 mm, depending on the exact spot.
* The turret front of the IS-3 is an also fairly well armoured, with 250 mm of heavily sloped armour equating to around 400 mm effective thickness.
* Turret side armour is not equal throughout its length. In the side middle, it is 130 mm, then bordering the rear armour is 150 mm thick.
* Gun mantlet side and bottom are boosted by the 250 mm of the turret front, whereas the top of gun mantlet has no armour behind it.
* Side armour of the hull has an additional 5 mm of sheet metal on above the suspension area.
* Turret ring is 200mm thick with a 20mm "collar" covering the front and sides.
* Upper half of the side armor is at a very steep angle, meaning conventional rounds will simply bounce

=== Mobility ===


The mobility and speed of the IS-3 is decent, and is somewhere between other heavy tanks of the same tier and mediums tanks of the same tier. The IS-3 drives very similar to it's predecessors the IS-1 and IS-2. Whenever the IS-3 turns at all, much of the speed of the tank is instantly lost, making the hull turn rate IS-3 lacklustre, especially without neutral steering. This is, of course, akin to those previously mentioned predecessors. {{tankMobility|abMinHp= 671|rbMinHp= 460|}}

== Armaments ==
=== Main armament ===

{{main|D-25T (122 mm)}}

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! colspan="6" | [[D-25T (122 mm)|122 mm D-25T]]
|-
! colspan="3" rowspan="1" style="width:5em" |Capacity
! rowspan="1" | Vertical guidance
! rowspan="1" | Horizontal guidance
! rowspan="1" | Stabilizer
|-
| colspan="3" | 28 || -3°/+20° || ±180° || N/A
|-
! colspan="6" | Turret rotation speed (°/s)
|-
! style="width:4em" |Mode
! style="width:4em" |Stock
! style="width:4em" |Upgraded
! style="width:4em" |Prior + Full crew
! style="width:4em" |Prior + Expert qualif.
! style="width:4em" |Prior + Ace qualif.
|-
| ''Arcade'' ||7.28||10.08||12.24||13.54||14.4
|-
| ''Realistic'' ||5.36||6.30||7.65||8.43|| 9.00
|-
! colspan="4" | Reloading rate (seconds)
|-
! colspan="1" style="width:4em" |Stock
! colspan="1" style="width:4em" |Prior + Full crew
! colspan="1" style="width:4em" |Prior + Expert qualif.
! colspan="1" style="width:4em" |Prior + Ace qualif.
|-
|26.0||23.0||21.2||20.0
|-
|}

===== Ammunition =====
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center" width="100%"
! colspan="8" | Penetration statistics
|-
! rowspan="2" data-sort-type="text" | Ammunition
! rowspan="2" class="unsortable" | Type of warhead
! colspan="6" | '''Penetration''' '''''in mm''''' '''@ 0° Angle of Attack'''
|-
! 10m
! 100m
! 500m
! 1000m
! 1500m
! 2000m
|-
| BR-471 || APHE ||205||201||183||162||144||128
|-
| BR-471B || APHEBC ||205||203||191||178||166||155
|-
| BR-471D || APCBC || 230 ||227||215||200||186||173
|-
| OF-471 || HE ||37||37||37||37||37||37
|-
|}
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center" width="100%"
! colspan="11" | Shell details
|-
! rowspan="2" data-sort-type="text" | Ammunition
! rowspan="2" class="unsortable" | Type of warhead
! rowspan="2" |Velocity in m/s
! rowspan="2" |Projectile Mass in kg
! rowspan="2" | ''Fuse delay''
''in m:''
! rowspan="2" | ''Fuse sensitivity''
''in mm:''
! rowspan="2" | ''Explosive Mass in g (TNT equivalent):''
! rowspan="2" | ''Normalization At 30° from horizontal:''
! colspan="3" | ''Ricochet:''
|-
! 0%
! 50%
! 100%
|-
| BR-471 || APHE || 795 || 25 || 1.2 ||19||246.4|| -1° || 47° || 60° || 65°
|-
| BR-471B || APHEBC ||795|| 25 || 1.2 ||19||246.4|| +4° || 48° || 63° || 71°
|-
| BR-471D || APCBC || 800 || 25 || 1.2 ||19||192.5|| +4° || 48° || 63° || 71°
|-
| OF-471 || HE || 800 || 25 || 0.1 || 0.1 || 3,600 || +0° || 79° || 80° || 81°
|-
|}

===== [[Ammo racks|Ammo racks]] =====
[[File:Ammoracks IS-3.png|right|thumb|x250px|[[Ammo racks|Ammo racks]] of the IS-3.]]

The D-25T cannon fires two-piece ammunition that are stored all around the crew compartment. The majority of the projectiles are found lining the sides and rear of the turret while the majority of the propellant found in the hull, with two large piles flanking the driver and a few kept on the hull floor and rear. Next to the cannon breach on the loader's side is a small ready rack containing 5 propellant charges, with the 5 accompanying projectiles found to the loader's right against the turret side. The time it takes the loader to load one round into the ready rack from the stowage racks is about 21 seconds.

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! class="wikitable unsortable" |Full ammo
! class="wikitable unsortable" |1st rack empty
! class="wikitable unsortable" |2nd rack empty
! class="wikitable unsortable" |3rd rack empty
! class="wikitable unsortable" |4th rack empty
! class="wikitable unsortable" |5th rack empty
! class="wikitable unsortable" |6th rack empty
! class="wikitable unsortable" |Visual discrepancy
|-
|| '''28''' || 23 ''(+5)'' || 17 ''(+11)'' || 13 ''(+15)'' || 10 ''(+18)'' || 8 ''(+20)'' || 1 ''(+27)'' || style="text-align:center" | no
|-
|}

* Recommended ammo load is 12, which empty all of the racks but racks 1 and 6.
* Ammo Rack 1 is a ready rack, and takes priority in being filled at the beginning of the battle, then fills racks 6 through 2.
* Full reload speed will be realized as long as ammo exists in the ready racks. If all three ready racks are empty, a penalty to reload speed will occur.
* Simply not firing when the gun is loaded will load ammo from racks 2-6 into rack 1, as long as there is ammo in racks 2-6. Firing will interrupt the loading of the ready racks.

=== Machine guns ===

{{main|DShK (12.7 mm)|DT (7.62 mm)}}

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! colspan="7" | [[DShK (12.7 mm)|12.7 mm DShK]]
|-
! colspan="7" | ''Pintle mount''
|-
! colspan="4" rowspan="1" style="width:5em" |Capacity (Belt capacity)
! rowspan="1" | Fire rate (shots/minute)
! rowspan="1" | Vertical guidance
! rowspan="1" | Horizontal guidance
|-
| colspan="4" | 300 (50) || 600 || -4°/+85° || ±180°
|-
|}
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! colspan="7" | [[DT (7.62 mm)|7.62 mm DT]]
|-
! colspan="7" | ''Coaxial mount''
|-
! colspan="4" rowspan="1" style="width:5em" |Capacity (Belt capacity)
! rowspan="1" | Fire rate (shots/minute)
! rowspan="1" | Vertical guidance
! rowspan="1" | Horizontal guidance
|-
| colspan="4" | 2,000 (63) || 600 || N/A || N/A
|-
|}

== Usage in battles ==


The IS-3, continuing the tradition of the Russian IS line of heavy tanks, sports a powerful 122mm cannon, strong frontal armour and reasonable mobility for its class. As with its predecessors, it excels at dispatching anything it can penetrate with its explosive-filled rounds, and relies heavily on its excellent reverse speed and sharply angled armour to keep itself out of trouble. However, an IS-3 commander will increasingly encounter HEAT, HESH and ATGMs which pose a serious threat to the vehicle.

=== General Gameplay ===
One of the most important points about the IS-3 is that angling does not work - your pike nose will become easier to get through as you angle your tank, so handle all enemies head-on, if possible. However your gun is still the same 122 mm cannon as on the initial [[IS-2]] at which is situated at a lower battle rating, so it is understandable that you will struggle to penetrate many heavy enemies frontally now at the higher battle rating.

In the current meta, faster vehicles are more viable than heavier ones, and the IS-3 is at a big disadvantage especially in Realistic. Your armour is amazing in a downtier (to Battle Ratings 6.3 / 6.7), but it's basically non-existent in an uptier (to Battle Ratings 8.0 / 8.3, where you start seeing APFSDS and HEAT shells all the time), so knowing when to take this tank out is also a big part of gameplay with it.

'''Arcade Battles'''

Surprisingly, the IS-3 can do very well in Arcade. Many enemies in Arcade don't seem to know that the best way to kill the IS-3 with a conventional round is via a shot-trap, so your survivability is increased. Moreover, when fully upgraded, the IS-3 becomes extremely mobile in Arcade allowing you to get into cover after shooting, or quickly advance on an unsuspecting enemy. The best strategy against a single enemy is to just rush them - the terrain usually bounces your tank around slightly making it very difficult to penetrate, and the sheer sight of a heavy tank speeding towards the enemy will cause some panic.

The more experienced tanker will know when to take the IS-3 out in battle and when to use other vehicles. If you know that the game is an uptier (e.g. by checking the statistics tab, or by the map draw) you should decide against the IS-3 and take out a tank like the [[BMP-1]], which fits better into the high tier meta. Also, long-range engagements are a gamble, since your top round and long reload times make it difficult to successfully attack enemies, while they might have a HEAT shell that disregards distance. However, the rush strategy can work here as well, especially if you turn your tank in random directions once in a while, making it harder for opponents to aim at you.

'''Realistic Battles'''

In Realistic, the IS-3 is much more difficult to play, because enemies take more time to aim at weakspots and your mobility is toned down. Due to that, you need to take time with your own shots and know your opponents - is there an ammo-rank in the side of the Caernarvon, or should you shoot at the driver's position? and etc. Generally, you need to play with stealth in Realistic, because the person who shoots first is usually the one that gets the kill. Flanking can, and does, work with the IS-3, not because of speed, but because your teammates are shot and you can return fire at the perpetrators and continue your advance. Moreover, some light tanks that are prevalent at the higher Battle Ratings outright cannot penetrate you with their main guns (most of them have ATGMs, though).

Against ATGMs, it's a good idea to use your machine guns to shoot at the ground in front of your tank - this makes a small smoke-screen out of dirt and rubble that makes it difficult for enemies to aim their ATGMs. Keep in mind though, that you should still move your tank away from the initial position, because enemies will try to predict where you are going (it's a good idea to shoot machine guns increasingly to the left, while moving to the right, because it causes a sense of your tank moving with machine guns, while actually, you're moving in the other direction).

'''General Tips'''

The IS-3 is relatively versatile, but excels in close-range combat against conventional rounds - it is very good at taking on other heavy tanks such as the [[T32|T32]] and [[Caernarvon]].

* It has a reasonably decent top speed, and on solid ground, acceptable acceleration, allowing it to reach cap points and combat areas fairly promptly and set up in positions to allow it to make the most of the frontal armour.
* When down tiered (6.3-6.7 games), the IS-3 performs excellently, able to push forward and play its 'breakthrough' role with impunity.
* Good climbing capabilities allow the IS-3 to reach some surprising positions for sniping or supporting teammates pushing points. Despite the gun's effectiveness being reduced at the range, the armour of the vehicle becomes much more effective as weak spots become significantly harder to hit.
* Since the IS-3 can keep up with most medium tanks like the Centurions, Panthers or T-44s, it can be played as early-game heavy support for those lighter, more vulnerable hulls to assist in taking objectives.
* In up tiered games (7.7-8.3), the IS-3 can come across a lot of chemical rounds and must be played significantly more carefully, as its armour simply cannot compete with the high penetration of these rounds.

Play this tank almost any way that is favourable. A few tips to increase this vehicle's performance:

* Always face towards the enemies directly, avoid exposing the weak hull sides.
* Cover the frontal weak spots if necessary with the gun's large barrel by pointing it downwards. It's better to have the gun barrel destroyed than it is to lose crew members and be potentially unable to reverse out of bad situations.
* Stop only to fire. Movement makes the weak spots harder to target. Even when there is no destination to move to, go back and forth a few meters just so that the IS-3 hull wobbles a bit on start and stop.
* Plan aggressive pushes and movements around enemy locations. The gun has negligible depression and very bad horizontal traverse, making reacting to enemies slow and risky, and impossible if they're on lower ground.
* Avoid engaging vehicles over hills by climbing the hill as it will be hard to aim with only -3° depression and the lower plate will be vulnerable due to the angling.
* Avoid fighting tanks with HEAT/HESH/APFSDS.
* Be careful when brawling at extremely close ranges, as the top of the turret is quite vulnerable due to the vehicle's low profile.
* Avoid facing elevated opponents, as this decreases LOS thickness for hull and exposes turret top.
* Carrying less ammo helps increase survivability from penetrating shots to the turret (ammunition is spread around the edges of the turret).

=== The Stock Grind ===
This vehicle can be a pain to play when stock, because enemies will try to kill you in any way, often by setting you on fire 3 times in a row. Your tracks and gun barrel are frequent targets as well, and without Parts or FPE gameplay is going to be painful. Due to this, you must '''research Parts and FPE first''', this is extremely important. Generally, you would want to be behind your teammates, to let them get shot more instead of you, when reloaded you can poke out and shoot your shot, right before going back into the cover or behind teammates. Sniping is an option, but it's not the most viable since there's quite a lot of bullet drop and missing your shots will cause the very long reload.

===Modules===
In tier, I, ''Parts'' and ''Horizontal Drive should, of course, be the prioritized modules for repairs and turret traverse speed. These two will also unlock Tier II modifications and grant access to the very vital ''FPE'' and ''M61 shot'', the former for preservation against fires and the latter to improve damage in the battlefield.''

Then in tier III, ''Crew Replenishment'' should be obtained for crew survival improvement and the APCR ''T45 shot'' for improved armour-piercing power. After that, everything else could be done at one's own priorities, but ''Engine'' should be invested for better automotive performances and ''M89'' for the smoke capabilities.

=== Pros and cons ===


'''Pros''':

* Very good frontal armour. Upper and lower plates are basically immune to all conventional shells
* First Soviet heavy tank that comes with the V-shaped hull and ridiculously strong spaced armour lining the sides
* Really strong turret. Even the sides of the turret are heavily armoured and angled
* Very powerful 122 mm gun; top APHE shell has high penetration and very good damage potential
* Good top speed and manoeuvrability
* Fearsome reputation

'''Cons''':

* Horrifying reload speed; despite the armour, fighting two tanks at once is ill-advised
* Armor is still no match for APDS and HEAT
* Terrible gun depression; finding a good hull-down location to use the gun is difficult
* Despite the good turret, the left side of the gun mantlet can be penetrated by conventional rounds with good penetration (Like the 88 mm shell found on the Tiger II)
* Bottom of the gun mantlet is an infamous shot trap
* While a small target, the entirety of the turret ring is exposed
* Ammo is strewn throughout the entire crew compartment
* Roof-mounted 12.7 mm machine gun only has a 50 box magazine before needing to reload
* Only four crew members in a small crew compartment; any APHE shell that penetrates will likely knock out the entire crew

== History ==


===Development===
Late in 1944, development of the next generation of the IS heavy tanks started, following after the [[IS-2 (1944)|IS-2]] tank. The tank was to be better in armour compared to the IS-2 as a response to the new [[Tiger II (H)|Tiger II]] that showed up and is able to penetrate the front armour of the hull. The project was codenamed ''Kirovets-1'' and was headed by General Nikolai Dukhov.<ref name="ZalogaIS">Zaloga Steven. ''IS-2 Heavy Tank 1944-73'' Great Britain: Osprey Publishing Ltd., 1994</ref> Design bureaus at the Chelyabinsk Tractor Plant "Tankograd" (ChTZ) and Factory No. 100 worked on the design of the vehicle. A focus on the armour improvement came from a study by an engineer in the teams that most tank losses occurred from hits to the front turret, with the front hull coming in second. The two design bureaus came up with their own ideas on how to make the armour of the tank more effective, with ChTZ developing an extremely rounded turret and No.100 developing a new angled front armour in a shape of a "beak". Soviet command decided that the design should use both features in the armour as both ideas were promising. The prototype vehicle was then produced at ChTZ and completed in October 1944 when it trialled and accepted for production as the '''IS-3'''. Production for the IS-3 started in 1945 at ChTZ alongside the IS-2 production. As the first tanks rolled off production lines, it was determined that the design was rushed and unproven with its multiple mechanical problems, some of which included the armour plates welds cracking open from the vibration of cross-country movement and muzzle blast from the gun. Because of this, the IS-3 was not available in large numbers to be committed into battle, leading to their absence in the final months of World War II before Germany surrendered in May 1945.<ref name="ZalogaIS" />

Despite its rough introduction and prevalent mechanical issues, the IS-3 continued production with gradual fixes to the front hull, final drive, and engine mounts. The Chelyabinsk factory produced IS-3s from 1945 to 1951 for a total of 1,800 tanks.<ref name="ZalogaIS" />

===Usage===
Though the IS-3 was not available in large numbers at the start, the Soviets attempted to transport the IS-3 to Germany in April 1945 to assist in the fightings, but they arrived too late to be committed to any fighting. It is reported that the IS-3 did see service during the Soviet invasion of Manchuria in August 1945 to fulfil Stalin's promise in the Yalta Conference to invade Japan after the capitulation of Germany, however not much information is present about this topic.<ref name="ZalogaIS" />

The end of the most destructive war in history did not waver the Soviet's opinion of the IS-3 however, and the Soviet command had the 52 IS-3 tanks from the 2nd Guards Tank Army paraded in the Berlin Victory Parade on September 7, 1945.<ref name="ZalogaIS" /> The reveal of the IS-3 in the parade came as a huge shock to the Western Allies who saw the IS-3 as a nigh-invulnerable breakthrough tank with their heavy armour. The response to the tank was there to develop their own heavy tanks able to do the same job and with a gun able to fight the IS-3, such as the British [[Conqueror|Conqueror]] and the American [[M103|M103]] heavy tanks. Despite its very ominous stature, the IS-3 was still plagued with mechanical issues at this point with its poor armour quality and mechanical reliability. A short modernization program from 1948 to 1952 was made to fix these issues with tanks in production and in the depots with no change to the name designation. The IS-3 was then modernized further in the 1960s to keep it up with changing times. The modifications done were similar to the IS-2M, which gave the IS-3 extra external fuel tanks, storage bins, and protective side skirts as well as an improved engine, engine filtration, new radios, new machine guns, new gun optics, and many more small changes. The modernized IS-3 was named the ''IS-3M''.<ref name="ZalogaIS" />

One of the few actions the IS-3 saw in the post-war era with the Soviet Union was in 1956 during the Hungarian Revolution with a single heavy tank regiment. The Soviet's heavy tank regiments used to consist of 21 heavy tanks during World War II. In 1947, the regiment composition is changed to between 44-46 heavy tanks and 21 heavy assault guns in a mixed formation. Another change between 1958-1959 saw this mixed unit changed to consist of only heavy tanks but now consists of up to 100 heavy tanks. Despite their armour, a number of heavy tanks were lost before the Soviets were able to crush the revolution. The IS-3 after that did not see much action afterwards in the Soviet Union's hands before it started to be replaced by the newer [[T-10M|T-10]] heavy tank in the 1960s. During this time, many heavy tanks were transported to the border between the Soviet Union and China in face of the rising tension between the two countries.<ref name="ZalogaIS" />

The IS-3 would also be supplied to the Soviet Union's allies such as Poland, Czechoslovakia, North Korea, and Egypt. Poland and Czechoslovakia never adopted the tank after trials however, thus leaving only North Korea and Egypt as the main foreign users of the IS-3. The Egyptians used the IS-3M, 100 of which were received from the Soviets, against the Israelis in the Six-Day War in 1967. Of all the tanks used in that war, the IS-3M was the most feared by the Israelis due to the thick front armour. Israeli infantry's standard anti-tank weaponry could not penetrate through the front, and tanks as modern as the [[M48A1|M48 Patton]] also could not defeat the IS-3M. Nevertheless, the better tactics and training among the Israeli tank units were able to prevail against the IS-3M, with the IS-3 being commented by the Egyptians for its low rate of fire and outdated fire-controls to the crew's deficiency in combat. Of the 100, 73 tanks were lost during the Six-Day War. The Israeli managed to capture a number of IS-3 and pressed them into service, though only for a short period before its faults become more problematic than its benefits. The engine on the IS-3 proved to be unsuitable in the desert climate of the Middle East, and an attempt by the Israeli to alleviate this by replacing the engine with one from the [[T-54 (1951)|T-54]], though this did not prove fruitful. In the Yom Kippur War in 1973, both the Egyptians and Israeli used the IS-3M to a smaller degree than the Six Day War, the IS-3 not seeing much combat in the Egyptian forces and were used as dug-in pillboxes on the Jordan River by the Israelis.<ref name="ZalogaIS" />

===Decline and Discontinuation===
With the introduction of the lighter and more mobile [[T-54 (1951)|T-54]] main battle tank in the 1950s, the IS-3 saw less usage among the Soviet front-line as it started to become obsolete. Further development to improve and continue the IS tank series became the [[IS-4M|IS-4]], IS-7, and the [[T-10M|T-10]] tanks. However, in 1960, Nikita Khrushchev, the new premier of the Soviet Union after Stalin died, ordered heavy tank production to be terminated in wake of a new military strategy of missiles rather than conventional forces.<ref name="ZalogaIS" /> His orders are not without reason, heavy tanks are difficult to maintain and transport across the huge Soviet Union, which also did not have many bridges that could support a heavy tank. Another reason was the changing anti-tank technology that made tank armour extremely vulnerable, especially against the new anti-tank missiles that are becoming more and more efficient at their task in destroying tanks. Still, the order did not mean the dissolution of heavy tank units as by 1978, there were still up to 2,300 heavy tanks in the Far East. To this day, many heavy tanks are still either in inactive reserves or dug in as pillboxes along the borders of the Soviet Union.<ref name="ZalogaIS" /> The heavy tank's place in the Soviet Union's military was replaced by the main battle tanks (MBT) like the T-64, which presented a much better firepower, armour, and mobility for only a weight of 35 tons, a technological sign on the rising prevalence of the MBT.

=== In-game description ===
In spite of the fact that the IS-2 lived up to expectations, a decision was made a year after the end of the war to create a tank with even higher characteristics. Its unique welded hull and cast turret construction significantly increased its armour strength in comparison to the IS-2, from which it took many key parts and components.

The hull was welded together from rolled armour plates and contained no cast armour pieces. The dual-sloping inclined nose design allowed a driver's hatch to be placed in it, significantly improved visibility in the field and provided high armour strength to the frontal hull. For increased fire safety, its fuel tanks were moved from the fighting compartment to the engine compartment. It was armed with a 122 mm D-25T cannon with a coaxial 7.62 mm DT machine gun. The turret's roof was equipped with a 12.7 mm DShK anti-aircraft machine gun. It had no bow or rear machine guns.

At the beginning of their deployment, a range of flaws resulting from a number of design errors and miscalculations was revealed in these tanks. Among other issues, these included failures in the engine, gearbox, and parts of the armoured hull in the region of the engine compartment. In 1948-1952, all IS-3 tanks were reworked and modernised. The engine brackets were reinforced, the gearbox fixings changed, the underturret plate strengthened, the main friction coupling design updated, and the sealing enhanced on the final drive and road wheels. The 10-RK radio set was replaced with the 10-RT radio set. These changes increased the tank's mass to 48.8 tonnes.

The first experimental group of IS-3 heavy tanks left their factories in 1945. In total, 2,311 of them were made by mid-1946.
They were not deployed in combat in the Great Patriotic War. There are some indications that the IS-3 was used in the defeat of the Japanese army in August 1945.

== Media ==


;Videos
{{Youtube-gallery|_-YJo8JRBEM|'''Shooting Range #190''' - ''Metal Beasts'' section at 1:00 discusses the IS-3.}}

;Skins

* [http://live.warthunder.com/feed/camouflages/?q=%23is3 Skins and camouflages for the IS-3 from live.warthunder]

==References==
<references />

== 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 ==


* [http://forum.warthunder.com/index.php?/topic/227061-vehicle-profile-is-3/#entry4370635 [Vehicle Profile<nowiki>]</nowiki> IS-3]

{{USSR heavy tanks}}

IS-3

2020-04-21T12:00:13Z

U78096411: /* Mobility */

{{Specs-Card|code=ussr_is_3}}

== Description ==

[[File:GarageImage_IS-3.jpg|420px|thumb|left]]
{{break}}
The '''{{Specs|name}}''' is a rank {{Specs|rank}} Soviet heavy tank {{Battle-rating}}. It was introduced during the closed beta testing for Ground Forces before [[Update 1.41]]. The IS-3 keeps the same [[D-25T (122 mm)|D-25T]] gun as its predecessor while ''drastically'' upgrading its armour without hindering mobility too much.

Anyone familiar with the [[IS-2]] and [[IS-2 (1944)]] will sit comfortably behind the driver's controls of this behemoth.

As with previous IS models, the IS-3 sports the same D-25T 122mm cannon, with its awesome destructive potential. Experienced tankers will know which weak points to look for on most targets, although the weapon's effectiveness increases dramatically once the BR-417D ammunition is researched, upgrading its penetration from 207mm to 230mm while retaining most of the HE filler. At 7.3 BR, the IS-3 will come up against many other heavy tanks with large, slow reloading guns, making the playing field much more even. Despite this, always beware the faster, lightly armoured targets such as the [[Ru 251]], [[Leopard I]], and other vehicles that can essentially ignore the IS-3's armour like the [[FV4005|FV4005]]. As with the IS-2 mod. 1944, the IS-3 has a spindle-mounted Heavy Machine Gun, good for warding off strafing aircraft or deterring light vehicles.

The IS-3 once again demonstrates sub-par maneuverability, despite being relatively light for a heavy tank. It has an engine that produces a measly 671 horsepower, making the vehicle feel sluggish when attempting to initiate a turn from both standstills and when moving. Its' acceleration also leaves much to be desired, however, it does have a reasonably high top speed, and usually will reach it eventually regardless of the surface it is driving on. Fortunately, as with all late Soviet heavy tanks, the reverse speed of the IS-3 is very respectable, often allowing it the time necessary to back out of bad situations to reload or repair. The reverse gears and low forward gears allow the vehicle to climb surprisingly sharp slopes, despite what some might expect from such a large vehicle.

The most obvious changes over the previous IS tanks are of course the redesigned turret and the sharply angled 'pike' nose. The front is not only angled, but the armour is also relatively thick, with 110mm on both the top and bottom, angled at 54°-56° and 54° respectively. As with previous designs, the IS-3 has somewhat sub-par side and rear armour, and angling should be avoided. The redesigned turret is much more resilient than the older designs, with more angling, a much smaller flat area around the mantlet, and significantly thicker casting. The tank is somewhat vulnerable to trap shots and turret ring penetration - these can be somewhat negated by depressing the gun and blocking the vulnerable areas.

The IS-3 is the definition of a 'breakthrough' tank, which excels at close-range, front-on conflict where the chances of flanking are minimal and drivers can take advantage of the heavy frontal armour and reverse speed. When up-tiered, or against certain enemies with HEAT, HESH or ATGMs, IS-3 drivers should play cautiously as the tank is extremely vulnerable to high-penetration and chemical rounds.

== General info ==
=== Survivability and armour ===

'''Armour type:'''

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

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Armour !! Front !! Sides !! Rear !! Roof
|-
| Hull || 110 mm (54-56°) ''Front glacis'' 110 mm (54°) ''Lower glacis'' || 90 mm (0-40°) ''Top'' 20 mm (60°) ''Bottom'' || 60 mm (47°) ''Top'' 60 mm (41-42°) ''Bottom'' || 20 mm
|-
| Turret || 250 mm (1-78°) ''Turret front'' 100 + 250 mm (9-79°) ''Gun mantlet''|| 75-220 mm (33-69°) || 70-120 mm (22-52°) || 20 mm ''Front, Hatch roof'' 40 mm ''Center'' 75 mm ''Sides''
|-
|}
'''Notes:'''

* Suspension wheels are 20 mm thick while tracks are 30 mm thick.
* The thickest armour of the tank is at the front – the "beak" at the front of the hull raises the effective thickness of the armour from 110 to around 180 – 200 mm, depending on the exact spot.
* The turret front of the IS-3 is an also fairly well armoured, with 250 mm of heavily sloped armour equating to around 400 mm effective thickness.
* Turret side armour is not equal throughout its length. In the side middle, it is 130 mm, then bordering the rear armour is 150 mm thick.
* Gun mantlet side and bottom are boosted by the 250 mm of the turret front, whereas the top of gun mantlet has no armour behind it.
* Side armour of the hull has an additional 5 mm of sheet metal on above the suspension area.
* Turret ring is 200mm thick with a 20mm "collar" covering the front and sides.
* Upper half of the side armor is at a very steep angle, meaning conventional rounds will simply bounce

=== Mobility ===


The mobility and speed of the IS-3 is decent, and is somewhere between other heavy tanks of the same tier and mediums tanks of the same tier. The IS-3 drives very similar to it's predecessors the IS-1 and IS-2. Whenever the IS-3 turns at all, much of the speed of the tank is instantly lost, making the hull turn rate IS-3 lacklustre, especially without neutral steering. This is, of course, akin to those previously mentioned predecessors.

.{{tankMobility|abMinHp= 671|rbMinHp= 460|}}

== Armaments ==
=== Main armament ===

{{main|D-25T (122 mm)}}

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! colspan="6" | [[D-25T (122 mm)|122 mm D-25T]]
|-
! colspan="3" rowspan="1" style="width:5em" |Capacity
! rowspan="1" | Vertical guidance
! rowspan="1" | Horizontal guidance
! rowspan="1" | Stabilizer
|-
| colspan="3" | 28 || -3°/+20° || ±180° || N/A
|-
! colspan="6" | Turret rotation speed (°/s)
|-
! style="width:4em" |Mode
! style="width:4em" |Stock
! style="width:4em" |Upgraded
! style="width:4em" |Prior + Full crew
! style="width:4em" |Prior + Expert qualif.
! style="width:4em" |Prior + Ace qualif.
|-
| ''Arcade'' ||7.28||10.08||12.24||13.54||14.4
|-
| ''Realistic'' ||5.36||6.30||7.65||8.43|| 9.00
|-
! colspan="4" | Reloading rate (seconds)
|-
! colspan="1" style="width:4em" |Stock
! colspan="1" style="width:4em" |Prior + Full crew
! colspan="1" style="width:4em" |Prior + Expert qualif.
! colspan="1" style="width:4em" |Prior + Ace qualif.
|-
|26.0||23.0||21.2||20.0
|-
|}

===== Ammunition =====
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center" width="100%"
! colspan="8" | Penetration statistics
|-
! rowspan="2" data-sort-type="text" | Ammunition
! rowspan="2" class="unsortable" | Type of warhead
! colspan="6" | '''Penetration''' '''''in mm''''' '''@ 0° Angle of Attack'''
|-
! 10m
! 100m
! 500m
! 1000m
! 1500m
! 2000m
|-
| BR-471 || APHE ||205||201||183||162||144||128
|-
| BR-471B || APHEBC ||205||203||191||178||166||155
|-
| BR-471D || APCBC || 230 ||227||215||200||186||173
|-
| OF-471 || HE ||37||37||37||37||37||37
|-
|}
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center" width="100%"
! colspan="11" | Shell details
|-
! rowspan="2" data-sort-type="text" | Ammunition
! rowspan="2" class="unsortable" | Type of warhead
! rowspan="2" |Velocity in m/s
! rowspan="2" |Projectile Mass in kg
! rowspan="2" | ''Fuse delay''
''in m:''
! rowspan="2" | ''Fuse sensitivity''
''in mm:''
! rowspan="2" | ''Explosive Mass in g (TNT equivalent):''
! rowspan="2" | ''Normalization At 30° from horizontal:''
! colspan="3" | ''Ricochet:''
|-
! 0%
! 50%
! 100%
|-
| BR-471 || APHE || 795 || 25 || 1.2 ||19||246.4|| -1° || 47° || 60° || 65°
|-
| BR-471B || APHEBC ||795|| 25 || 1.2 ||19||246.4|| +4° || 48° || 63° || 71°
|-
| BR-471D || APCBC || 800 || 25 || 1.2 ||19||192.5|| +4° || 48° || 63° || 71°
|-
| OF-471 || HE || 800 || 25 || 0.1 || 0.1 || 3,600 || +0° || 79° || 80° || 81°
|-
|}

===== [[Ammo racks|Ammo racks]] =====
[[File:Ammoracks IS-3.png|right|thumb|x250px|[[Ammo racks|Ammo racks]] of the IS-3.]]

The D-25T cannon fires two-piece ammunition that are stored all around the crew compartment. The majority of the projectiles are found lining the sides and rear of the turret while the majority of the propellant found in the hull, with two large piles flanking the driver and a few kept on the hull floor and rear. Next to the cannon breach on the loader's side is a small ready rack containing 5 propellant charges, with the 5 accompanying projectiles found to the loader's right against the turret side. The time it takes the loader to load one round into the ready rack from the stowage racks is about 21 seconds.

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! class="wikitable unsortable" |Full ammo
! class="wikitable unsortable" |1st rack empty
! class="wikitable unsortable" |2nd rack empty
! class="wikitable unsortable" |3rd rack empty
! class="wikitable unsortable" |4th rack empty
! class="wikitable unsortable" |5th rack empty
! class="wikitable unsortable" |6th rack empty
! class="wikitable unsortable" |Visual discrepancy
|-
|| '''28''' || 23 ''(+5)'' || 17 ''(+11)'' || 13 ''(+15)'' || 10 ''(+18)'' || 8 ''(+20)'' || 1 ''(+27)'' || style="text-align:center" | no
|-
|}

* Recommended ammo load is 12, which empty all of the racks but racks 1 and 6.
* Ammo Rack 1 is a ready rack, and takes priority in being filled at the beginning of the battle, then fills racks 6 through 2.
* Full reload speed will be realized as long as ammo exists in the ready racks. If all three ready racks are empty, a penalty to reload speed will occur.
* Simply not firing when the gun is loaded will load ammo from racks 2-6 into rack 1, as long as there is ammo in racks 2-6. Firing will interrupt the loading of the ready racks.

=== Machine guns ===

{{main|DShK (12.7 mm)|DT (7.62 mm)}}

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! colspan="7" | [[DShK (12.7 mm)|12.7 mm DShK]]
|-
! colspan="7" | ''Pintle mount''
|-
! colspan="4" rowspan="1" style="width:5em" |Capacity (Belt capacity)
! rowspan="1" | Fire rate (shots/minute)
! rowspan="1" | Vertical guidance
! rowspan="1" | Horizontal guidance
|-
| colspan="4" | 300 (50) || 600 || -4°/+85° || ±180°
|-
|}
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! colspan="7" | [[DT (7.62 mm)|7.62 mm DT]]
|-
! colspan="7" | ''Coaxial mount''
|-
! colspan="4" rowspan="1" style="width:5em" |Capacity (Belt capacity)
! rowspan="1" | Fire rate (shots/minute)
! rowspan="1" | Vertical guidance
! rowspan="1" | Horizontal guidance
|-
| colspan="4" | 2,000 (63) || 600 || N/A || N/A
|-
|}

== Usage in battles ==


The IS-3, continuing the tradition of the Russian IS line of heavy tanks, sports a powerful 122mm cannon, strong frontal armour and reasonable mobility for its class. As with its predecessors, it excels at dispatching anything it can penetrate with its explosive-filled rounds, and relies heavily on its excellent reverse speed and sharply angled armour to keep itself out of trouble. However, an IS-3 commander will increasingly encounter HEAT, HESH and ATGMs which pose a serious threat to the vehicle.

=== General Gameplay ===
One of the most important points about the IS-3 is that angling does not work - your pike nose will become easier to get through as you angle your tank, so handle all enemies head-on, if possible. However your gun is still the same 122 mm cannon as on the initial [[IS-2]] at which is situated at a lower battle rating, so it is understandable that you will struggle to penetrate many heavy enemies frontally now at the higher battle rating.

In the current meta, faster vehicles are more viable than heavier ones, and the IS-3 is at a big disadvantage especially in Realistic. Your armour is amazing in a downtier (to Battle Ratings 6.3 / 6.7), but it's basically non-existent in an uptier (to Battle Ratings 8.0 / 8.3, where you start seeing APFSDS and HEAT shells all the time), so knowing when to take this tank out is also a big part of gameplay with it.

'''Arcade Battles'''

Surprisingly, the IS-3 can do very well in Arcade. Many enemies in Arcade don't seem to know that the best way to kill the IS-3 with a conventional round is via a shot-trap, so your survivability is increased. Moreover, when fully upgraded, the IS-3 becomes extremely mobile in Arcade allowing you to get into cover after shooting, or quickly advance on an unsuspecting enemy. The best strategy against a single enemy is to just rush them - the terrain usually bounces your tank around slightly making it very difficult to penetrate, and the sheer sight of a heavy tank speeding towards the enemy will cause some panic.

The more experienced tanker will know when to take the IS-3 out in battle and when to use other vehicles. If you know that the game is an uptier (e.g. by checking the statistics tab, or by the map draw) you should decide against the IS-3 and take out a tank like the [[BMP-1]], which fits better into the high tier meta. Also, long-range engagements are a gamble, since your top round and long reload times make it difficult to successfully attack enemies, while they might have a HEAT shell that disregards distance. However, the rush strategy can work here as well, especially if you turn your tank in random directions once in a while, making it harder for opponents to aim at you.

'''Realistic Battles'''

In Realistic, the IS-3 is much more difficult to play, because enemies take more time to aim at weakspots and your mobility is toned down. Due to that, you need to take time with your own shots and know your opponents - is there an ammo-rank in the side of the Caernarvon, or should you shoot at the driver's position? and etc. Generally, you need to play with stealth in Realistic, because the person who shoots first is usually the one that gets the kill. Flanking can, and does, work with the IS-3, not because of speed, but because your teammates are shot and you can return fire at the perpetrators and continue your advance. Moreover, some light tanks that are prevalent at the higher Battle Ratings outright cannot penetrate you with their main guns (most of them have ATGMs, though).

Against ATGMs, it's a good idea to use your machine guns to shoot at the ground in front of your tank - this makes a small smoke-screen out of dirt and rubble that makes it difficult for enemies to aim their ATGMs. Keep in mind though, that you should still move your tank away from the initial position, because enemies will try to predict where you are going (it's a good idea to shoot machine guns increasingly to the left, while moving to the right, because it causes a sense of your tank moving with machine guns, while actually, you're moving in the other direction).

'''General Tips'''

The IS-3 is relatively versatile, but excels in close-range combat against conventional rounds - it is very good at taking on other heavy tanks such as the [[T32|T32]] and [[Caernarvon]].

* It has a reasonably decent top speed, and on solid ground, acceptable acceleration, allowing it to reach cap points and combat areas fairly promptly and set up in positions to allow it to make the most of the frontal armour.
* When down tiered (6.3-6.7 games), the IS-3 performs excellently, able to push forward and play its 'breakthrough' role with impunity.
* Good climbing capabilities allow the IS-3 to reach some surprising positions for sniping or supporting teammates pushing points. Despite the gun's effectiveness being reduced at the range, the armour of the vehicle becomes much more effective as weak spots become significantly harder to hit.
* Since the IS-3 can keep up with most medium tanks like the Centurions, Panthers or T-44s, it can be played as early-game heavy support for those lighter, more vulnerable hulls to assist in taking objectives.
* In up tiered games (7.7-8.3), the IS-3 can come across a lot of chemical rounds and must be played significantly more carefully, as its armour simply cannot compete with the high penetration of these rounds.

Play this tank almost any way that is favourable. A few tips to increase this vehicle's performance:

* Always face towards the enemies directly, avoid exposing the weak hull sides.
* Cover the frontal weak spots if necessary with the gun's large barrel by pointing it downwards. It's better to have the gun barrel destroyed than it is to lose crew members and be potentially unable to reverse out of bad situations.
* Stop only to fire. Movement makes the weak spots harder to target. Even when there is no destination to move to, go back and forth a few meters just so that the IS-3 hull wobbles a bit on start and stop.
* Plan aggressive pushes and movements around enemy locations. The gun has negligible depression and very bad horizontal traverse, making reacting to enemies slow and risky, and impossible if they're on lower ground.
* Avoid engaging vehicles over hills by climbing the hill as it will be hard to aim with only -3° depression and the lower plate will be vulnerable due to the angling.
* Avoid fighting tanks with HEAT/HESH/APFSDS.
* Be careful when brawling at extremely close ranges, as the top of the turret is quite vulnerable due to the vehicle's low profile.
* Avoid facing elevated opponents, as this decreases LOS thickness for hull and exposes turret top.
* Carrying less ammo helps increase survivability from penetrating shots to the turret (ammunition is spread around the edges of the turret).

=== The Stock Grind ===
This vehicle can be a pain to play when stock, because enemies will try to kill you in any way, often by setting you on fire 3 times in a row. Your tracks and gun barrel are frequent targets as well, and without Parts or FPE gameplay is going to be painful. Due to this, you must '''research Parts and FPE first''', this is extremely important. Generally, you would want to be behind your teammates, to let them get shot more instead of you, when reloaded you can poke out and shoot your shot, right before going back into the cover or behind teammates. Sniping is an option, but it's not the most viable since there's quite a lot of bullet drop and missing your shots will cause the very long reload.

===Modules===
In tier, I, ''Parts'' and ''Horizontal Drive should, of course, be the prioritized modules for repairs and turret traverse speed. These two will also unlock Tier II modifications and grant access to the very vital ''FPE'' and ''M61 shot'', the former for preservation against fires and the latter to improve damage in the battlefield.''

Then in tier III, ''Crew Replenishment'' should be obtained for crew survival improvement and the APCR ''T45 shot'' for improved armour-piercing power. After that, everything else could be done at one's own priorities, but ''Engine'' should be invested for better automotive performances and ''M89'' for the smoke capabilities.

=== Pros and cons ===


'''Pros''':

* Very good frontal armour. Upper and lower plates are basically immune to all conventional shells
* First Soviet heavy tank that comes with the V-shaped hull and ridiculously strong spaced armour lining the sides
* Really strong turret. Even the sides of the turret are heavily armoured and angled
* Very powerful 122 mm gun; top APHE shell has high penetration and very good damage potential
* Good top speed and manoeuvrability
* Fearsome reputation

'''Cons''':

* Horrifying reload speed; despite the armour, fighting two tanks at once is ill-advised
* Armor is still no match for APDS and HEAT
* Terrible gun depression; finding a good hull-down location to use the gun is difficult
* Despite the good turret, the left side of the gun mantlet can be penetrated by conventional rounds with good penetration (Like the 88 mm shell found on the Tiger II)
* Bottom of the gun mantlet is an infamous shot trap
* While a small target, the entirety of the turret ring is exposed
* Ammo is strewn throughout the entire crew compartment
* Roof-mounted 12.7 mm machine gun only has a 50 box magazine before needing to reload
* Only four crew members in a small crew compartment; any APHE shell that penetrates will likely knock out the entire crew

== History ==


===Development===
Late in 1944, development of the next generation of the IS heavy tanks started, following after the [[IS-2 (1944)|IS-2]] tank. The tank was to be better in armour compared to the IS-2 as a response to the new [[Tiger II (H)|Tiger II]] that showed up and is able to penetrate the front armour of the hull. The project was codenamed ''Kirovets-1'' and was headed by General Nikolai Dukhov.<ref name="ZalogaIS">Zaloga Steven. ''IS-2 Heavy Tank 1944-73'' Great Britain: Osprey Publishing Ltd., 1994</ref> Design bureaus at the Chelyabinsk Tractor Plant "Tankograd" (ChTZ) and Factory No. 100 worked on the design of the vehicle. A focus on the armour improvement came from a study by an engineer in the teams that most tank losses occurred from hits to the front turret, with the front hull coming in second. The two design bureaus came up with their own ideas on how to make the armour of the tank more effective, with ChTZ developing an extremely rounded turret and No.100 developing a new angled front armour in a shape of a "beak". Soviet command decided that the design should use both features in the armour as both ideas were promising. The prototype vehicle was then produced at ChTZ and completed in October 1944 when it trialled and accepted for production as the '''IS-3'''. Production for the IS-3 started in 1945 at ChTZ alongside the IS-2 production. As the first tanks rolled off production lines, it was determined that the design was rushed and unproven with its multiple mechanical problems, some of which included the armour plates welds cracking open from the vibration of cross-country movement and muzzle blast from the gun. Because of this, the IS-3 was not available in large numbers to be committed into battle, leading to their absence in the final months of World War II before Germany surrendered in May 1945.<ref name="ZalogaIS" />

Despite its rough introduction and prevalent mechanical issues, the IS-3 continued production with gradual fixes to the front hull, final drive, and engine mounts. The Chelyabinsk factory produced IS-3s from 1945 to 1951 for a total of 1,800 tanks.<ref name="ZalogaIS" />

===Usage===
Though the IS-3 was not available in large numbers at the start, the Soviets attempted to transport the IS-3 to Germany in April 1945 to assist in the fightings, but they arrived too late to be committed to any fighting. It is reported that the IS-3 did see service during the Soviet invasion of Manchuria in August 1945 to fulfil Stalin's promise in the Yalta Conference to invade Japan after the capitulation of Germany, however not much information is present about this topic.<ref name="ZalogaIS" />

The end of the most destructive war in history did not waver the Soviet's opinion of the IS-3 however, and the Soviet command had the 52 IS-3 tanks from the 2nd Guards Tank Army paraded in the Berlin Victory Parade on September 7, 1945.<ref name="ZalogaIS" /> The reveal of the IS-3 in the parade came as a huge shock to the Western Allies who saw the IS-3 as a nigh-invulnerable breakthrough tank with their heavy armour. The response to the tank was there to develop their own heavy tanks able to do the same job and with a gun able to fight the IS-3, such as the British [[Conqueror|Conqueror]] and the American [[M103|M103]] heavy tanks. Despite its very ominous stature, the IS-3 was still plagued with mechanical issues at this point with its poor armour quality and mechanical reliability. A short modernization program from 1948 to 1952 was made to fix these issues with tanks in production and in the depots with no change to the name designation. The IS-3 was then modernized further in the 1960s to keep it up with changing times. The modifications done were similar to the IS-2M, which gave the IS-3 extra external fuel tanks, storage bins, and protective side skirts as well as an improved engine, engine filtration, new radios, new machine guns, new gun optics, and many more small changes. The modernized IS-3 was named the ''IS-3M''.<ref name="ZalogaIS" />

One of the few actions the IS-3 saw in the post-war era with the Soviet Union was in 1956 during the Hungarian Revolution with a single heavy tank regiment. The Soviet's heavy tank regiments used to consist of 21 heavy tanks during World War II. In 1947, the regiment composition is changed to between 44-46 heavy tanks and 21 heavy assault guns in a mixed formation. Another change between 1958-1959 saw this mixed unit changed to consist of only heavy tanks but now consists of up to 100 heavy tanks. Despite their armour, a number of heavy tanks were lost before the Soviets were able to crush the revolution. The IS-3 after that did not see much action afterwards in the Soviet Union's hands before it started to be replaced by the newer [[T-10M|T-10]] heavy tank in the 1960s. During this time, many heavy tanks were transported to the border between the Soviet Union and China in face of the rising tension between the two countries.<ref name="ZalogaIS" />

The IS-3 would also be supplied to the Soviet Union's allies such as Poland, Czechoslovakia, North Korea, and Egypt. Poland and Czechoslovakia never adopted the tank after trials however, thus leaving only North Korea and Egypt as the main foreign users of the IS-3. The Egyptians used the IS-3M, 100 of which were received from the Soviets, against the Israelis in the Six-Day War in 1967. Of all the tanks used in that war, the IS-3M was the most feared by the Israelis due to the thick front armour. Israeli infantry's standard anti-tank weaponry could not penetrate through the front, and tanks as modern as the [[M48A1|M48 Patton]] also could not defeat the IS-3M. Nevertheless, the better tactics and training among the Israeli tank units were able to prevail against the IS-3M, with the IS-3 being commented by the Egyptians for its low rate of fire and outdated fire-controls to the crew's deficiency in combat. Of the 100, 73 tanks were lost during the Six-Day War. The Israeli managed to capture a number of IS-3 and pressed them into service, though only for a short period before its faults become more problematic than its benefits. The engine on the IS-3 proved to be unsuitable in the desert climate of the Middle East, and an attempt by the Israeli to alleviate this by replacing the engine with one from the [[T-54 (1951)|T-54]], though this did not prove fruitful. In the Yom Kippur War in 1973, both the Egyptians and Israeli used the IS-3M to a smaller degree than the Six Day War, the IS-3 not seeing much combat in the Egyptian forces and were used as dug-in pillboxes on the Jordan River by the Israelis.<ref name="ZalogaIS" />

===Decline and Discontinuation===
With the introduction of the lighter and more mobile [[T-54 (1951)|T-54]] main battle tank in the 1950s, the IS-3 saw less usage among the Soviet front-line as it started to become obsolete. Further development to improve and continue the IS tank series became the [[IS-4M|IS-4]], IS-7, and the [[T-10M|T-10]] tanks. However, in 1960, Nikita Khrushchev, the new premier of the Soviet Union after Stalin died, ordered heavy tank production to be terminated in wake of a new military strategy of missiles rather than conventional forces.<ref name="ZalogaIS" /> His orders are not without reason, heavy tanks are difficult to maintain and transport across the huge Soviet Union, which also did not have many bridges that could support a heavy tank. Another reason was the changing anti-tank technology that made tank armour extremely vulnerable, especially against the new anti-tank missiles that are becoming more and more efficient at their task in destroying tanks. Still, the order did not mean the dissolution of heavy tank units as by 1978, there were still up to 2,300 heavy tanks in the Far East. To this day, many heavy tanks are still either in inactive reserves or dug in as pillboxes along the borders of the Soviet Union.<ref name="ZalogaIS" /> The heavy tank's place in the Soviet Union's military was replaced by the main battle tanks (MBT) like the T-64, which presented a much better firepower, armour, and mobility for only a weight of 35 tons, a technological sign on the rising prevalence of the MBT.

=== In-game description ===
In spite of the fact that the IS-2 lived up to expectations, a decision was made a year after the end of the war to create a tank with even higher characteristics. Its unique welded hull and cast turret construction significantly increased its armour strength in comparison to the IS-2, from which it took many key parts and components.

The hull was welded together from rolled armour plates and contained no cast armour pieces. The dual-sloping inclined nose design allowed a driver's hatch to be placed in it, significantly improved visibility in the field and provided high armour strength to the frontal hull. For increased fire safety, its fuel tanks were moved from the fighting compartment to the engine compartment. It was armed with a 122 mm D-25T cannon with a coaxial 7.62 mm DT machine gun. The turret's roof was equipped with a 12.7 mm DShK anti-aircraft machine gun. It had no bow or rear machine guns.

At the beginning of their deployment, a range of flaws resulting from a number of design errors and miscalculations was revealed in these tanks. Among other issues, these included failures in the engine, gearbox, and parts of the armoured hull in the region of the engine compartment. In 1948-1952, all IS-3 tanks were reworked and modernised. The engine brackets were reinforced, the gearbox fixings changed, the underturret plate strengthened, the main friction coupling design updated, and the sealing enhanced on the final drive and road wheels. The 10-RK radio set was replaced with the 10-RT radio set. These changes increased the tank's mass to 48.8 tonnes.

The first experimental group of IS-3 heavy tanks left their factories in 1945. In total, 2,311 of them were made by mid-1946.
They were not deployed in combat in the Great Patriotic War. There are some indications that the IS-3 was used in the defeat of the Japanese army in August 1945.

== Media ==


;Videos
{{Youtube-gallery|_-YJo8JRBEM|'''Shooting Range #190''' - ''Metal Beasts'' section at 1:00 discusses the IS-3.}}

;Skins

* [http://live.warthunder.com/feed/camouflages/?q=%23is3 Skins and camouflages for the IS-3 from live.warthunder]

==References==
<references />

== 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 ==


* [http://forum.warthunder.com/index.php?/topic/227061-vehicle-profile-is-3/#entry4370635 [Vehicle Profile<nowiki>]</nowiki> IS-3]

{{USSR heavy tanks}}

IS-3

2020-04-21T11:59:34Z

U78096411: /* Survivability and armour */

{{Specs-Card|code=ussr_is_3}}

== Description ==

[[File:GarageImage_IS-3.jpg|420px|thumb|left]]
{{break}}
The '''{{Specs|name}}''' is a rank {{Specs|rank}} Soviet heavy tank {{Battle-rating}}. It was introduced during the closed beta testing for Ground Forces before [[Update 1.41]]. The IS-3 keeps the same [[D-25T (122 mm)|D-25T]] gun as its predecessor while ''drastically'' upgrading its armour without hindering mobility too much.

Anyone familiar with the [[IS-2]] and [[IS-2 (1944)]] will sit comfortably behind the driver's controls of this behemoth.

As with previous IS models, the IS-3 sports the same D-25T 122mm cannon, with its awesome destructive potential. Experienced tankers will know which weak points to look for on most targets, although the weapon's effectiveness increases dramatically once the BR-417D ammunition is researched, upgrading its penetration from 207mm to 230mm while retaining most of the HE filler. At 7.3 BR, the IS-3 will come up against many other heavy tanks with large, slow reloading guns, making the playing field much more even. Despite this, always beware the faster, lightly armoured targets such as the [[Ru 251]], [[Leopard I]], and other vehicles that can essentially ignore the IS-3's armour like the [[FV4005|FV4005]]. As with the IS-2 mod. 1944, the IS-3 has a spindle-mounted Heavy Machine Gun, good for warding off strafing aircraft or deterring light vehicles.

The IS-3 once again demonstrates sub-par maneuverability, despite being relatively light for a heavy tank. It has an engine that produces a measly 671 horsepower, making the vehicle feel sluggish when attempting to initiate a turn from both standstills and when moving. Its' acceleration also leaves much to be desired, however, it does have a reasonably high top speed, and usually will reach it eventually regardless of the surface it is driving on. Fortunately, as with all late Soviet heavy tanks, the reverse speed of the IS-3 is very respectable, often allowing it the time necessary to back out of bad situations to reload or repair. The reverse gears and low forward gears allow the vehicle to climb surprisingly sharp slopes, despite what some might expect from such a large vehicle.

The most obvious changes over the previous IS tanks are of course the redesigned turret and the sharply angled 'pike' nose. The front is not only angled, but the armour is also relatively thick, with 110mm on both the top and bottom, angled at 54°-56° and 54° respectively. As with previous designs, the IS-3 has somewhat sub-par side and rear armour, and angling should be avoided. The redesigned turret is much more resilient than the older designs, with more angling, a much smaller flat area around the mantlet, and significantly thicker casting. The tank is somewhat vulnerable to trap shots and turret ring penetration - these can be somewhat negated by depressing the gun and blocking the vulnerable areas.

The IS-3 is the definition of a 'breakthrough' tank, which excels at close-range, front-on conflict where the chances of flanking are minimal and drivers can take advantage of the heavy frontal armour and reverse speed. When up-tiered, or against certain enemies with HEAT, HESH or ATGMs, IS-3 drivers should play cautiously as the tank is extremely vulnerable to high-penetration and chemical rounds.

== General info ==
=== Survivability and armour ===

'''Armour type:'''

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

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Armour !! Front !! Sides !! Rear !! Roof
|-
| Hull || 110 mm (54-56°) ''Front glacis'' 110 mm (54°) ''Lower glacis'' || 90 mm (0-40°) ''Top'' 20 mm (60°) ''Bottom'' || 60 mm (47°) ''Top'' 60 mm (41-42°) ''Bottom'' || 20 mm
|-
| Turret || 250 mm (1-78°) ''Turret front'' 100 + 250 mm (9-79°) ''Gun mantlet''|| 75-220 mm (33-69°) || 70-120 mm (22-52°) || 20 mm ''Front, Hatch roof'' 40 mm ''Center'' 75 mm ''Sides''
|-
|}
'''Notes:'''

* Suspension wheels are 20 mm thick while tracks are 30 mm thick.
* The thickest armour of the tank is at the front – the "beak" at the front of the hull raises the effective thickness of the armour from 110 to around 180 – 200 mm, depending on the exact spot.
* The turret front of the IS-3 is an also fairly well armoured, with 250 mm of heavily sloped armour equating to around 400 mm effective thickness.
* Turret side armour is not equal throughout its length. In the side middle, it is 130 mm, then bordering the rear armour is 150 mm thick.
* Gun mantlet side and bottom are boosted by the 250 mm of the turret front, whereas the top of gun mantlet has no armour behind it.
* Side armour of the hull has an additional 5 mm of sheet metal on above the suspension area.
* Turret ring is 200mm thick with a 20mm "collar" covering the front and sides.
* Upper half of the side armor is at a very steep angle, meaning conventional rounds will simply bounce

=== Mobility ===


{{tankMobility|abMinHp= 671|rbMinHp= 460|}}The mobility and speed of the IS-3 is decent, and is somewhere between other heavy tanks of the same tier and mediums tanks of the same tier. The IS-3 drives very similar to it's predecessors the IS-1 and IS-2. Whenever the IS-3 turns at all, much of the speed of the tank is instantly lost, making the hull turn rate IS-3 lacklustre, especially without neutral steering. This is, of course, akin to those previously mentioned predecessors.

== Armaments ==
=== Main armament ===

{{main|D-25T (122 mm)}}

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! colspan="6" | [[D-25T (122 mm)|122 mm D-25T]]
|-
! colspan="3" rowspan="1" style="width:5em" |Capacity
! rowspan="1" | Vertical guidance
! rowspan="1" | Horizontal guidance
! rowspan="1" | Stabilizer
|-
| colspan="3" | 28 || -3°/+20° || ±180° || N/A
|-
! colspan="6" | Turret rotation speed (°/s)
|-
! style="width:4em" |Mode
! style="width:4em" |Stock
! style="width:4em" |Upgraded
! style="width:4em" |Prior + Full crew
! style="width:4em" |Prior + Expert qualif.
! style="width:4em" |Prior + Ace qualif.
|-
| ''Arcade'' ||7.28||10.08||12.24||13.54||14.4
|-
| ''Realistic'' ||5.36||6.30||7.65||8.43|| 9.00
|-
! colspan="4" | Reloading rate (seconds)
|-
! colspan="1" style="width:4em" |Stock
! colspan="1" style="width:4em" |Prior + Full crew
! colspan="1" style="width:4em" |Prior + Expert qualif.
! colspan="1" style="width:4em" |Prior + Ace qualif.
|-
|26.0||23.0||21.2||20.0
|-
|}

===== Ammunition =====
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center" width="100%"
! colspan="8" | Penetration statistics
|-
! rowspan="2" data-sort-type="text" | Ammunition
! rowspan="2" class="unsortable" | Type of warhead
! colspan="6" | '''Penetration''' '''''in mm''''' '''@ 0° Angle of Attack'''
|-
! 10m
! 100m
! 500m
! 1000m
! 1500m
! 2000m
|-
| BR-471 || APHE ||205||201||183||162||144||128
|-
| BR-471B || APHEBC ||205||203||191||178||166||155
|-
| BR-471D || APCBC || 230 ||227||215||200||186||173
|-
| OF-471 || HE ||37||37||37||37||37||37
|-
|}
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center" width="100%"
! colspan="11" | Shell details
|-
! rowspan="2" data-sort-type="text" | Ammunition
! rowspan="2" class="unsortable" | Type of warhead
! rowspan="2" |Velocity in m/s
! rowspan="2" |Projectile Mass in kg
! rowspan="2" | ''Fuse delay''
''in m:''
! rowspan="2" | ''Fuse sensitivity''
''in mm:''
! rowspan="2" | ''Explosive Mass in g (TNT equivalent):''
! rowspan="2" | ''Normalization At 30° from horizontal:''
! colspan="3" | ''Ricochet:''
|-
! 0%
! 50%
! 100%
|-
| BR-471 || APHE || 795 || 25 || 1.2 ||19||246.4|| -1° || 47° || 60° || 65°
|-
| BR-471B || APHEBC ||795|| 25 || 1.2 ||19||246.4|| +4° || 48° || 63° || 71°
|-
| BR-471D || APCBC || 800 || 25 || 1.2 ||19||192.5|| +4° || 48° || 63° || 71°
|-
| OF-471 || HE || 800 || 25 || 0.1 || 0.1 || 3,600 || +0° || 79° || 80° || 81°
|-
|}

===== [[Ammo racks|Ammo racks]] =====
[[File:Ammoracks IS-3.png|right|thumb|x250px|[[Ammo racks|Ammo racks]] of the IS-3.]]

The D-25T cannon fires two-piece ammunition that are stored all around the crew compartment. The majority of the projectiles are found lining the sides and rear of the turret while the majority of the propellant found in the hull, with two large piles flanking the driver and a few kept on the hull floor and rear. Next to the cannon breach on the loader's side is a small ready rack containing 5 propellant charges, with the 5 accompanying projectiles found to the loader's right against the turret side. The time it takes the loader to load one round into the ready rack from the stowage racks is about 21 seconds.

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! class="wikitable unsortable" |Full ammo
! class="wikitable unsortable" |1st rack empty
! class="wikitable unsortable" |2nd rack empty
! class="wikitable unsortable" |3rd rack empty
! class="wikitable unsortable" |4th rack empty
! class="wikitable unsortable" |5th rack empty
! class="wikitable unsortable" |6th rack empty
! class="wikitable unsortable" |Visual discrepancy
|-
|| '''28''' || 23 ''(+5)'' || 17 ''(+11)'' || 13 ''(+15)'' || 10 ''(+18)'' || 8 ''(+20)'' || 1 ''(+27)'' || style="text-align:center" | no
|-
|}

* Recommended ammo load is 12, which empty all of the racks but racks 1 and 6.
* Ammo Rack 1 is a ready rack, and takes priority in being filled at the beginning of the battle, then fills racks 6 through 2.
* Full reload speed will be realized as long as ammo exists in the ready racks. If all three ready racks are empty, a penalty to reload speed will occur.
* Simply not firing when the gun is loaded will load ammo from racks 2-6 into rack 1, as long as there is ammo in racks 2-6. Firing will interrupt the loading of the ready racks.

=== Machine guns ===

{{main|DShK (12.7 mm)|DT (7.62 mm)}}

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! colspan="7" | [[DShK (12.7 mm)|12.7 mm DShK]]
|-
! colspan="7" | ''Pintle mount''
|-
! colspan="4" rowspan="1" style="width:5em" |Capacity (Belt capacity)
! rowspan="1" | Fire rate (shots/minute)
! rowspan="1" | Vertical guidance
! rowspan="1" | Horizontal guidance
|-
| colspan="4" | 300 (50) || 600 || -4°/+85° || ±180°
|-
|}
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! colspan="7" | [[DT (7.62 mm)|7.62 mm DT]]
|-
! colspan="7" | ''Coaxial mount''
|-
! colspan="4" rowspan="1" style="width:5em" |Capacity (Belt capacity)
! rowspan="1" | Fire rate (shots/minute)
! rowspan="1" | Vertical guidance
! rowspan="1" | Horizontal guidance
|-
| colspan="4" | 2,000 (63) || 600 || N/A || N/A
|-
|}

== Usage in battles ==


The IS-3, continuing the tradition of the Russian IS line of heavy tanks, sports a powerful 122mm cannon, strong frontal armour and reasonable mobility for its class. As with its predecessors, it excels at dispatching anything it can penetrate with its explosive-filled rounds, and relies heavily on its excellent reverse speed and sharply angled armour to keep itself out of trouble. However, an IS-3 commander will increasingly encounter HEAT, HESH and ATGMs which pose a serious threat to the vehicle.

=== General Gameplay ===
One of the most important points about the IS-3 is that angling does not work - your pike nose will become easier to get through as you angle your tank, so handle all enemies head-on, if possible. However your gun is still the same 122 mm cannon as on the initial [[IS-2]] at which is situated at a lower battle rating, so it is understandable that you will struggle to penetrate many heavy enemies frontally now at the higher battle rating.

In the current meta, faster vehicles are more viable than heavier ones, and the IS-3 is at a big disadvantage especially in Realistic. Your armour is amazing in a downtier (to Battle Ratings 6.3 / 6.7), but it's basically non-existent in an uptier (to Battle Ratings 8.0 / 8.3, where you start seeing APFSDS and HEAT shells all the time), so knowing when to take this tank out is also a big part of gameplay with it.

'''Arcade Battles'''

Surprisingly, the IS-3 can do very well in Arcade. Many enemies in Arcade don't seem to know that the best way to kill the IS-3 with a conventional round is via a shot-trap, so your survivability is increased. Moreover, when fully upgraded, the IS-3 becomes extremely mobile in Arcade allowing you to get into cover after shooting, or quickly advance on an unsuspecting enemy. The best strategy against a single enemy is to just rush them - the terrain usually bounces your tank around slightly making it very difficult to penetrate, and the sheer sight of a heavy tank speeding towards the enemy will cause some panic.

The more experienced tanker will know when to take the IS-3 out in battle and when to use other vehicles. If you know that the game is an uptier (e.g. by checking the statistics tab, or by the map draw) you should decide against the IS-3 and take out a tank like the [[BMP-1]], which fits better into the high tier meta. Also, long-range engagements are a gamble, since your top round and long reload times make it difficult to successfully attack enemies, while they might have a HEAT shell that disregards distance. However, the rush strategy can work here as well, especially if you turn your tank in random directions once in a while, making it harder for opponents to aim at you.

'''Realistic Battles'''

In Realistic, the IS-3 is much more difficult to play, because enemies take more time to aim at weakspots and your mobility is toned down. Due to that, you need to take time with your own shots and know your opponents - is there an ammo-rank in the side of the Caernarvon, or should you shoot at the driver's position? and etc. Generally, you need to play with stealth in Realistic, because the person who shoots first is usually the one that gets the kill. Flanking can, and does, work with the IS-3, not because of speed, but because your teammates are shot and you can return fire at the perpetrators and continue your advance. Moreover, some light tanks that are prevalent at the higher Battle Ratings outright cannot penetrate you with their main guns (most of them have ATGMs, though).

Against ATGMs, it's a good idea to use your machine guns to shoot at the ground in front of your tank - this makes a small smoke-screen out of dirt and rubble that makes it difficult for enemies to aim their ATGMs. Keep in mind though, that you should still move your tank away from the initial position, because enemies will try to predict where you are going (it's a good idea to shoot machine guns increasingly to the left, while moving to the right, because it causes a sense of your tank moving with machine guns, while actually, you're moving in the other direction).

'''General Tips'''

The IS-3 is relatively versatile, but excels in close-range combat against conventional rounds - it is very good at taking on other heavy tanks such as the [[T32|T32]] and [[Caernarvon]].

* It has a reasonably decent top speed, and on solid ground, acceptable acceleration, allowing it to reach cap points and combat areas fairly promptly and set up in positions to allow it to make the most of the frontal armour.
* When down tiered (6.3-6.7 games), the IS-3 performs excellently, able to push forward and play its 'breakthrough' role with impunity.
* Good climbing capabilities allow the IS-3 to reach some surprising positions for sniping or supporting teammates pushing points. Despite the gun's effectiveness being reduced at the range, the armour of the vehicle becomes much more effective as weak spots become significantly harder to hit.
* Since the IS-3 can keep up with most medium tanks like the Centurions, Panthers or T-44s, it can be played as early-game heavy support for those lighter, more vulnerable hulls to assist in taking objectives.
* In up tiered games (7.7-8.3), the IS-3 can come across a lot of chemical rounds and must be played significantly more carefully, as its armour simply cannot compete with the high penetration of these rounds.

Play this tank almost any way that is favourable. A few tips to increase this vehicle's performance:

* Always face towards the enemies directly, avoid exposing the weak hull sides.
* Cover the frontal weak spots if necessary with the gun's large barrel by pointing it downwards. It's better to have the gun barrel destroyed than it is to lose crew members and be potentially unable to reverse out of bad situations.
* Stop only to fire. Movement makes the weak spots harder to target. Even when there is no destination to move to, go back and forth a few meters just so that the IS-3 hull wobbles a bit on start and stop.
* Plan aggressive pushes and movements around enemy locations. The gun has negligible depression and very bad horizontal traverse, making reacting to enemies slow and risky, and impossible if they're on lower ground.
* Avoid engaging vehicles over hills by climbing the hill as it will be hard to aim with only -3° depression and the lower plate will be vulnerable due to the angling.
* Avoid fighting tanks with HEAT/HESH/APFSDS.
* Be careful when brawling at extremely close ranges, as the top of the turret is quite vulnerable due to the vehicle's low profile.
* Avoid facing elevated opponents, as this decreases LOS thickness for hull and exposes turret top.
* Carrying less ammo helps increase survivability from penetrating shots to the turret (ammunition is spread around the edges of the turret).

=== The Stock Grind ===
This vehicle can be a pain to play when stock, because enemies will try to kill you in any way, often by setting you on fire 3 times in a row. Your tracks and gun barrel are frequent targets as well, and without Parts or FPE gameplay is going to be painful. Due to this, you must '''research Parts and FPE first''', this is extremely important. Generally, you would want to be behind your teammates, to let them get shot more instead of you, when reloaded you can poke out and shoot your shot, right before going back into the cover or behind teammates. Sniping is an option, but it's not the most viable since there's quite a lot of bullet drop and missing your shots will cause the very long reload.

===Modules===
In tier, I, ''Parts'' and ''Horizontal Drive should, of course, be the prioritized modules for repairs and turret traverse speed. These two will also unlock Tier II modifications and grant access to the very vital ''FPE'' and ''M61 shot'', the former for preservation against fires and the latter to improve damage in the battlefield.''

Then in tier III, ''Crew Replenishment'' should be obtained for crew survival improvement and the APCR ''T45 shot'' for improved armour-piercing power. After that, everything else could be done at one's own priorities, but ''Engine'' should be invested for better automotive performances and ''M89'' for the smoke capabilities.

=== Pros and cons ===


'''Pros''':

* Very good frontal armour. Upper and lower plates are basically immune to all conventional shells
* First Soviet heavy tank that comes with the V-shaped hull and ridiculously strong spaced armour lining the sides
* Really strong turret. Even the sides of the turret are heavily armoured and angled
* Very powerful 122 mm gun; top APHE shell has high penetration and very good damage potential
* Good top speed and manoeuvrability
* Fearsome reputation

'''Cons''':

* Horrifying reload speed; despite the armour, fighting two tanks at once is ill-advised
* Armor is still no match for APDS and HEAT
* Terrible gun depression; finding a good hull-down location to use the gun is difficult
* Despite the good turret, the left side of the gun mantlet can be penetrated by conventional rounds with good penetration (Like the 88 mm shell found on the Tiger II)
* Bottom of the gun mantlet is an infamous shot trap
* While a small target, the entirety of the turret ring is exposed
* Ammo is strewn throughout the entire crew compartment
* Roof-mounted 12.7 mm machine gun only has a 50 box magazine before needing to reload
* Only four crew members in a small crew compartment; any APHE shell that penetrates will likely knock out the entire crew

== History ==


===Development===
Late in 1944, development of the next generation of the IS heavy tanks started, following after the [[IS-2 (1944)|IS-2]] tank. The tank was to be better in armour compared to the IS-2 as a response to the new [[Tiger II (H)|Tiger II]] that showed up and is able to penetrate the front armour of the hull. The project was codenamed ''Kirovets-1'' and was headed by General Nikolai Dukhov.<ref name="ZalogaIS">Zaloga Steven. ''IS-2 Heavy Tank 1944-73'' Great Britain: Osprey Publishing Ltd., 1994</ref> Design bureaus at the Chelyabinsk Tractor Plant "Tankograd" (ChTZ) and Factory No. 100 worked on the design of the vehicle. A focus on the armour improvement came from a study by an engineer in the teams that most tank losses occurred from hits to the front turret, with the front hull coming in second. The two design bureaus came up with their own ideas on how to make the armour of the tank more effective, with ChTZ developing an extremely rounded turret and No.100 developing a new angled front armour in a shape of a "beak". Soviet command decided that the design should use both features in the armour as both ideas were promising. The prototype vehicle was then produced at ChTZ and completed in October 1944 when it trialled and accepted for production as the '''IS-3'''. Production for the IS-3 started in 1945 at ChTZ alongside the IS-2 production. As the first tanks rolled off production lines, it was determined that the design was rushed and unproven with its multiple mechanical problems, some of which included the armour plates welds cracking open from the vibration of cross-country movement and muzzle blast from the gun. Because of this, the IS-3 was not available in large numbers to be committed into battle, leading to their absence in the final months of World War II before Germany surrendered in May 1945.<ref name="ZalogaIS" />

Despite its rough introduction and prevalent mechanical issues, the IS-3 continued production with gradual fixes to the front hull, final drive, and engine mounts. The Chelyabinsk factory produced IS-3s from 1945 to 1951 for a total of 1,800 tanks.<ref name="ZalogaIS" />

===Usage===
Though the IS-3 was not available in large numbers at the start, the Soviets attempted to transport the IS-3 to Germany in April 1945 to assist in the fightings, but they arrived too late to be committed to any fighting. It is reported that the IS-3 did see service during the Soviet invasion of Manchuria in August 1945 to fulfil Stalin's promise in the Yalta Conference to invade Japan after the capitulation of Germany, however not much information is present about this topic.<ref name="ZalogaIS" />

The end of the most destructive war in history did not waver the Soviet's opinion of the IS-3 however, and the Soviet command had the 52 IS-3 tanks from the 2nd Guards Tank Army paraded in the Berlin Victory Parade on September 7, 1945.<ref name="ZalogaIS" /> The reveal of the IS-3 in the parade came as a huge shock to the Western Allies who saw the IS-3 as a nigh-invulnerable breakthrough tank with their heavy armour. The response to the tank was there to develop their own heavy tanks able to do the same job and with a gun able to fight the IS-3, such as the British [[Conqueror|Conqueror]] and the American [[M103|M103]] heavy tanks. Despite its very ominous stature, the IS-3 was still plagued with mechanical issues at this point with its poor armour quality and mechanical reliability. A short modernization program from 1948 to 1952 was made to fix these issues with tanks in production and in the depots with no change to the name designation. The IS-3 was then modernized further in the 1960s to keep it up with changing times. The modifications done were similar to the IS-2M, which gave the IS-3 extra external fuel tanks, storage bins, and protective side skirts as well as an improved engine, engine filtration, new radios, new machine guns, new gun optics, and many more small changes. The modernized IS-3 was named the ''IS-3M''.<ref name="ZalogaIS" />

One of the few actions the IS-3 saw in the post-war era with the Soviet Union was in 1956 during the Hungarian Revolution with a single heavy tank regiment. The Soviet's heavy tank regiments used to consist of 21 heavy tanks during World War II. In 1947, the regiment composition is changed to between 44-46 heavy tanks and 21 heavy assault guns in a mixed formation. Another change between 1958-1959 saw this mixed unit changed to consist of only heavy tanks but now consists of up to 100 heavy tanks. Despite their armour, a number of heavy tanks were lost before the Soviets were able to crush the revolution. The IS-3 after that did not see much action afterwards in the Soviet Union's hands before it started to be replaced by the newer [[T-10M|T-10]] heavy tank in the 1960s. During this time, many heavy tanks were transported to the border between the Soviet Union and China in face of the rising tension between the two countries.<ref name="ZalogaIS" />

The IS-3 would also be supplied to the Soviet Union's allies such as Poland, Czechoslovakia, North Korea, and Egypt. Poland and Czechoslovakia never adopted the tank after trials however, thus leaving only North Korea and Egypt as the main foreign users of the IS-3. The Egyptians used the IS-3M, 100 of which were received from the Soviets, against the Israelis in the Six-Day War in 1967. Of all the tanks used in that war, the IS-3M was the most feared by the Israelis due to the thick front armour. Israeli infantry's standard anti-tank weaponry could not penetrate through the front, and tanks as modern as the [[M48A1|M48 Patton]] also could not defeat the IS-3M. Nevertheless, the better tactics and training among the Israeli tank units were able to prevail against the IS-3M, with the IS-3 being commented by the Egyptians for its low rate of fire and outdated fire-controls to the crew's deficiency in combat. Of the 100, 73 tanks were lost during the Six-Day War. The Israeli managed to capture a number of IS-3 and pressed them into service, though only for a short period before its faults become more problematic than its benefits. The engine on the IS-3 proved to be unsuitable in the desert climate of the Middle East, and an attempt by the Israeli to alleviate this by replacing the engine with one from the [[T-54 (1951)|T-54]], though this did not prove fruitful. In the Yom Kippur War in 1973, both the Egyptians and Israeli used the IS-3M to a smaller degree than the Six Day War, the IS-3 not seeing much combat in the Egyptian forces and were used as dug-in pillboxes on the Jordan River by the Israelis.<ref name="ZalogaIS" />

===Decline and Discontinuation===
With the introduction of the lighter and more mobile [[T-54 (1951)|T-54]] main battle tank in the 1950s, the IS-3 saw less usage among the Soviet front-line as it started to become obsolete. Further development to improve and continue the IS tank series became the [[IS-4M|IS-4]], IS-7, and the [[T-10M|T-10]] tanks. However, in 1960, Nikita Khrushchev, the new premier of the Soviet Union after Stalin died, ordered heavy tank production to be terminated in wake of a new military strategy of missiles rather than conventional forces.<ref name="ZalogaIS" /> His orders are not without reason, heavy tanks are difficult to maintain and transport across the huge Soviet Union, which also did not have many bridges that could support a heavy tank. Another reason was the changing anti-tank technology that made tank armour extremely vulnerable, especially against the new anti-tank missiles that are becoming more and more efficient at their task in destroying tanks. Still, the order did not mean the dissolution of heavy tank units as by 1978, there were still up to 2,300 heavy tanks in the Far East. To this day, many heavy tanks are still either in inactive reserves or dug in as pillboxes along the borders of the Soviet Union.<ref name="ZalogaIS" /> The heavy tank's place in the Soviet Union's military was replaced by the main battle tanks (MBT) like the T-64, which presented a much better firepower, armour, and mobility for only a weight of 35 tons, a technological sign on the rising prevalence of the MBT.

=== In-game description ===
In spite of the fact that the IS-2 lived up to expectations, a decision was made a year after the end of the war to create a tank with even higher characteristics. Its unique welded hull and cast turret construction significantly increased its armour strength in comparison to the IS-2, from which it took many key parts and components.

The hull was welded together from rolled armour plates and contained no cast armour pieces. The dual-sloping inclined nose design allowed a driver's hatch to be placed in it, significantly improved visibility in the field and provided high armour strength to the frontal hull. For increased fire safety, its fuel tanks were moved from the fighting compartment to the engine compartment. It was armed with a 122 mm D-25T cannon with a coaxial 7.62 mm DT machine gun. The turret's roof was equipped with a 12.7 mm DShK anti-aircraft machine gun. It had no bow or rear machine guns.

At the beginning of their deployment, a range of flaws resulting from a number of design errors and miscalculations was revealed in these tanks. Among other issues, these included failures in the engine, gearbox, and parts of the armoured hull in the region of the engine compartment. In 1948-1952, all IS-3 tanks were reworked and modernised. The engine brackets were reinforced, the gearbox fixings changed, the underturret plate strengthened, the main friction coupling design updated, and the sealing enhanced on the final drive and road wheels. The 10-RK radio set was replaced with the 10-RT radio set. These changes increased the tank's mass to 48.8 tonnes.

The first experimental group of IS-3 heavy tanks left their factories in 1945. In total, 2,311 of them were made by mid-1946.
They were not deployed in combat in the Great Patriotic War. There are some indications that the IS-3 was used in the defeat of the Japanese army in August 1945.

== Media ==


;Videos
{{Youtube-gallery|_-YJo8JRBEM|'''Shooting Range #190''' - ''Metal Beasts'' section at 1:00 discusses the IS-3.}}

;Skins

* [http://live.warthunder.com/feed/camouflages/?q=%23is3 Skins and camouflages for the IS-3 from live.warthunder]

==References==
<references />

== 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 ==


* [http://forum.warthunder.com/index.php?/topic/227061-vehicle-profile-is-3/#entry4370635 [Vehicle Profile<nowiki>]</nowiki> IS-3]

{{USSR heavy tanks}}

Radkampfwagen 90

2020-04-20T08:41:20Z

U78096411: /* Main armament */

{{Specs-Card|code=germ_radpanzer_90}}

== Description ==

[[File:GarageImage_{{PAGENAME}}.jpg|420px|thumb|left]]
{{Break}}
The '''{{Specs|name}}''' is a rank {{Specs|rank}} German light tank {{Battle-rating}}. It was introduced in [[Update 1.97 "Viking Fury"]].

== General info ==
=== Survivability and armour ===
The Radkampfwagen 90, being a light tank, is surprisingly survivable. When talking about the survivability of this vehicle, it is best to separate the tank into two parts, the turret, and the hull.

'''The Hull'''

The hull of the Radkampfwagen 90 is the weakest part of the tank. While the hull does have "spaced armor", this is deceiving, as this will only protect you from HESH shells, and at 9.0, HESH is effectively useless, and in any case, most players will not be using it as their main shell. When hit by HEATFS, the hull of the Radwagen is very prone to hullbreak, but when hit with APFSDS, the tank can possibly survive a few hits, as long as the ammo is not detonated. In conclusion, the Radwagen's hull, at least from the front, can protect against non-apfsds autocannons, but the sides will be easily penned by even the Russian 14.5mms, and the rear by American .50cals

'''The Turret'''

The turret of the Radkampfwagen 90 is surprisingly bouncy and well armored. It features, at least on the front and sides, spaced armor, but as mentioned before, this will only protect you from HESH rounds. However, the turret of the Radwagen is very hard to hullbreak, even when using HEATFS. The turret face also features many weird angles, that have the possibility of richocheting enemy rounds off of the sides. Another thing to note is that because of the large amounts of empty space in the turret, coupled with the lower damage of modern rounds, can allow you to survive multiple hits to the turret, even sometimes with enemy shells doing no damage. However, as with any armor, this should never be relied on, and should only be used as a last ditch effort.

'''In conclusion, you can take hits sometimes, but in any case, it is better to not get spotted or hit in the first place, and to get the first shot off'''

=== Mobility ===
''Write about the mobility of the ground vehicle. Estimate the specific power and manoeuvrability, as well as the maximum speed forwards and backwards.''

{{tankMobility|abMinHp= 1286|rbMinHp= 734}}

== Armaments ==
=== Main armament ===

{{main|L7A3 (105 mm)}}

The L7A3 105mm gun mounted on the Radkampfwagen 90 is the same as the gun that the Leopard 1 series uses, and is the same in many aspects. Similar to the Leopard A1A1, the gun is equipped with a two-plane stabilizer allowing for firing on the move. The gun also has faster targeting speed at 5.1 degrees per second compared the the Leopard 1's 3.1 degrees per second in the vertical plane, but the turret traverse speed of the Radwagen, or horizontal targeting speed, certainly leaves something to be desired. A unique thing about this particular L7 is that it fires one of the best L7 APFSDS shells in the game, with higher penetration than even the first Rheinmetall 120 mm L44 APFSDS shell.

{| 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" | 42 || rowspan="2" | -9°/+20° || rowspan="2" | ±180° || rowspan="2" | Two-plane || 22.8 || 31.62 || 38.4 || __.__ || 45.18 || rowspan="2" | 8.71 || rowspan="2" | 7.7 || rowspan="2" | _.__ || rowspan="2" | 6.7
|-
! ''Realistic''
| 14.3 || 16.8 || 20.4 || __.__ || 24.0
|-
|}

==== Ammunition ====
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center" width="100%"
! colspan="8" | Penetration statistics
|-
! rowspan="2" data-sort-type="text" | Ammunition
! rowspan="2" | Type of warhead
! colspan="6" | '''Penetration @ 0° Angle of Attack (mm)'''
|-
! 10 m !! 100 m !! 500 m !! 1,000 m !! 1,500 m !! 2,000 m
|-
| DM12 || HEATFS || 400 || 400 || 400 || 400 || 400 || 400
|-
| DM23 || APFSDS || 337 || 335 || 330 || 322 || 314 || 306
|-
| DM33 || APFSDS || 408 || 405 || 398 || 389 || 379 || 370
|-
| DM502 || HESH || 127 || 127 || 127 || 127 || 127 || 127
|-
|}
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center" width="100%"
! colspan="10" | Shell details
|-
! rowspan="2" data-sort-type="text" | Ammunition
! rowspan="2" | Type of warhead
! rowspan="2" | Velocity (m/s)
! rowspan="2" | Projectile Mass (kg)
! rowspan="2" | Fuse delay (m)
! rowspan="2" | Fuse sensitivity (mm)
! rowspan="2" | Explosive Mass (TNT equivalent) (g)
! colspan="3" | Ricochet
|-
! 0% !! 50% !! 100%
|-
| DM12 || HEATFS || 1,173 || 10.5 || N/A || 0.1 || 1,271 || 65° || 72° || 77°
|-
| DM23 || APFSDS || 1,455 || 3.79 || N/A || N/A || N/A || 78° || 80° || 81°
|-
| DM33 || APFSDS || 1,455 || 3.79 || N/A || N/A || N/A || 78° || 80° || 81°
|-
| DM502 || HESH || 732 || 14.85 || 0.4 || 0.1 || 4,306 || 73° || 77° || 80°
|-
|}

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

In general, only 20-30 shells are needed in any average battle, so bringing more than that is pointless and makes it easy to be ammoracked.
{| 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
|-
| '''42''' || __ ''(+__)'' || __ ''(+__)'' || __ ''(+__)'' || __ ''(+__)'' || __ ''(+__)'' || __ ''(+__)'' || __
|-
|}

==== [[Optics]] ====
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
! colspan="3" | {{PAGENAME}} Optics
|-
!
! Default magnification
! Maximum magnification
|-
! Main Gun optics
| x8.0 || x12.0
|-
! Comparable optics
| colspan="2" | ___
|-
|}

=== Machine guns ===
{{main|MG3A1 (7.62 mm)}}

The coaxially mounted 7.62 mm MG3A1 is, in most situations, not useful. While being able to "blind" opponents by shooting at their optics, as with any MG, and able to easily dispatch of vehicles with exposed crew that have uptiered themselves, such as the [[M56]], 2 factors really hold this MG back from being truly useful. These are:

* The MG is mounted coaxially, limiting it's traverse and it's AA capabilities (especially against helicopters)
* This MG has very low penetration, as almost any thin armored plate can withstand it's fire

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! colspan="5" | [[MG3A1 (7.62 mm)|7.62 mm MG3A1]]
|-
! Mount
! Capacity (Belt capacity)
! Rate of fire (shots/minute)
! Vertical guidance
! Horizontal guidance
|-
| Coaxial || 4,000 (1,000) || 1,200 || N/A || N/A
|-
|}

== Usage in battles ==

'''General Playstyle'''

The Radkampfwagen 90, due to it's speed, may be used in a flanking manner, being able to go around the enemy and surprise them where they do not expect. When flanking, it is recommended to use roads if possible, as the Radwagen is a wheeled vehicle, and rough terrain will slow it down. However, even offroad, the vehicle is still capable of speeds that are much higher than many other contemporary MBTs. The scouting ability of the Radwagen can also be very useful, as it can help you support your team without risking the possibility of being spotted/noticed by firing your gun. The only downside to this playstyle is that the Radwagen is unusually large in size, most notably the hull, which makes it easier to be spotted.

The Radkampfwagen may also be used in a playstyle of a fast MBT. While the hull of the Radwagen is weak, not really well armoured, and prone to hullbreak, and easy to hit, the turret of the vehicle has multiple well angled and very bouncy plates, both interior and exterior, which allows the turret to sometimes take hits without damage, or even ricochet some shells. This bouncy turret can be used in a hull-down position, like a ridgeline, or a pile or rubble. However, it is important to note that even though enemy shells have a chance of bouncing, it is best not to rely on this, and to use the vehicle's stabilizer and situational awareness to get the first shot off.

'''Arcade Battles'''

In Arcade, the playstyle of the Radwagen changes a bit. Due to markers that will tell everyone where the Radwagen is, flanking is not as good of a strategy. However, the vehicle retains all other advantages, and due to the slight engine boost in arcade, will be able to hit very high speeds even offroad. Of course, enemies will also be faster in general, which makes this extra speed redundant. The vehicle's scouting abilities are useful in aiding the team. Your gun, for its tier, is good, and its decently low shell drop will aid in those long range shots that are common in arcade. Just remember - this is a light vehicle in a gamemode where it can't really hide, so when playing this vehicle in Arcade, be cautious.

'''Realistic Battles'''

In Realistic, the Radwagen's speed and scouting abilities are even more prominent. As mentioned above, it can flank around the enemy with stealth, and either scout enemies for the team or quickly knock them out with its very punchy gun. The team also will benefit from its scouting abilities, as in a gamemode without enemy markers, intel of the enemies whereabouts can be crucial to the team's victory.

=== Modules ===
{| class="wikitable"
! Tier
! colspan="2" | Mobility
! Protection
! colspan="3" | Firepower
|-
| I
| Tires
|
| Parts
| Horizontal Drive
| DM502
| Smoke grenade
|-
| II
| Suspension
| Brake System
| FPE
| Adjustment of Fire
| DM12
| Airstrike
|-
| III
| Filters
|
| Crew Replenishment
| Elevation Mechanism
| Improved optics
| NVD
|-
| IV
| Transmission
| Engine
|
| Artillery Support
| DM33
| Rangefinder
|-
|}

=== Pros and cons ===


'''Pros:'''

* Introduces a new playstyle option for top-rank German lineups
* Complement the lack of scout vehicles top-rank German lineups
* Has DM23 APFSDS rounds as stock ammunition
* Is very mobile and very fast on both roads and cross-country terrain
* Has DM33 rounds available for research
* Deadly when facing lower-ranked opponents
* Remains competitive even when uptiered and gun still performs well even at 10.3
* 8.7 reload stock, can be further improved with crew training
* Hull is resistant against most heavy machine guns
* Spaced armour in the front and is resistant against low calibre SPAA
* Same turret as the Leopard 2K, can sometimes bounce shots
* Extremely effective in the hands of experienced players
* Is not sluggish at low speed

'''Cons:'''

* Does not have anti-aircraft machine gun
* Can be hull-broken
* Slower reverse speed than other wheeled vehicles
* Does not have thermal sights, putting it at a disadvantage of other vehicles of similar BR
* Wheeled vehicles means it will suffer on certain terrain and cannot pivot turn
* Has a large profile because of large turret
* Slower than average turret rotation
* Is littered with ammo
* Requires deep knowledge and keen situational awareness to play effectively

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

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

== See also ==
''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/6635-development-radkampfwagen-90-a-leopard-on-wheels-en|[Devblog] Radkampfwagen 90: A leopard on wheels]]

{{Germany light tanks}}

Jagdtiger

2020-04-18T04:56:23Z

U78096411:

{{Specs-Card|code=germ_panzerjager_tiger}}

== Description ==

[[File:GarageImage_Jagdtiger.jpg|420px|thumb|left]]
{{break}}
The '''{{Specs|name}}''' is a rank {{Specs|rank}} German tank destroyer {{Battle-rating}}. It was introduced during the Closed Beta Test for Ground Forces before Update 1.41.

The Jagdtiger is a heavy tank destroyer, designed to take out targets from a distance, this is shown as in-game the tank truly shines at long range combat where manoeuvrability and weak spots don't become as much as a threat, but the biggest benefit for long-range firing is the 128mm PaK44 L/55 Main Cannon, this gun can pierce over 200 mm of non-sloped armour at '''2000 METERS''' with APCBC Rounds. The PaK44 was the largest anti-tank weapon in service during World War II, nothing rivalled its penetrating capability nor its combat range, and it was easily capable of taking out any fielded allied tank in a single hit. As it was essentially a modification of a naval gun, the ammunition was still 2-part (shot and charge) and could be fired with less charge for close range high explosive shells.

At mid-long range is invincible versus APHE & the majority of HESH ammunition, only APDS & HEAT can penetrate it frontally. Common enemies are the end of the line [[T-10M]] and the American [[M103|M103]] both of which can pierce any part of tank armour with ease. Fortunately, pure armour strength limits the amount of spalling.

== General info ==
=== Survivability and armour ===

'''Armour type:'''

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

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Armour !! Front (Slope angle) !! Sides (Slope angle) !! Rear (Slope angle) !! Roof
|-
| Hull || 150 mm (49°) ''Front glacis'' 100 mm (49°) ''Bottom glacis'' || 80 + 5 mm (26°) || 80 mm (28-29°)|| 50 mm
|-
| Superstructure || 250 mm (2-28°) || 80 mm (26°) || 80 mm || 45 mm
|-
|}
'''Notes:'''

*Front of the tank is almost impossible to defeat, its armour is great, only the sides and rear are vulnerable.
*The lower glacis is pretty vulnerable, but a ''hulldown'' position can protect it.
*The superstructure side is covered with tracks, which provides another 30 mm extra armour to the sides.

=== Mobility ===


{{tankMobility|abMinHp= 994|rbMinHp= 619|}}

== Armaments ==
=== Main armament ===

{{main|PaK 44 (128 mm)}}

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! colspan="6" | [[PaK 44 (128 mm)|128 mm PaK 44]]
|-
! colspan="3" rowspan="1" style="width:5em" |Capacity
! rowspan="1" | Vertical guidance
! rowspan="1" | Horizontal guidance
! rowspan="1" | Stabilizer
|-
| colspan="3" | 40 || -7°/+14° || ±10° || N/A
|-
! colspan="6" | Turret rotation speed (°/s)
|-
! style="width:4em" |Mode
! style="width:4em" |Stock
! style="width:4em" |Upgraded
! style="width:4em" |Prior + Full crew
! style="width:4em" |Prior + Expert qualif.
! style="width:4em" |Prior + Ace qualif.
|-
| ''Arcade'' || 4.40 || _.__ || _.__ || _.__ || _.__
|-
| ''Realistic'' || 4.40 || _.__ || _.__ || _.__ || _.__
|-
! colspan="4" | Reloading rate (seconds)
|-
! colspan="1" style="width:4em" |Stock
! colspan="1" style="width:4em" |Prior + Full crew
! colspan="1" style="width:4em" |Prior + Expert qualif.
! colspan="1" style="width:4em" |Prior + Ace qualif.
|-
| 23.60 || _.__ || _.__ || _.__
|-
|}

===== Ammunition =====
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center" width="100%"
! colspan="8" | Penetration statistics
|-
! rowspan="2" data-sort-type="text" | Ammunition
! rowspan="2" class="unsortable" | Type of warhead
! colspan="6" | '''Penetration''' '''''in mm''''' '''@ 0° Angle of Attack'''
|-
! 10m
! 100m
! 500m
! 1000m
! 1500m
! 2000m
|-
| PzGr || APC || 227 ||224||213||200||188||176||
|-
| PzGr 43 || APCBC ||267||265|| 253 ||238||224||211
|-
| Sprgr. L/4,5 || HE ||45||45||44||43||41||40
|-
|}
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center" width="100%"
! colspan="11" | Shell details
|-
! rowspan="2" data-sort-type="text" | Ammunition
! rowspan="2" class="unsortable" | Type of warhead
! rowspan="2" |Velocity in m/s
! rowspan="2" |Projectile Mass in kg
! rowspan="2" | ''Fuse delay''
''in m:''
! rowspan="2" | ''Fuse sensitivity''
''in mm:''
! rowspan="2" | ''Explosive Mass in g (TNT equivalent):''
! rowspan="2" | ''Normalization At 30° from horizontal:''
! colspan="3" | ''Ricochet:''
|-
! 0%
! 50%
! 100%
|-
| PzGr || APC || 930 || 28 || 1.2 || 19 || 786.5 || -1° || 48° || 63° || 71°
|-
| PzGr 43 || APCBC || 940 || 28 || 1.2 || 19 || 786.5 || +4° || 48° || 63° || 71
|-
| Sprgr. L/4,5 || HE || 750 || 28 || 0.1 || 0.5 || 3,700 || +0° || 79° || 80° || 81°
|-
|}

===== [[Ammo racks|Ammo racks]] =====
[[File:Ammoracks_Jagdtiger.png|thumbnail|right|x250px|Ammo racks of the Jagdtiger.]]
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! class="wikitable unsortable" |Full ammo
! class="wikitable unsortable" |1st rack empty
! class="wikitable unsortable" |2nd rack empty
! class="wikitable unsortable" |3rd rack empty
! class="wikitable unsortable" |4th rack empty
! class="wikitable unsortable" |5th rack empty
! class="wikitable unsortable" |6th rack empty
! class="wikitable unsortable" |7th rack empty
! class="wikitable unsortable" |Visual discrepancy
|-
| '''40''' ||33 ''(+7)'' || 28 ''(+12)'' || 23 ''(+17)'' || 17 ''(+23)'' || 11 ''(+29)'' || 6 ''(+34)'' || 1 ''(+39)'' || no
|}

=== Machine guns ===

{{main|MG 34 (7.92 mm)}}

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! colspan="7" | [[MG 34 (7.92 mm)|7.92 mm MG 34]]
|-
! colspan="7" | ''Hull mount''
|-
! colspan="4" rowspan="1" style="width:5em" |Capacity (Belt capacity each)
! rowspan="1" | Fire rate (shots/minute)
! rowspan="1" | Vertical guidance
! rowspan="1" | Horizontal guidance
|-
| colspan="4" | 3,000 (150) || 900 || -6°/+4° || ±7°
|-
|}

== Usage in battles ==

Inherent as any other Tank destroyer: Limit the channel of attack by either obstacles ''or'' distance and try to pick of targets one-by-one. Despite heavy armour, the Jagdtiger should retreat after every shot, if the opposition possesses weapons with penetration succeeding 180 mm, or else the lower plate will provide a big target. Make sure to take each corner with plenty of momentum though, if an enemy destroys the tracks or transmission during a turn, the remaining momentum will carry the Jagdtiger into a firing position or to safety.

As expected close-quarter-combat (''CQC'': Urban areas, cities, ravines, etc) should be avoided as they invite ambushes to the very weak side of Jagdtiger. Of course, narrow passageways can also be turned into chokepoints (see above).

Sitting at an uneasy spot with [[BR]] 7.3 in Arcade, and 6.7 in Realistic and Simulator, the Jagdtiger meets opponents with guns that can go through its armor much less regularly in Realistic and Simulator. However, the British 20 pounder, also quite common at 6.7, has an apds shell that can go through your armor easily at medium range. However, other than uptiers or tank destroyers firing HEATFS, no conventional rounds can really go through your armor in Realistic and Sim. Arcade however is a different story, as its higher BR will make it face more modern opponents.

Foes able to frontally penetrate the Jagdtiger in hull down position (hiding the lower glacis) are labeled in ☠red.

Due to the potency of the 128 mm APHE shell, specific modules must ''not'' be a target. A successful hit into the crew compartment will result in any tank exploding.

'''Realistic/Simulator Opponents'''

*[[IS-3]]: Shoot the pike, albeit it can be difficult to get through if it is angled straight forward. A trapshot is also quite possible, as long as you can richochet a shell of of the gun mantlet and into the turret.
*[[IS-6]]: Shoot the right side of the turret beside the gun, where there are 2 "dots" and a relatively flat surface. You will be able to penetrate this area most of the time.
*☠[[SU-122-54]]: Anywhere, except try to avoid the gun mantle. No noteworthy armour, but it has a dangerous gun.
*[[T-44]]: The frontal chassis can be very trolly with its ricochets. Turret and lower glacis nearly guaranteed a penetration and knocking them out instantly.
*T-54s & ☠[[T-54 (1951)|mod.51]]: All can be penetrated through the turret front (left and right of gun mantlet) from closer than 500m. Except for the [[T-54 (1947)|mod.47]] the Jagdtiger may also shoot the chassis' armour plate if it is pointed straight toward the Jagdtiger. Or just shoot the cupola and let the 700 grams of TNT equivalent do the rest
*☠[[M47|M47]]: Pretty much anywhere.
*☠Any [[M48A1|M48]]: Lot's of sloped armour. Frontally the commander's cupola can be picked, the turret ring, or gun mantlet.
*☠[[M60|M60]]: Basically just a better M48. Shoot it as if it is an M48, especially the commander's cupola
*☠[[T95|T95]]: Albeit a rare sight, the few specimens encountered are driven by madmen, or masochist. Either way, both tend to have a good understanding of enemy weak points. Inside 500m the T95's stock AP shell can penetrate the upper and lower frontal plate and the APCR can pierce the superstructure, but not the chassis. Fortunately, the raw armour strength limits shrapnel power and penetrated shots will do minor area damage in the spacious crew compartment. Damage can be avoided entirely by staying at distances exceeding 500m. The T95's armour is in all due respect superior to the Jagdtiger, yet features two protruding weak spots: The two cupolas, hitting them is another issue though. Combat should be engaged in ranges less than 500m, beyond that accuracy will not allow aiming for weak spots.
*☠[[M103|M103]]: So much sloped armour. Try to shoot into the turret trap (lower gun mantlet) or the turret ring.
*[[Panther_F|Panthers]]/[[M26|Pershing]]/[[M46|M46]]: Entire front is penetrable.
*[[Tiger II_(H)|Tiger II (H)]]: Right turret cheek to disable the turret for a safe reload. Alternatively, the lower glacis to get the transmission and a chance to knock out the entire crew.
*[[Maus|Maus]]: Turret cheeks, multiple hits will be necessary. If possible a shot into either the fuel tanks or chassis ammo rack for the 12,8cm cannon should insta-knock-out the behemoth.
*[[Jagdtiger|Jagdtiger]]: The lower plate is a good place to shoot. Make sure to hit at a good angle as the APBC can still bounce. Also, the flat parts of the superstructure when not angle work at close range.
*☠[[Leopard I|Leopard]]: Shoot it anywhere. Don't miss.

'''Arcade only Opponents'''

*[[IS-4M]]: The drives hatch is hard to get through with the tiny hole behind the additional armour. More favourable is the lower plate, or the gun mantlet on his left side.
*☠[[T-10M]]: Shoot the lower glacis when not angled, or shoot the cupolas with HE.

=== Pros and cons ===

'''Pros:'''

*Shares the same hull as the Tiger II, so the upper glacis plate is still very tough
*The front of the superstructure is very difficult to get through with anything less than APDS or HEAT
*With its 6 man crew and thick armour, it's difficult to knock out this tank with one shot from an APDS or HEAT shell
*Even better gun mantlet than the one on the T95. Totally and utterly impenetrable
*128 mm PaK 44 cannon is an accurate cannon with a surprisingly quick to reload. It takes 20 seconds to reload with a decent crew. That is not bad considering the size and weight of the projectile that this gun fires
*PzGr 43 round has the second highest penetration of any APCBC round in the game
*Both the stock PzGr and PzGr 43 shells have an equivalent TNT explosive mass of 786 gram, ensuring devastating post-penetration damage
*When hull down, the Jagdtiger is a true terror on the battlefield. Especially when there are few post-war tanks in the game

'''Cons:'''

*Big target with a lot of ammunition in its hull. Shells that penetrate through the side can prove fatal
*Despite having a better engine than the Tiger II(H), the Jagdtiger weighs 7 more tons. This leaves a lot to be desired when it comes to manoeuvrability and acceleration
*20 second reload can be disastrous if the first shot missed
*Like most other tank destroyers, the Jagdtiger doesn't have a traversable turret. This makes dealing with flanking enemies a nightmare
*Just like all the other Tiger II's, the lower glacis is an easy target if not hull down
*Matchmaking can constantly up tier the Jagdtiger
*Corners of the superstructure are vulnerable to high penetration shells such as the M103's 120 mm AP shell, T-10's 122 mm APHE shell, British 183 mm and 120 mm shells, and Jagdtiger's own 128 mm APHE shell

== History ==

===Development===
This monster of a tank destroyer was inspired by the successes of previous tank destroyers such as the [[StuG III F|StuG III]] and the [[Marder III H|Marder]] series. Their efficiency in a battle called for a request by Army General Staff to mount an enormous 128 mm gun on a self-propelled vehicle for infantry support in early 1942, but then Hitler changed it from its intended role to a tank destroyer. The 128 mm design was chosen as toolings already existed for the calibre, as it originated from a naval cannon design, which also was used the basis of an anti-aircraft gun. The 128 mm cannon also had a very high hit rate when compared to other formidable calibres like the 105 mm and 88 mm.

In early 1943, the armoured chassis that was to carry the 128 mm gun was to be either the [[Tiger H1|Tiger I]] or [[Panther D|Panther]]. However, early modelling showed that the instalment of the 128 mm onto the Panther chassis was unsuitable. On October 20, 1943, the design was changed to use the [[Tiger II (H)|Tiger II]] chassis and a wooden model was constructed for presentation to Hitler. Approved for further production, two prototypes were produced by Porsche and Henschel. Porsche version had an eight-wheel suspension system while the Henschel version had a nine-wheel overlapping suspension system similar to the Tiger II construction. The rest of the body was consistent to the current German tank destroyer designs, an armoured casemate structure was used to hold the new 128mm Pak 44 L/55 gun. The prototypes were completed and presented in February 1944, and were approved for service, earning the designation '''Jagdpanzer VI''', but was later renamed to '''Jagdtiger'''. 150 of these Jagdtigers were ordered by the army, but only 88 (at most) were produced before the end of the war. Eleven of the Jagdtigers used the Porsche suspension system while the rest were using the Henschel suspension system.

What made the Jagdtiger very special was its enormous gun, the 128 mm Pak 44 L/55. At its introduction, no allied armour could withstand the shell it fires, and though the same lethality could be shared with the Tiger II's 88 mm Pak 43, it has a much greater effective range of over 3.5 kilometres (though a variant of the Jagdtiger was equipped with the 88 mm Pak 43 due to 128 mm gun shortages, this never entered service). The gun could penetrate an enemy tank hiding behind cover, such as a house, shooting right through the house and hitting the target on the other side. A disadvantage of the gun was its two-part ammunition, the shell and the propellant, which increases the loading time of the gun. The armour of the front of the Jagdtiger was 250 mm and 150 mm on the glacis plate. Like almost every casemate design, the Jagdtiger suffered from lack of turret traverse and must have the entire vehicle rotate when a target moves out of its traverse range. The Jagdtiger has the distinct title of the heaviest armoured fighting vehicle produced, weighing about 71 tons, but like most of Germany's heavy armoured vehicles late in the war, the Jagdtiger also suffered mechanical and mobility issues. The heavyweight caused it to be slow and was easy to break down if the vehicle had to rotate to aim the gun, due to the heavily strained transmission and suspensions. Also, the gun had to be locked down (cannot traverse) when not in use to avoid wearing out the mounting brackets, and a crew member had to exit the vehicle to unlock it before firing.

===Combat usage===
The Jagdtiger was first issued on September 1944 to the Western front in the hands of the 512th and 653rd Heavy Panzerjäger Battalions. Otto Carius, a Tiger Ace, commanded the 2nd Company of 512th to defend against the Allied offensives. He comments that the Jagdtigers could not be brought to their full potential on the battlefield due to many pressing issues. The two most pressing issues of the Jagdtiger was the mechanical failures and lack of crew training on the heavy beasts. The mechanical issues forced many Jagdtigers to be disabled and eventually destroyed by their own crew as they abandoned it. Only 20% of the Jagdtigers on the Western Front were lost in combat, the rest was due to the mechanical failures or out of fuel. Crew training was insufficient with the Jagdtiger and so was morale, Otto Carius noted that two Jagdtigers failed to fire on Allied armour more than a mile away in fear of an air attack, even though they were well concealed, and both broke down as they tried to withdraw from the fear of air attacks. One was disabled when it fell into a bomb crater and another was lost because of friendly fire from Volksstrum, as they had never seen a Jagdtiger before. In another instance, alone Jagdtiger engaged an American tank platoon. When the tank platoon opened fire, the Jagdtiger withdrew not by backing up, but turned around due to inexperienced crew training, exposing the weaker side armour and was destroyed. Eventually, Otto Carius's company was surrounded in the Ruhr pocket and he ordered the guns of the surviving Jagdtigers destroyed and to surrender to the Americans. Of the ten tigers in Otto's 2nd Company of the 512th battalion, one was lost to friendly fire, another by combat, and the rest by breakdown or crew destruction. The total American armour kills reached was ten American tanks, making one Allied tank loss for each Jagdtiger loss.

Though Otto's memoir left a sour note on the Jagdtiger's combat effectiveness, it had some success. On January 17, 1945, two Jagdtigers engaged fortified positions near Auenheim with no loss. The next day, they engaged four bunkers at a distance of 1,000 meters. The combat had 46 high-explosive and 10 armoured-piercing shells fired on fortifications and tanks, the Jagdtigers were able to destroy a few Allied bunkers and tanks with no losses. Then in April 1945, 512th Battalion saw lots of action when the 1st company engaged Allied tanks and trucks on April 9th, destroying 11 tanks and over 30 other AFVs, the distance of engagement was more than 4,000 meters and ended with only one Jagdtiger lost due to an air attack. The next few days, the 1st company proceeded to destroy five more Shermans before surrendering at Iserlohn. All activity of the 512th Battalion ended with the surrender of the last of the 2nd company April 15th in the same city.

The Jagdtiger's impact on the war for Germany was negligible. There were not enough of them to change the course of the situation for Germany, plus the kill-to-loss ratio makes its production waste of resources when much better models like the StuG were able to get even higher combat performances for a much more economical cost. It represents one of Germany's last attempts to model the belief that more armour and more firepower could equal success in a battlefield against a numerically superior enemy.

===Survivors===
Today, three Jagdtigers survive in museums. One is in Bovington Tank Museum in England, which is one of the 11 Porsche-suspension version and was captured in April 1945 by the British. Another is a Henschel-version at the National Armor & Cavalry Museum in Fort Benning, Georgia of America after being moved from the US Army Ordinance Museum, this was captured in March 1945. The last is in Kubinka Tank Museum in Russia, a Henschel-version that was captured on May 5, 1945, in Austria and is in the best mint condition of the three survivors.

=== In-game description ===
The Jagdtiger was developed by the Krupp and Henschel companies in 1943–1944 and was based on the chassis of the Tiger II heavy tank. It became the most powerful tank destroyer in the Wehrmacht.

A massive stationary cabin was installed on an elongated, 260 mm-long Pz.Kpfw. VI Ausf. B tank's hull. Its frontal armor plate had a thickness of 250 mm, at an inclination of 15 degrees, making it virtually invulnerable to all of the enemy's tank and anti-tank guns. The immense weight of its 128 mm 12,8 cm PaK 44 L/55 gun required a special installation procedure using a special lift-turning mechanism mounted in the crew compartment.

This vehicle had two types of chassis: the Henschel type, with torsion bars, and the Porsche type, with double-axis carriages and spring balancers. Seven tanks were built using the Porsche suspension. Afterwards, in order to standardize parts with the Tiger II tank, only the Henschel suspension was used. The vertical surfaces of the first 9 tank destroyers were covered with an anti-magnetic Zimmerit paste.
Around 88 of these vehicles were produced between December 1944 and April 1944.

Jagdtiger tank destroyers were delivered to the 653rd and 512th heavy tank destroyers battalions. These battalions fought on the Western Front. Two of these self-propelled guns entered the service of the 501st Battalion of the Waffen-SS, and fought with troops of the Red Army in Austria, in May 1945.
The majority of losses suffered by the Jagdtiger were caused by mechanical failure or attacks by Allied aircraft. Some of the vehicles were blown up and abandoned by their crews after running out of ammunition or fuel.

The Jagdtiger's disadvantages included its massive weight, which had a negative effect on its mobility and made its chassis more susceptible to breakage. Also, the vehicle was much too difficult to manufacture.

== Media ==

[https://live.warthunder.com/feed/camouflages/?vehicleCountry=germany&vehicleType=tank&vehicleClass=tank_destroyer&vehicle=germ_panzerjager_tiger '''Skins''' and '''camouflages''' for the Jagdtiger 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 ==


* [https://warthunder.com/en/news/2655/current/ [Special<nowiki>]</nowiki> Jagdtiger "Hunting Tiger"]
* [[Wikipedia:Jagdtiger|[Wikipedia<nowiki>]</nowiki> Jagdtiger]]
* [http://www.worldwarphotos.info/gallery/germany/tanks-2-3/jagdtiger/ World War Photos - Jagdtiger Collection]

{{Germany tank destroyers}}

Jagdtiger

2020-04-18T04:36:52Z

U78096411: /* Usage in battles */

{{Specs-Card|code=germ_panzerjager_tiger}}

== Description ==

[[File:GarageImage_Jagdtiger.jpg|420px|thumb|left]]
{{break}}
The '''{{Specs|name}}''' is a rank {{Specs|rank}} German tank destroyer {{Battle-rating}}. It was introduced during the Closed Beta Test for Ground Forces before Update 1.41.

The Jagdtiger is a heavy tank destroyer, designed to take out targets from a distance, this is shown as in-game the tank truly shines at long range combat where manoeuvrability and weak spots don't become as much as a threat, but the biggest benefit for long-range firing is the 128mm PaK44 L/55 Main Cannon, this gun can pierce over 200 mm of non-sloped armour at '''2000 METERS''' with APCBC Rounds. The PaK44 was the largest anti-tank weapon in service during World War II, nothing rivalled its penetrating capability nor its combat range, and it was easily capable of taking out any fielded allied tank in a single hit. As it was essentially a modification of a naval gun, the ammunition was still 2-part (shot and charge) and could be fired with less charge for close range high explosive shells.

At mid-long range is invincible versus APHE & the majority of HESH ammunition, only APDS & HEAT can penetrate it frontally. Common enemies are the end of the line [[T-10M]] and the American [[M103|M103]] both of which can pierce any part of tank armour with ease. Fortunately, pure armour strength limits the amount of spalling.

== General info ==
=== Survivability and armour ===

'''Armour type:'''

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

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Armour !! Front (Slope angle) !! Sides (Slope angle) !! Rear (Slope angle) !! Roof
|-
| Hull || 150 mm (49°) ''Front glacis'' 100 mm (49°) ''Bottom glacis'' || 80 + 5 mm (26°) || 80 mm (28-29°)|| 50 mm
|-
| Superstructure || 250 mm (2-28°) || 80 mm (26°) || 80 mm || 45 mm
|-
|}
'''Notes:'''

*Front of the tank is almost impossible to defeat, its armour is great, only the sides and rear are vulnerable.
*The lower glacis is pretty vulnerable, but a ''hulldown'' position can protect it.
*The superstructure side is covered with tracks, which provides another 30 mm extra armour to the sides.

=== Mobility ===


{{tankMobility|abMinHp= 994|rbMinHp= 619|}}

== Armaments ==
=== Main armament ===

{{main|PaK 44 (128 mm)}}

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! colspan="6" | [[PaK 44 (128 mm)|128 mm PaK 44]]
|-
! colspan="3" rowspan="1" style="width:5em" |Capacity
! rowspan="1" | Vertical guidance
! rowspan="1" | Horizontal guidance
! rowspan="1" | Stabilizer
|-
| colspan="3" | 40 || -7°/+14° || ±10° || N/A
|-
! colspan="6" | Turret rotation speed (°/s)
|-
! style="width:4em" |Mode
! style="width:4em" |Stock
! style="width:4em" |Upgraded
! style="width:4em" |Prior + Full crew
! style="width:4em" |Prior + Expert qualif.
! style="width:4em" |Prior + Ace qualif.
|-
| ''Arcade'' || 4.40 || _.__ || _.__ || _.__ || _.__
|-
| ''Realistic'' || 4.40 || _.__ || _.__ || _.__ || _.__
|-
! colspan="4" | Reloading rate (seconds)
|-
! colspan="1" style="width:4em" |Stock
! colspan="1" style="width:4em" |Prior + Full crew
! colspan="1" style="width:4em" |Prior + Expert qualif.
! colspan="1" style="width:4em" |Prior + Ace qualif.
|-
| 23.60 || _.__ || _.__ || _.__
|-
|}

===== Ammunition =====
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center" width="100%"
! colspan="8" | Penetration statistics
|-
! rowspan="2" data-sort-type="text" | Ammunition
! rowspan="2" class="unsortable" | Type of warhead
! colspan="6" | '''Penetration''' '''''in mm''''' '''@ 0° Angle of Attack'''
|-
! 10m
! 100m
! 500m
! 1000m
! 1500m
! 2000m
|-
| PzGr || APC || 227 ||224||213||200||188||176||
|-
| PzGr 43 || APCBC ||267||265|| 253 ||238||224||211
|-
| Sprgr. L/4,5 || HE ||45||45||44||43||41||40
|-
|}
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center" width="100%"
! colspan="11" | Shell details
|-
! rowspan="2" data-sort-type="text" | Ammunition
! rowspan="2" class="unsortable" | Type of warhead
! rowspan="2" |Velocity in m/s
! rowspan="2" |Projectile Mass in kg
! rowspan="2" | ''Fuse delay''
''in m:''
! rowspan="2" | ''Fuse sensitivity''
''in mm:''
! rowspan="2" | ''Explosive Mass in g (TNT equivalent):''
! rowspan="2" | ''Normalization At 30° from horizontal:''
! colspan="3" | ''Ricochet:''
|-
! 0%
! 50%
! 100%
|-
| PzGr || APC || 930 || 28 || 1.2 || 19 || 786.5 || -1° || 48° || 63° || 71°
|-
| PzGr 43 || APCBC || 940 || 28 || 1.2 || 19 || 786.5 || +4° || 48° || 63° || 71
|-
| Sprgr. L/4,5 || HE || 750 || 28 || 0.1 || 0.5 || 3,700 || +0° || 79° || 80° || 81°
|-
|}

===== [[Ammo racks|Ammo racks]] =====
[[File:Ammoracks_Jagdtiger.png|thumbnail|right|x250px|Ammo racks of the Jagdtiger.]]
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! class="wikitable unsortable" |Full ammo
! class="wikitable unsortable" |1st rack empty
! class="wikitable unsortable" |2nd rack empty
! class="wikitable unsortable" |3rd rack empty
! class="wikitable unsortable" |4th rack empty
! class="wikitable unsortable" |5th rack empty
! class="wikitable unsortable" |6th rack empty
! class="wikitable unsortable" |7th rack empty
! class="wikitable unsortable" |Visual discrepancy
|-
| '''40''' ||33 ''(+7)'' || 28 ''(+12)'' || 23 ''(+17)'' || 17 ''(+23)'' || 11 ''(+29)'' || 6 ''(+34)'' || 1 ''(+39)'' || no
|}

=== Machine guns ===

{{main|MG 34 (7.92 mm)}}

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! colspan="7" | [[MG 34 (7.92 mm)|7.92 mm MG 34]]
|-
! colspan="7" | ''Hull mount''
|-
! colspan="4" rowspan="1" style="width:5em" |Capacity (Belt capacity each)
! rowspan="1" | Fire rate (shots/minute)
! rowspan="1" | Vertical guidance
! rowspan="1" | Horizontal guidance
|-
| colspan="4" | 3,000 (150) || 900 || -6°/+4° || ±7°
|-
|}

== Usage in battles ==

Inherent as any other Tank destroyer: Limit the channel of attack by either obstacles ''or'' distance and try to pick of targets one-by-one. Despite heavy armour, the Jagdtiger should retreat after every shot, if the opposition possesses weapons with penetration succeeding 180 mm, or else the lower plate will provide a big target. Make sure to take each corner with plenty of momentum though, if an enemy destroys the tracks or transmission during a turn, the remaining momentum will carry the Jagdtiger into a firing position or to safety.

As expected close-quarter-combat (''CQC'': Urban areas, cities, ravines, etc) should be avoided as they invite ambushes to the very weak side of Jagdtiger. Of course, narrow passageways can also be turned into chokepoints (see above).

Sitting at an uneasy spot with [[BR]] 7.0 in all game modes, facing off top rank vehicles and a variety of WW2 machinery. All encountered vehicles can penetrate the side armour. Henceforth all medium vehicles are dangerous and their engines should be disabled ASAP.

Foes able to frontally penetrate the Jagdtiger in hull down position (hiding the lower glacis) are labeled in ☠red.

Due to the potency of the 128 mm APHE shell, specific modules must ''not'' be a target. A successful hit into the crew compartment will result in any tank exploding.

*[[IS-3]]: Shoot the pike, albeit it can be difficult to get through if it is angled straight forward.
*[[IS-4M]]: The drives hatch is hard to get through with the tiny hole behind the additional armour. More favourable is the lower plate, or the gun mantlet on his left side.
*☠[[T-10M]]: Shoot the lower glacis when not angled, or shoot the cupolas with HE.
*☠[[SU-122-54]]: Anywhere, except try to avoid the gun mantle. No noteworthy armour, but it has a dangerous gun.
*[[T-44]]: The frontal chassis can be very trolly with its ricochets. Turret and lower glacis nearly guaranteed a penetration and knocking them out instantly.
*T-54s & ☠[[T-54 (1951)|mod.51]]: All can be penetrated through the turret front (left and right of gun mantlet) from closer than 500m. Except for the [[T-54 (1947)|mod.47]] the Jagdtiger may also shoot the chassis' armour plate if it is pointed straight toward the Jagdtiger.
*☠[[M47|M47]]: Pretty much anywhere.
*☠[[M60|M60]]: Lot's of sloped armour. Frontally the commander's hatch can be picked, the turret ring, or gun mantle. Basically an armoured up Leopard.
*☠[[T95|T95]]: Albeit a rare sight, the few specimens encountered are driven by madmen, or masochist. Either way, both tend to have a good understanding of enemy weak points. Inside 500m the T95's stock AP shell can penetrate the upper and lower frontal plate and the APCR can pierce the superstructure, but not the chassis. Fortunately, the raw armour strength limits shrapnel power and penetrated shots will do minor area damage in the spacious crew compartment. Damage can be avoided entirely by staying at distances exceeding 500m. The T95's armour is in all due respect superior to the Jagdtiger, yet features two protruding weak spots: The two cupolas, hitting them is another issue though. Combat should be engaged in ranges less than 500m, beyond that accuracy will not allow aiming for weak spots.
*☠[[M103|M103]]: So much sloped armour. Try to shoot into the turret trap (lower gun mantlet) or the turrets cheeks.
*[[Panther_F|Panthers]]/[[M26|Pershing]]/[[M46|M46]]: Entire front is penetrable.
*[[Tiger II_(H)|Tiger II (H)]]: Right turret cheek to disable the turret for a safe reload. Alternatively, the lower glacis to get the transmission and a chance to knock out the entire crew.
*[[Maus|Maus]]: Turret cheeks, multiple hits will be necessary. If possible a shot into either the fuel tanks or chassis ammo rack for the 12,8cm cannon should insta-knock-out the behemoth.
*[[Jagdtiger|Jagdtiger]]: The lower plate is a good place to shoot. Make sure to hit at a good angle as the APBC can still bounce. Also, the flat parts of the superstructure when not angle work at close range.
*☠[[Leopard I|Leopard]]: Shoot it anywhere. Don't miss.

=== Pros and cons ===

'''Pros:'''

*Shares the same hull as the Tiger II, so the upper glacis plate is still very tough
*The front of the superstructure is very difficult to get through with anything less than APDS or HEAT
*With its 6 man crew and thick armour, it's difficult to knock out this tank with one shot from an APDS or HEAT shell
*Even better gun mantlet than the one on the T95. Totally and utterly impenetrable
*128 mm PaK 44 cannon is an accurate cannon with a surprisingly quick to reload. It takes 20 seconds to reload with a decent crew. That is not bad considering the size and weight of the projectile that this gun fires
*PzGr 43 round has the second highest penetration of any APCBC round in the game
*Both the stock PzGr and PzGr 43 shells have an equivalent TNT explosive mass of 786 gram, ensuring devastating post-penetration damage
*When hull down, the Jagdtiger is a true terror on the battlefield. Especially when there are few post-war tanks in the game

'''Cons:'''

*Big target with a lot of ammunition in its hull. Shells that penetrate through the side can prove fatal
*Despite having a better engine than the Tiger II(H), the Jagdtiger weighs 7 more tons. This leaves a lot to be desired when it comes to manoeuvrability and acceleration
*20 second reload can be disastrous if the first shot missed
*Like most other tank destroyers, the Jagdtiger doesn't have a traversable turret. This makes dealing with flanking enemies a nightmare
*Just like all the other Tiger II's, the lower glacis is an easy target if not hull down
*Matchmaking can constantly up tier the Jagdtiger
*Corners of the superstructure are vulnerable to high penetration shells such as the M103's 120 mm AP shell, T-10's 122 mm APHE shell, British 183 mm and 120 mm shells, and Jagdtiger's own 128 mm APHE shell

== History ==

===Development===
This monster of a tank destroyer was inspired by the successes of previous tank destroyers such as the [[StuG III F|StuG III]] and the [[Marder III H|Marder]] series. Their efficiency in a battle called for a request by Army General Staff to mount an enormous 128 mm gun on a self-propelled vehicle for infantry support in early 1942, but then Hitler changed it from its intended role to a tank destroyer. The 128 mm design was chosen as toolings already existed for the calibre, as it originated from a naval cannon design, which also was used the basis of an anti-aircraft gun. The 128 mm cannon also had a very high hit rate when compared to other formidable calibres like the 105 mm and 88 mm.

In early 1943, the armoured chassis that was to carry the 128 mm gun was to be either the [[Tiger H1|Tiger I]] or [[Panther D|Panther]]. However, early modelling showed that the instalment of the 128 mm onto the Panther chassis was unsuitable. On October 20, 1943, the design was changed to use the [[Tiger II (H)|Tiger II]] chassis and a wooden model was constructed for presentation to Hitler. Approved for further production, two prototypes were produced by Porsche and Henschel. Porsche version had an eight-wheel suspension system while the Henschel version had a nine-wheel overlapping suspension system similar to the Tiger II construction. The rest of the body was consistent to the current German tank destroyer designs, an armoured casemate structure was used to hold the new 128mm Pak 44 L/55 gun. The prototypes were completed and presented in February 1944, and were approved for service, earning the designation '''Jagdpanzer VI''', but was later renamed to '''Jagdtiger'''. 150 of these Jagdtigers were ordered by the army, but only 88 (at most) were produced before the end of the war. Eleven of the Jagdtigers used the Porsche suspension system while the rest were using the Henschel suspension system.

What made the Jagdtiger very special was its enormous gun, the 128 mm Pak 44 L/55. At its introduction, no allied armour could withstand the shell it fires, and though the same lethality could be shared with the Tiger II's 88 mm Pak 43, it has a much greater effective range of over 3.5 kilometres (though a variant of the Jagdtiger was equipped with the 88 mm Pak 43 due to 128 mm gun shortages, this never entered service). The gun could penetrate an enemy tank hiding behind cover, such as a house, shooting right through the house and hitting the target on the other side. A disadvantage of the gun was its two-part ammunition, the shell and the propellant, which increases the loading time of the gun. The armour of the front of the Jagdtiger was 250 mm and 150 mm on the glacis plate. Like almost every casemate design, the Jagdtiger suffered from lack of turret traverse and must have the entire vehicle rotate when a target moves out of its traverse range. The Jagdtiger has the distinct title of the heaviest armoured fighting vehicle produced, weighing about 71 tons, but like most of Germany's heavy armoured vehicles late in the war, the Jagdtiger also suffered mechanical and mobility issues. The heavyweight caused it to be slow and was easy to break down if the vehicle had to rotate to aim the gun, due to the heavily strained transmission and suspensions. Also, the gun had to be locked down (cannot traverse) when not in use to avoid wearing out the mounting brackets, and a crew member had to exit the vehicle to unlock it before firing.

===Combat usage===
The Jagdtiger was first issued on September 1944 to the Western front in the hands of the 512th and 653rd Heavy Panzerjäger Battalions. Otto Carius, a Tiger Ace, commanded the 2nd Company of 512th to defend against the Allied offensives. He comments that the Jagdtigers could not be brought to their full potential on the battlefield due to many pressing issues. The two most pressing issues of the Jagdtiger was the mechanical failures and lack of crew training on the heavy beasts. The mechanical issues forced many Jagdtigers to be disabled and eventually destroyed by their own crew as they abandoned it. Only 20% of the Jagdtigers on the Western Front were lost in combat, the rest was due to the mechanical failures or out of fuel. Crew training was insufficient with the Jagdtiger and so was morale, Otto Carius noted that two Jagdtigers failed to fire on Allied armour more than a mile away in fear of an air attack, even though they were well concealed, and both broke down as they tried to withdraw from the fear of air attacks. One was disabled when it fell into a bomb crater and another was lost because of friendly fire from Volksstrum, as they had never seen a Jagdtiger before. In another instance, alone Jagdtiger engaged an American tank platoon. When the tank platoon opened fire, the Jagdtiger withdrew not by backing up, but turned around due to inexperienced crew training, exposing the weaker side armour and was destroyed. Eventually, Otto Carius's company was surrounded in the Ruhr pocket and he ordered the guns of the surviving Jagdtigers destroyed and to surrender to the Americans. Of the ten tigers in Otto's 2nd Company of the 512th battalion, one was lost to friendly fire, another by combat, and the rest by breakdown or crew destruction. The total American armour kills reached was ten American tanks, making one Allied tank loss for each Jagdtiger loss.

Though Otto's memoir left a sour note on the Jagdtiger's combat effectiveness, it had some success. On January 17, 1945, two Jagdtigers engaged fortified positions near Auenheim with no loss. The next day, they engaged four bunkers at a distance of 1,000 meters. The combat had 46 high-explosive and 10 armoured-piercing shells fired on fortifications and tanks, the Jagdtigers were able to destroy a few Allied bunkers and tanks with no losses. Then in April 1945, 512th Battalion saw lots of action when the 1st company engaged Allied tanks and trucks on April 9th, destroying 11 tanks and over 30 other AFVs, the distance of engagement was more than 4,000 meters and ended with only one Jagdtiger lost due to an air attack. The next few days, the 1st company proceeded to destroy five more Shermans before surrendering at Iserlohn. All activity of the 512th Battalion ended with the surrender of the last of the 2nd company April 15th in the same city.

The Jagdtiger's impact on the war for Germany was negligible. There were not enough of them to change the course of the situation for Germany, plus the kill-to-loss ratio makes its production waste of resources when much better models like the StuG were able to get even higher combat performances for a much more economical cost. It represents one of Germany's last attempts to model the belief that more armour and more firepower could equal success in a battlefield against a numerically superior enemy.

===Survivors===
Today, three Jagdtigers survive in museums. One is in Bovington Tank Museum in England, which is one of the 11 Porsche-suspension version and was captured in April 1945 by the British. Another is a Henschel-version at the National Armor & Cavalry Museum in Fort Benning, Georgia of America after being moved from the US Army Ordinance Museum, this was captured in March 1945. The last is in Kubinka Tank Museum in Russia, a Henschel-version that was captured on May 5, 1945, in Austria and is in the best mint condition of the three survivors.

=== In-game description ===
The Jagdtiger was developed by the Krupp and Henschel companies in 1943–1944 and was based on the chassis of the Tiger II heavy tank. It became the most powerful tank destroyer in the Wehrmacht.

A massive stationary cabin was installed on an elongated, 260 mm-long Pz.Kpfw. VI Ausf. B tank's hull. Its frontal armor plate had a thickness of 250 mm, at an inclination of 15 degrees, making it virtually invulnerable to all of the enemy's tank and anti-tank guns. The immense weight of its 128 mm 12,8 cm PaK 44 L/55 gun required a special installation procedure using a special lift-turning mechanism mounted in the crew compartment.

This vehicle had two types of chassis: the Henschel type, with torsion bars, and the Porsche type, with double-axis carriages and spring balancers. Seven tanks were built using the Porsche suspension. Afterwards, in order to standardize parts with the Tiger II tank, only the Henschel suspension was used. The vertical surfaces of the first 9 tank destroyers were covered with an anti-magnetic Zimmerit paste.
Around 88 of these vehicles were produced between December 1944 and April 1944.

Jagdtiger tank destroyers were delivered to the 653rd and 512th heavy tank destroyers battalions. These battalions fought on the Western Front. Two of these self-propelled guns entered the service of the 501st Battalion of the Waffen-SS, and fought with troops of the Red Army in Austria, in May 1945.
The majority of losses suffered by the Jagdtiger were caused by mechanical failure or attacks by Allied aircraft. Some of the vehicles were blown up and abandoned by their crews after running out of ammunition or fuel.

The Jagdtiger's disadvantages included its massive weight, which had a negative effect on its mobility and made its chassis more susceptible to breakage. Also, the vehicle was much too difficult to manufacture.

== Media ==

[https://live.warthunder.com/feed/camouflages/?vehicleCountry=germany&vehicleType=tank&vehicleClass=tank_destroyer&vehicle=germ_panzerjager_tiger '''Skins''' and '''camouflages''' for the Jagdtiger 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 ==


* [https://warthunder.com/en/news/2655/current/ [Special<nowiki>]</nowiki> Jagdtiger "Hunting Tiger"]
* [[Wikipedia:Jagdtiger|[Wikipedia<nowiki>]</nowiki> Jagdtiger]]
* [http://www.worldwarphotos.info/gallery/germany/tanks-2-3/jagdtiger/ World War Photos - Jagdtiger Collection]

{{Germany tank destroyers}}

Radkampfwagen 90

2020-04-18T04:25:48Z

U78096411: /* Main armament */

L7A3 (105 mm)

2020-04-16T03:48:45Z

U78096411:

== Description ==
''Write an introduction to the article in 2-3 small paragraphs. Briefly tell us about the history of the development and combat using the weaponry and also about its features. Compile a list of air, ground, or naval vehicles that feature this weapon system in the game.''

=== Vehicles equipped with this weapon ===


* {{Specs-Link|germ_mkpz_m48a2ga2|short}}
* {{Specs-Link|germ_leopard_I|short}}
* {{Specs-Link|germ_leopard_I_a1|short}}
* {{Specs-Link|jp_st_b1|short}}
* {{Specs-Link|jp_type_74|short}}
* {{Specs-Link|jp_type_74_mod_g_kai|short}}
* [[Radkampfwagen 90]]

== General info ==


The L7A3 shares many of its properties with the [[L7A1 (105 mm)|L7A1]] on British tanks, although it has access to a wider range of ammunition. Aside from the standard APDS and HESH rounds, the L7A3 is found to use HEATFS as well as a smoke shell. The L7A3 can be found either unstabilized or fully stabilized depending on the vehicle. Giving accurate fire at long ranges that can punch through even heavily armoured vehicles, the L7A3 is a highly capable weapon for the vehicles it is found on and will often face.

=== Available ammunition ===

{{notice|Not all ammunition listed is available on all vehicles equipped with this weapon.}}

{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center" width="100%"
! colspan="8" | Penetration statistics
|-
! rowspan="2" data-sort-type="text" | Ammunition
! rowspan="2" | Type of warhead
! colspan="6" | '''Penetration @ 0° Angle of Attack (mm)'''
|-
! 10 m !! 100 m !! 500 m !! 1,000 m !! 1,500 m !! 2,000 m
|-
| DM12 || HEATFS || 400 || 400 || 400 || 400 || 400 || 400
|-
| DM13 || APDS || 303 || 302 || 296 || 277 || 257 || 252
|-
| DM23 || APFSDS || 337 || 335 || 330 || 322 || 314 || 306
|-
|DM33
|APFSDS
|408
|405
|398
|389
|379
|370
|-
| DM502 || HESH || 127 || 127 || 127 || 127 || 127 || 127
|-
| M392A2 || APDS || 303 || 302 || 296 || 277 || 257 || 252
|-
| M393A2 || HESH || 127 || 127 || 127 || 127 || 127 || 127
|-
| M456 || HEATFS || 400 || 400 || 400 || 400 || 400 || 400
|-
| M735 || APFSDS || 353 || 350 || 342 || 333 || 322 || 312
|-
| Type 75 || HESH || 127 || 127 || 127 || 127 || 127 || 127
|-
| Type 91 || HEATFS || 400 || 400 || 400 || 400 || 400 || 400
|-
| Type 93 || APFSDS || 405 || 403 || 396 || 388 || 378 || 370
|-
|}
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center" width="100%"
! colspan="11" | Shell details
|-
! rowspan="2" data-sort-type="text" | Ammunition
! rowspan="2" | Type of warhead
! rowspan="2" | Velocity (m/s)
! rowspan="2" | Projectile Mass (kg)
! rowspan="2" | Fuse delay (m)
! rowspan="2" | Fuse sensitivity (mm)
! rowspan="2" | Explosive Mass (TNT equivalent) (g)
! rowspan="2" | Normalisation at 30° from horizontal
! colspan="3" | Ricochet
|-
! 0% !! 50% !! 100%
|-
| DM12 || HEATFS || 1,173 || 10.5 || N/A || 0.1 || 1,271 || 0.0° || 65° || 72° || 75°
|-
| DM13 || APDS || 1,478 || 4.0 || N/A || N/A || N/A || +1.5° || 75° || 78° || 80°
|-
| DM23 || APFSDS || 1,455 || 3.79 || N/A || N/A || N/A || ?.?° || 78° || 80° || 81°
|-
| DM502 || HESH || 732 || 14.85 || 0.4 || 0.1 || 4,306 || 0.0° || 73° || 77° || 80°
|-
| M392A2 || APDS || 1,478 || 4.0 || N/A || N/A || N/A || +1.5° || 75° || 78° || 80°
|-
| M393A2 || HESH || 732 || 14.85 || 0.4 || 0.1 || 4,306 || 0.0° || 73° || 77° || 80°
|-
| M456 || HEATFS || 1,173 || 10.5 || N/A || 0.1 || 1,271 || 0.0° || 65° || 72° || 75°
|-
| M735 || APFSDS || 1,501 || 3.7 || N/A || N/A || N/A || +1.5° || 76° || 77° || 78°
|-
| Type 75 || HESH || 760 || 10.8 || 0.4 || 0.1 || 2,700 || 0.0° || 73° || 77° || 80°
|-
| Type 91 || HEATFS || 1,150 || 10.5 || N/A || 0.1 || 1,271 || 0.0° || 65° || 72° || 75°
|-
| Type 93 || APFSDS || 1,501 || 3.4 || N/A || N/A || N/A || ?.?° || 78° || 80° || 81°
|-
|}
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center"
! colspan="7" | Smoke shell characteristics
|-
! Ammunition
! Velocity (m/s)
! Projectile Mass (kg)
! Screen radius (m)
! Screen deploy time (s)
! Screen hold time (s)
! Explosive Mass (TNT equivalent) (g)
|-
| M416 || 730 || 11.4 || 20 || 5 || 25 || 50
|-
|}

=== Comparison with analogues ===


* [[L7A1 (105 mm)|'''L7A1 (105 mm)''']]: The L7A1 is the British original version of the L7A3, and has identical performance with the exception that no HEATFS shell is available for the L7A1.
* [[M68 (105 mm)|'''M68 (105 mm)''']]: The M68 is the American production version of the L7, and so also shares identical performance for matching shells, although the Americans have added a smoke shell in the place of having smoke grenades on vehicles.
* [[D-10T2S (100 mm)|'''D-10T2S (100 mm)''']]: Unlike the standard D-10T found on the T-54, the D-10T2S uses a full stabilizer and has access to ammunition such as the 3BM25 which performs similarly to DM23 and M735 on the L7A3. However, the vehicles using the L7A3 reload faster than the T-55A (which uses the D-10T2S), although the T-55AM-1 does have a gun-launched ATGM which is not a feature found on the L7A3.
* [[OTO Melara 105/52 (105 mm)|'''OTO Melara 105/52 (105 mm)''']]: The OTO Melara 105/52 shares ammunition with the L7A3, and Italian vehicles using it such as the Centauro and OF-40 can reload as fast as the German and Japanese vehicles with the L7A3.
* [[CN-105-F1 (105 mm)|'''CN-105-F1 (105 mm)''']]: The CN-105-F1 has drastically limited ammunition available with only a single shell of each major type present, but the ammunition is just as good or better than that found on the L7A3 as the OFL 105 F1 has the edge in penetration over DM23, although the Japanese Type 93 is still the top ammunition choice.

== Usage in battles ==
''Describe the cannon/machine gun in the game - its distinctive features, tactics of usage against notable opponents. Please don't write a "guide" - do not impose a single point of view, but give the reader food for thought.''

=== Pros and cons ===
''Summarise and briefly evaluate the weaponry in terms of its characteristics and combat effectiveness. Mark pros and cons as a list.''

'''Pros:'''

*

'''Cons:'''

*

== History ==
''Examine the history of the creation and combat usage of the weapon 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 weapon and adding a block "/History" (example: <nowiki>https://wiki.warthunder.com/(Weapon-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>.''

== Media ==
''An excellent addition to the article would be a video guide, as well as screenshots from the game and photos.''

== 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 article about the variant of the cannon/machine gun;''
* ''references to approximate analogues by other nations and research trees.''

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

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

{{Germany tank cannons}}
{{Japan tank cannons}}

[[Category:Tank cannons]]

L7A3 (105 mm)

2020-04-16T03:43:55Z

U78096411: /* Vehicles equipped with this weapon */

== Description ==
''Write an introduction to the article in 2-3 small paragraphs. Briefly tell us about the history of the development and combat using the weaponry and also about its features. Compile a list of air, ground, or naval vehicles that feature this weapon system in the game.''

=== Vehicles equipped with this weapon ===


* {{Specs-Link|germ_mkpz_m48a2ga2|short}}
* {{Specs-Link|germ_leopard_I|short}}
* {{Specs-Link|germ_leopard_I_a1|short}}
* {{Specs-Link|jp_st_b1|short}}
* {{Specs-Link|jp_type_74|short}}
* {{Specs-Link|jp_type_74_mod_g_kai|short}}
* [[Radkampfwagen 90]]

== General info ==


The L7A3 shares many of its properties with the [[L7A1 (105 mm)|L7A1]] on British tanks, although it has access to a wider range of ammunition. Aside from the standard APDS and HESH rounds, the L7A3 is found to use HEATFS as well as a smoke shell. The L7A3 can be found either unstabilized or fully stabilized depending on the vehicle. Giving accurate fire at long ranges that can punch through even heavily armoured vehicles, the L7A3 is a highly capable weapon for the vehicles it is found on and will often face.

=== Available ammunition ===

{{notice|Not all ammunition listed is available on all vehicles equipped with this weapon.}}

{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center" width="100%"
! colspan="8" | Penetration statistics
|-
! rowspan="2" data-sort-type="text" | Ammunition
! rowspan="2" | Type of warhead
! colspan="6" | '''Penetration @ 0° Angle of Attack (mm)'''
|-
! 10 m !! 100 m !! 500 m !! 1,000 m !! 1,500 m !! 2,000 m
|-
| DM12 || HEATFS || 400 || 400 || 400 || 400 || 400 || 400
|-
| DM13 || APDS || 303 || 302 || 296 || 277 || 257 || 252
|-
| DM23 || APFSDS || 337 || 335 || 330 || 322 || 314 || 306
|-
| DM502 || HESH || 127 || 127 || 127 || 127 || 127 || 127
|-
| M392A2 || APDS || 303 || 302 || 296 || 277 || 257 || 252
|-
| M393A2 || HESH || 127 || 127 || 127 || 127 || 127 || 127
|-
| M456 || HEATFS || 400 || 400 || 400 || 400 || 400 || 400
|-
| M735 || APFSDS || 353 || 350 || 342 || 333 || 322 || 312
|-
| Type 75 || HESH || 127 || 127 || 127 || 127 || 127 || 127
|-
| Type 91 || HEATFS || 400 || 400 || 400 || 400 || 400 || 400
|-
| Type 93 || APFSDS || 405 || 403 || 396 || 388 || 378 || 370
|-
|}
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center" width="100%"
! colspan="11" | Shell details
|-
! rowspan="2" data-sort-type="text" | Ammunition
! rowspan="2" | Type of warhead
! rowspan="2" | Velocity (m/s)
! rowspan="2" | Projectile Mass (kg)
! rowspan="2" | Fuse delay (m)
! rowspan="2" | Fuse sensitivity (mm)
! rowspan="2" | Explosive Mass (TNT equivalent) (g)
! rowspan="2" | Normalisation at 30° from horizontal
! colspan="3" | Ricochet
|-
! 0% !! 50% !! 100%
|-
| DM12 || HEATFS || 1,173 || 10.5 || N/A || 0.1 || 1,271 || 0.0° || 65° || 72° || 75°
|-
| DM13 || APDS || 1,478 || 4.0 || N/A || N/A || N/A || +1.5° || 75° || 78° || 80°
|-
| DM23 || APFSDS || 1,455 || 3.79 || N/A || N/A || N/A || ?.?° || 78° || 80° || 81°
|-
| DM502 || HESH || 732 || 14.85 || 0.4 || 0.1 || 4,306 || 0.0° || 73° || 77° || 80°
|-
| M392A2 || APDS || 1,478 || 4.0 || N/A || N/A || N/A || +1.5° || 75° || 78° || 80°
|-
| M393A2 || HESH || 732 || 14.85 || 0.4 || 0.1 || 4,306 || 0.0° || 73° || 77° || 80°
|-
| M456 || HEATFS || 1,173 || 10.5 || N/A || 0.1 || 1,271 || 0.0° || 65° || 72° || 75°
|-
| M735 || APFSDS || 1,501 || 3.7 || N/A || N/A || N/A || +1.5° || 76° || 77° || 78°
|-
| Type 75 || HESH || 760 || 10.8 || 0.4 || 0.1 || 2,700 || 0.0° || 73° || 77° || 80°
|-
| Type 91 || HEATFS || 1,150 || 10.5 || N/A || 0.1 || 1,271 || 0.0° || 65° || 72° || 75°
|-
| Type 93 || APFSDS || 1,501 || 3.4 || N/A || N/A || N/A || ?.?° || 78° || 80° || 81°
|-
|}
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center"
! colspan="7" | Smoke shell characteristics
|-
! Ammunition
! Velocity (m/s)
! Projectile Mass (kg)
! Screen radius (m)
! Screen deploy time (s)
! Screen hold time (s)
! Explosive Mass (TNT equivalent) (g)
|-
| M416 || 730 || 11.4 || 20 || 5 || 25 || 50
|-
|}

=== Comparison with analogues ===


* [[L7A1 (105 mm)|'''L7A1 (105 mm)''']]: The L7A1 is the British original version of the L7A3, and has identical performance with the exception that no HEATFS shell is available for the L7A1.
* [[M68 (105 mm)|'''M68 (105 mm)''']]: The M68 is the American production version of the L7, and so also shares identical performance for matching shells, although the Americans have added a smoke shell in the place of having smoke grenades on vehicles.
* [[D-10T2S (100 mm)|'''D-10T2S (100 mm)''']]: Unlike the standard D-10T found on the T-54, the D-10T2S uses a full stabilizer and has access to ammunition such as the 3BM25 which performs similarly to DM23 and M735 on the L7A3. However, the vehicles using the L7A3 reload faster than the T-55A (which uses the D-10T2S), although the T-55AM-1 does have a gun-launched ATGM which is not a feature found on the L7A3.
* [[OTO Melara 105/52 (105 mm)|'''OTO Melara 105/52 (105 mm)''']]: The OTO Melara 105/52 shares ammunition with the L7A3, and Italian vehicles using it such as the Centauro and OF-40 can reload as fast as the German and Japanese vehicles with the L7A3.
* [[CN-105-F1 (105 mm)|'''CN-105-F1 (105 mm)''']]: The CN-105-F1 has drastically limited ammunition available with only a single shell of each major type present, but the ammunition is just as good or better than that found on the L7A3 as the OFL 105 F1 has the edge in penetration over DM23, although the Japanese Type 93 is still the top ammunition choice.

== Usage in battles ==
''Describe the cannon/machine gun in the game - its distinctive features, tactics of usage against notable opponents. Please don't write a "guide" - do not impose a single point of view, but give the reader food for thought.''

=== Pros and cons ===
''Summarise and briefly evaluate the weaponry in terms of its characteristics and combat effectiveness. Mark pros and cons as a list.''

'''Pros:'''

*

'''Cons:'''

*

== History ==
''Examine the history of the creation and combat usage of the weapon 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 weapon and adding a block "/History" (example: <nowiki>https://wiki.warthunder.com/(Weapon-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>.''

== Media ==
''An excellent addition to the article would be a video guide, as well as screenshots from the game and photos.''

== 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 article about the variant of the cannon/machine gun;''
* ''references to approximate analogues by other nations and research trees.''

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

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

{{Germany tank cannons}}
{{Japan tank cannons}}

[[Category:Tank cannons]]

April Fool's Day

2020-04-16T03:40:12Z

U78096411: /* Pranks pulled by Gaijin */

Every year on the 1st April since 2013, War Thunder has held special one time only events. From Giant Japanese Snails and Flying Ponys to Russian Mechs and Inflatable tanks, players could be faced with absolutely anything on this day!

==Event==

::''April Fools' Day (sometimes called All Fools' Day) is celebrated every year on April 1 by playing practical jokes and spreading hoaxes. '' —excerpt from [[wikipedia:April_Fools%27_Day|Wikipedia]]

April Fool's Day is a day full of jokes, hoaxes, and other cruel teases that plays at the victim's willing to believe. Gaijin Entertainment decided to join that bandwagon of mischievous in 2013. Their events are introduced as an authentic and permanent addition of the game, with varying details to back up their statements such as elaborate pre-constructed tech trees or releasing events that conform to previously confirmed information. The reveal that the event is an April Fool's Event is either announced the next day or called out by sceptical people who are aware of what time of the year it is.

Gaijin Entertainment keeps the events around for at least a week before removing it from the game.

==Pranks pulled by Gaijin==
[[File:Events UnrealisticBattlesWallpaper.jpg|thumbnail|right|A concept art drawn up for the [[Unrealistic Battles]] event.]]

;'''''2013'''''
::[[Little Ponies in the Sky]]
;'''''2014'''''
::[[GAIJILLA]]
;'''''2015'''''
::[[March to Victory!]]
::[[Unrealistic Battles]]
;'''''2016'''''
::[[Sailing fleet in War Thunder!]]
;'''''2017'''''
::[[Rank IX]]
;'''''2018'''''
::[[Silent Thunder]]
::[[wt:en/news/5426-event-hats-off-to-you-en|Hats off to You]]
;'''''2019'''''
::[[Earth Thunder: We are not their playthings!]]

:
;'''''2020'''''
::[[Space Thunder]]

== Related Links ==

* [[April_Fool%27s_Day-Wiki|Pranks pulled by War Thunder Wiki]]

[[Category:Events]]
[[Category:April fool's day]]

Tiger II (10.5 cm Kw.K)

2020-04-16T03:31:54Z

U78096411: /* Pros and cons */

{{Specs-Card|code=germ_pzkpfw_VI_ausf_b_tiger_IIh_kwk46}}

== Description ==

[[File:GarageImage_{{PAGENAME}}.jpg|420px|thumb|left]]
{{break}}
The '''{{Specs|name}}''' (or just '''{{Specs|pseudonym}}''') is a Rank {{Specs|rank}} German heavy tank {{Battle-rating}}. It was introduced to the main tree during the Closed Beta Test for Ground Forces before [[Update 1.41]] as a main tree vehicle, however, as of [[Update 1.91 "Night Vision"]] it was shifted to become a gift vehicle for players who previously owned it. Increasing Tiger II's main cannon to a whopping [[KwK L/68 (105 mm)|10.5 cm cannon]], the Tiger II boasts a much more powerful armament than any of the preceding German heavy tanks.

== General info ==
=== Survivability and armour ===

The armour on this variant is the same as on the regular Tiger II (H). The upper front plate provides excellent protection against any regular AP (APCBC, APHE etc.) shell you might face. The turret, however, is only 185 mm and easily penetrated by most enemies, but you can make it very difficult to hit by "wiggling" the turret left and right which will often result in bounces or non-pens. The lower glacis is a weak spot but the transmission right behind it often takes most of the shrapnel, it can catch fire pretty easily though, meaning researching FPE should be done as soon as possible.

'''Armour type:'''

*Rolled homogeneous armour
*Cast homogeneous armour (Gun mantlet, Cupola, driver MG port)

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Armour !! Front (Slope angle) !! Sides (Slope angle) !! Rear (Slope angle) !! Roof
|-
| Hull || 150 mm (50-51°) ''Front glacis'' 100 mm (50°) ''Lower glacis''|| 80 mm (27°) ''Top'' 80 + 5 mm ''Bottom''|| 80 mm (28°) || 40 mm
|-
| Turret || 185 mm (8°) ''Turret front'' 200 mm ''Gun mantlet'' || 80 mm (19-21°) || 80 mm (20°) || 40 mm
|-
! Armour !! Sides !! Roof
|-
| Cupola || 150 mm || 150 mm
|-
|}
'''Notes:'''

* Suspension wheels are 20 mm thick while tracks are 30 mm thick.
* Some part of the turret side have track links on them, which gives an additional 30 mm of protection to the armour.
* The weak spot is the front of the turret (185 mm), but it is small and very difficult to hit at mid-long ranges, where it is also harder to penetrate.
* Machine gun port could be marked as a close-range weak spot. Although most of it is still 150 mm thick, the angling is much worse.

=== Mobility ===


{{tankMobility|abMinHp= 1162|rbMinHp= 796|}}

== Armaments ==
=== Main armament ===

{{main|KwK L/68 (105 mm)}}

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! colspan="6" | [[KwK L/68 (105 mm)|105 mm KwK L/68]]
|-
! colspan="3" rowspan="1" style="width:5em" |Capacity
! rowspan="1" | Vertical guidance
! rowspan="1" | Horizontal guidance
! rowspan="1" | Stabilizer
|-
| colspan="3" | 54 || -8°/+15° || ±180° || N/A
|-
! colspan="6" | Turret rotation speed (°/s)
|-
! style="width:4em" |Mode
! style="width:4em" |Stock
! style="width:4em" |Upgraded
! style="width:4em" |Prior + Full crew
! style="width:4em" |Prior + Expert qualif.
! style="width:4em" |Prior + Ace qualif.
|-
| ''Arcade'' || 14.97 || 20.72 || 25.16 || 27.82 || 29.60
|-
| ''Realistic'' || 11.01 || 12.95 || 15.72 || 17.39 || 18.50
|-
! colspan="4" | Reloading rate (seconds)
|-
! colspan="1" style="width:4em" |Stock
! colspan="1" style="width:4em" |Prior + Full crew
! colspan="1" style="width:4em" |Prior + Expert qualif.
! colspan="1" style="width:4em" |Prior + Ace qualif.
|-
| 20.02 || 17.71 || 16.32 || 15.40
|-
|}

===== Ammunition =====
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center" width="100%"
! colspan="8" | Penetration statistics
|-
! rowspan="2" data-sort-type="text" | Ammunition
! rowspan="2" class="unsortable" | Type of warhead
! colspan="6" | '''Penetration''' '''''in mm''''' '''@ 90°'''
|-
! 10m
! 100m
! 500m
! 1000m
! 1500m
! 2000m
|-
| PzGr.Rot || APCBC ||250||248|| 234 ||219||205|| 191
|-
| PzGr 40 || APCR ||302||298||275||248||223||201
|-
| Sprgr. L/4,4 || HE || 20 || 20 || 20 || 20 || 20 || 20
|-
|}
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center" width="100%"
! colspan="11" | Shell details
|-
! rowspan="2" data-sort-type="text" | Ammunition
! rowspan="2" class="unsortable" | Type of warhead
! rowspan="2" |Velocity in m/s
! rowspan="2" |Projectile Mass in kg
! rowspan="2" | ''Fuse delay''
''in m:''
! rowspan="2" | ''Fuse sensitivity''
''in mm:''
! rowspan="2" | ''Explosive Mass in g (TNT equivalent):''
! rowspan="2" | ''Normalization At 30° from horizontal:''
! colspan="3" | ''Ricochet:''
|-
! 0%
! 50%
! 100%
|-
| PzGr.Rot || APCBC || 1,005 || 16 || 0.8 || 28 || 343.2 || +4° || 48° || 63° || 71°
|-
| PzGr 40 || APCR || 1,150 || 10 || N/A || N/A || N/A || +1.5° || 66° || 70° || 72°
|-
| Sprgr. L/4,4 || HE || 900 || 15 || 0.4 || 0.5 || 1,550 || +0° || 79° || 80° || 81°
|-
|}

===== [[Ammo racks|Ammo racks]] =====
[[File:Ammoracks_{{PAGENAME}}.png|right|thumbnail|[[Ammo racks|Ammo racks]] of the Tiger 105.]]
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! class="wikitable unsortable" |Full ammo
! class="wikitable unsortable" |Ammo Part
! class="wikitable unsortable" |1st rack empty
! class="wikitable unsortable" |2nd rack empty
! class="wikitable unsortable" |3rd rack empty
! class="wikitable unsortable" |4th rack empty
! class="wikitable unsortable" |5th rack empty
! class="wikitable unsortable" |Visual discrepancy
|-
|| '''54''' || style="text-align:right" | ''Projectiles'' ''Propellants'' || 43 ''(+11)'' 45 ''(+9)'' || 27 ''(+27)'' 37 ''(+17)'' || 15 ''(+39)'' 19 ''(+35)'' || 1 ''(+53)'' 9 ''(+44)'' ||   1 ''(+53)'' || style="text-align:left" | no
|-
|}
Right side empty: 27 ''(+27)''

=== Machine guns ===

{{main|MG 34 (7.92 mm)}}

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! colspan="7" | [[MG 34 (7.92 mm)|7.92 mm MG 34]]
|-
! colspan="7" | ''Coaxial mount''
|-
! colspan="4" rowspan="1" style="width:5em" |Capacity (Belt capacity)
! rowspan="1" | Fire rate (shots/minute)
! rowspan="1" | Vertical guidance
! rowspan="1" | Horizontal guidance
|-
| colspan="4" | 5,850 (150) || 900 || N/A || N/A
|-
|}

== Usage in battles ==

This tank's best and almost only possible role so far is a sniper/support tank. Stay at distance, or your reload time and mobility will be the death of you.

Use your mobility to reach sniping zones and wait for enemy tanks to show up. Keep your distance to maximize the effectiveness of your armour and use cover to reload without having to worry about being destroyed. Avoid close combat as much as possible since most of the other tanks at your battle rate can penetrate your armour very easily and your reload rate is 20 secs so if your shot doesn't penetrate you will be easily killed.

=== Pros and cons ===

'''Pros:'''

* High muzzle velocity, armour penetration value, and damage of the PzGr 39 shell produces devastating results
* Due to the high TNT load of the PzGr 39 shell, shots into enemy crew compartments typically result in vehicle elimination
* A fully upgraded 10.5 Tiger II can quickly accelerate to top speed or effectively climb hills others struggle with
* 10.5's turret traverse with upgraded turret module, allowing for 20.5 degrees per second rotation
* Upper front plate borderlines on being impregnable with the exception of inbound APDS and HEAT rounds. impenetrable.
* Lower plate susceptible to penetration, however, the transmission stands a good chance of absorbing all the potential damage
* Has an engine boost compared to it's normal variant, allowing it to even keep up with early panthers.

'''Cons:'''

* With the same lightly armoured turret as the Tiger II H, susceptible to incoming rounds of contemporary tanks
* Slow main gun reload time of 15 seconds, even with an aced crew, avoid close-quarters quick-shot combat
* Despite being quick and manoeuvrable for a heavy tank, do not expect to outmanoeuvre any medium which may be on the battleground
* As long as the tank carries at least 2 shells, then there's always ammo stored in the back of the weakly armoured turret

== History ==

===Tiger II===
The ''[[Tiger II (H)|Tiger II]]'' with its 8.8 cm KwK 43 cannon was one of the most formidable tanks in World War II. Its 150 mm thick front armour plate sloped was never penetrated by an Allied tank throughout the war and its cannon could destroy any Allied tank fielded in the war. However, some German higher-ups believe that the armament on the Tiger II was just not enough, something more was needed.

===Concept===
Ideas of rearming the Tiger II was brought up by Krupp in sometime in late 1944. The concept drawing Krupp made was for the Tiger II to be rearmed with a 10.5 cm KwK L/68 cannon. This design would require new mountings and new mechanical parts to be optimized for the larger 10.5 cm gun. While the idea was indeed a very interesting one to up gun the Tiger II, it was never implemented because of its drawbacks. The 10.5 gun uses two-piece ammunition, which requires the presence of another loader. This is impossible because the turret is already cramped as is with three people inside, and the addition of another will make the interior a very miserable place to be in. Plus, the fact the gun's ammunition is two-piece already means that the drawback behind this upgrade is a much slower fire rate. This causes the concept to be rejected by German high command, and if it wasn't, it certainly ended with Germany's surrender in May 1945.

No prototypes were made and its existence is only proven by a concept drawing.

=== In-game description ===
This project was commissioned to improve the combat capabilities of the tank with a boosted fuel-injection Maybach HL230 engine with a power of 900 hp and an improved transmission. The designers of the company Henschel proposed the engine to be used for further production and also installed on Tiger II tanks which had already been produced, but the engine's production was prevented by the deterioration of the German economic situation. The tank was to be armed with the new 105 mm 10,5 cm KwK L/68 gun, equipped with a stabilizer. The gun would have used an automatic ammunition feed. The turret was equipped with a Zeiss stereoscopic rangefinder and a ventilation system. The vehicle was equipped with a crew compartment heating device. The tank's ammunition capacity was increased by 12 shells, thanks to an additional rack mounted inside the turret. A crew of 5-6 operated the tank, whose combat weight was 70.5 tons.

Production on the new Tiger II project, featuring the 10,5 cm KwK L/68 gun, was never launched.

== Media ==

===Live.Warthunder===

* [https://live.warthunder.com/feed/camouflages/?q=#tigerii_kwk105 Camouflages and skins for the "Tiger II KwK 105" can be found on live.warthunder.com]
* [https://live.warthunder.com/post/675135/en/ RideR2's Realistic gunsight (TZF4a, TZF 5a/b/d/e/f/f2, TZF 9b/b1/c/d, TZF 12/a) for Pzkpfw II, Pzkpfw III, Pzkpfw IV, Pzkpfw V, Pzkpfw VI]

===Images===
[[File:Tiger II 105 Concept.jpg|x300px|thumb|none|The Tiger II 10.5 cm Concept art from Krupp.]]

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

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

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

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

{{Germany heavy tanks}}
[[Category:Hidden vehicles]]

Object 120

2020-04-16T03:29:18Z

U78096411: /* Usage in battles */

{{Specs-Card
|code = ussr_object_120
|store = 5731
}}

== Description ==

[[File:GarageImage_{{PAGENAME}}.jpg|420px|thumb|left]]
{{break}}
The '''{{Specs|name}}''' is a gift rank {{Specs|rank}} Soviet tank destroyer {{Battle-rating}}. It was introduced late in [[Update 1.71 "New E.R.A."]], made available on 29 September 2017.

== General info ==
=== Survivability and armour ===

'''Armour type:'''

* Rolled homogeneous armour
* Cast homogeneous armour (Turret)

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Armour !! Front (Slope angle) !! Sides !! Rear !! Roof
|-
| Hull || 30 mm (31-86°) ''Front glacis'' 30 mm (17-50°) ''Lower glacis'' || 15 mm || 10 mm (15-80°) ''Top'' 10 mm (5°) ''Bottom'' || 30 mm (86°) ''Front'' 10 mm ''Rear''
|-
| Turret || 30 mm (1-68°) ''Turret front'' 30 mm (0-58°) ''Gun mantlet'' || 15-30 mm (0-51°) || 15 mm (14-21°) || 30 mm ''Front'' 10 mm ''Rear''
|-
! Armour !! Sides !! Roof
|-
| Cupola || 15 mm || 15 mm
|}
'''Notes:'''

* Suspension wheels are 20 mm thick while tracks are 15 mm thick.
* Belly armour is 10 mm thick.
* Barrel ring around the gun is 100 mm thick.
* Structural steel boxes on hull sides provide 4 mm of protection.

=== Mobility ===


{{tankMobility|abMinHp= 682|rbMinHp= 425|}}

== Armaments ==
=== Main armament ===

{{main|M-69 (152 mm)}}

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! colspan="6" | [[M-69 (152 mm)|152 mm M-69]]
|-
! colspan="3" | Capacity
! Vertical guidance
! Horizontal guidance
! Stabilizer
|-
| colspan="3" | 22 || -5°/+15° || ±180° || N/A
|-
! colspan="6" | Turret rotation speed (°/s)
|-
! Mode
! Stock
! Upgraded
! Prior + Full crew
! Prior + Expert qualif.
! Prior + Ace qualif.
|-
| ''Arcade'' || 15.85 || ??.? || ??.? || ??.? || 31.34
|-
| ''Realistic'' || 10.71 || 12.60 || 14.8 || 15.3 || 18.00
|-
! colspan="4" | Reloading rate (seconds)
|-
! Stock
! Prior + Full crew
! Prior + Expert qualif.
! Prior + Ace qualif.
|-
| 10.00 || 10.00 || 10.00 || 10.00
|-
|}

==== Ammunition ====
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center" width="100%"
! colspan="8" | Penetration statistics
|-
! rowspan="2" data-sort-type="text" | Ammunition
! rowspan="2" | Type of warhead
! colspan="6" | '''Penetration @ 0° Angle of Attack (mm)'''
|-
! 10 m !! 100 m !! 500 m !! 1,000 m !! 1,500 m !! 2,000 m
|-
| 152 mm APDS-FS || APFSDS || 405 || 400 || 385 || 370 || 355 || 340
|-
| 152 mm HE || HE || 49 || 49 || 49 || 49 || 49 || 49
|-
| 152 mm HEAT-FS || HEATFS || 480 || 480 || 480 || 480 || 480 || 480
|-
|}
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center" width="100%"
! colspan="11" | Shell details
|-
! rowspan="2" data-sort-type="text" | Ammunition
! rowspan="2" | Type of warhead
! rowspan="2" | Velocity (m/s)
! rowspan="2" | Projectile Mass (kg)
! rowspan="2" | Fuse delay (m)
! rowspan="2" | Fuse sensitivity (mm)
! rowspan="2" | Explosive Mass (TNT equivalent) (g)
! rowspan="2" | Normalisation at 30° from horizontal
! colspan="3" | Ricochet
|-
! 0% !! 50% !! 100%
|-
| 152 mm APDS-FS || APFSDS || 1,710 || 8.0 || N/A || N/A || N/A || +1.5° || 76° || ??° || 78°
|-
| 152 mm HE || HE || 960 || 43.5 || 0.1 || 0.5 || 5,900 || +0.0° || 79° || 80° || 81°
|-
| 152 mm HEAT-FS || HEATFS || 1,000 || 35.0 || N/A || 0.1 || 5,852 || +0.0° || 65° || 72° || 75°
|-
|}

===== Ammo racks =====
[[File:Ammoracks_Object 120.png|right|thumbnail|x250px|[[Ammo racks|Ammo racks]] for the Object 120.]]
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! class="wikitable unsortable" |Full ammo
! class="wikitable unsortable" |Ammo Part
! class="wikitable unsortable" |1st rack empty
! class="wikitable unsortable" |2nd rack empty
! class="wikitable unsortable" |3rd rack empty
! class="wikitable unsortable" |Visual discrepancy
|-
|| '''22''' || style="text-align:right" | ''Projectiles'' ''Propellants'' || 1 ''(+21)'' 19 ''(+3)'' ||   4 ''(+18)'' ||   1 ''(+21)'' || style="text-align:left" | No
|-
|}

==== [[Optics]] ====
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
! colspan="3" | {{PAGENAME}} Optics
|-
!
! Default magnification
! Maximum magnification
|-
! Main Gun optics
| X3.5 || X7.0
|-
! Comparable optics
| colspan="2" | ???
|-
|}

== Usage in battles ==
The Object 120 performs best in all game modes as a sniper/support. This means finding a good spot overlooking the battle with some cover, and taking out enemies from long range. The Object's 152mm gun and it's shells are well suited for this purpose. The Object is armed with two main types of shells. The first is APDS-FS, a round that does less damage than the HEATFS, but is capable of going through almost all the armor of vehicles it can face, and it's extremely low shell drop, that which is comparable to the shell drop of top tier MBTs makes it one of the best shells to use at long range at it's BR. The HEATFS shell, however, has similar shell drop compared to other tanks of similar BR, but this disadvantage is compensated with a huge amount of explosives, almost equal to the HE shell, making the HE shell worthless, as when a HEATFS shell has that much explosives, the HEATFS starts acting more like a high-pen HE round. Both of these rounds have their pros and cons at long range, but both are very suitable.

One last thing to note is that while the Object 120 can be used at close range(not recommended), but not as effectively, it's reload is still slower than your enemies, even with it's 10 second autoloader, and the lack of a stabilizer makes quick shooting impossible. It is better to fight at range, where the Object's advantages matter the most.

=== Modules ===
{| class="wikitable"
! Tier
! colspan="2" |Mobility
! Protection
! colspan="2" |Firepower
|-
| I
| Tracks
|
| Parts
| Horizontal Drive
| 152 mm APDS-FS
|-
| II
| Suspension
| Brake System
| FPE
| Adjustment of Fire
|
|-
| III
| Filters
|
| Crew Replenishment
| Elevation Mechanism
|
|-
| IV
| Transmission
| Engine
|
| NVD
|
|-
|}

=== Pros and cons ===


'''Pros:'''

* Very high velocity APFSDS round means "point and shoot" at typical War Thunder combat ranges - no need to account for projectile drop at range
* Outstanding armour penetration by HEAT-FS and APFSDS rounds
* Very good spalling effect from the kinetic energy spread and explosive mass from HEAT-FS round
* Good mobility for the size of gun
* Only Soviet tank destroyer with a turret

'''Cons:'''

* Weak armour - vulnerable to anything bigger than a heavy machine gun, and even those from some angles at short range
* Poor depression for main armament
* Low ammunition load
* All projectiles carried in rear of turret behind thin armour makes ammunition explosions very likely from turret hits

== History ==

The Object 120 "Taran" was a tank destroyer developed after the USSR's conclusion that AP rounds from the T-10 and T-55 could not pierce the newest American tank the M60. The Object 120 (also noted as being the SU-152 "Taran") surpassed foreign tank destroyers with firepower and mobility at the time. The name Taran comes from its cannon which became the reason it wasn't adopted. The 125 smoothbore and anti tank missiles are the reason why the Object 120 was not put into production.

== Media ==

{{Youtube-gallery|FO3RK2n4IaQ|Premium Vehicles - Object 120 "Taran"}}

== 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/4986-development-object-120-taran-the-hammer-of-tanks-pre-order-now-en|[Devblog<nowiki>]</nowiki> Object 120 "Taran": The Hammer of Tanks]]

{{USSR tank destroyers}}
{{USSR premium ground vehicles}}

Radkampfwagen 90

2020-04-16T02:32:20Z

U78096411: /* Usage in battles */

Radkampfwagen 90

2020-04-15T06:39:32Z

U78096411: /* Pros and cons */

Radkampfwagen 90

2020-04-15T06:37:52Z

U78096411: /* .Usage in battles */

Radkampfwagen 90

2020-04-15T06:37:25Z

U78096411: /* Usage in battles */