War Thunder Wiki - User contributions [en]

SPz BMP-1

2020-06-07T22:16:51Z

U91911790: added usage in battles

{{Specs-Card|code=germ_bmp_1_ddr}}
{{About
| about = German light tank '''{{PAGENAME}}'''
| other
| usage-1 = the Russian version
| link-1 = BMP-1
| usage-2 = other uses
| link-2 = BMP (Disambiguation)
}}

== 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 1.93 "Shark Attack"]].

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


The Spz BMP-1 has very little to speak of in the armour department. Minimal frontal and nearly non-existent side armour results in the vehicle being vulnerable to almost any incoming fire. As such, the vehicle's survivability stems entirely from its mobility and reasonably small profile. Where possible, utilise hills or other cover, only exposing as much of the vehicle as is necessary to engage an unaware target.

Despite the lack of armour, however, the SPz BMP-1 will, on occasion, survive hits unexpectedly - the internals of the vehicle are largely non-critical and many rounds will over-penetrate.
{| class="wikitable"
!Armour
!Front (Slope angle)
!Sides
!Rear
!Roof
|-
|Hull
|7-12 mm (80°) ''Front glacis'' 19 mm (56°) ''Lower glacis''
|16 mm (3-18°) ''Top'' 18 + 4 mm ''Bottom''
|16 mm (12°) ''Top'' 12 mm (48°) ''Bottom'' 12 mm (8-51°) ''Doors''
|6 mm 5 mm ''Engine exhausts''
|-
|Turret
|23 mm (0-53°) ''Turret front'' 33 + 26 mm ''Gun mantlet''
|13-23 mm (24-37°)
|13 mm (23-26°)
|6 mm
|-
!Armour
!Sides
!Roof
|-
|Cupola
|7 mm
|7 mm
|-
|}
'''Notes:'''

* Suspension wheels and tracks are 10 mm thick.
* Belly armour is 6 mm thick.

=== Mobility ===


{{tankMobility|abMinHp= 465|rbMinHp= 265|}}

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

{{main|2A28 (73 mm)}}

When stock, all available ammunition for the weapon are unlocked - HEAT and HE.

Between the two, HE should be avoided as it only has 11 mm of pen and 290 m/sec muzzle velocity. While the HEAT round has only 670 m/sec velocity,with some training it can be shot at targets over 1 km reliably.

The HEAT round has 300 mm penetration and very good damage output, oneshots can be achieved quite often when shooting center mass, although larger tanks might give you some headache as they sometimes survive multiple shots.

=== Additional armament ===

{{main|9M14|9M113 Konkurs}}

While stock, the BMP is equipped with 9M14 missiles that penetrate 400 mm of armour. These missiles are first-generation, which means they cannot be aimed with the mouse pointer and are instead aimed with the WASD keys. However, the "BMP-1P" modification, when unlocked, will give the vehicle access to four more lethal 9M113 Konkurs missiles.

The 9M113 has 600 mm of penetration and do very good damage while having good speed. Only their manouverability is a bit lacking, but you can quickly make a follow up shot with your cannon or use smoke if you want to retreat. As these missiles are second generation, they are aimed with both the mouse pointer and WASD keys.

=== Machine guns ===

{{main|PKT (7.62 mm)}}

The {{PAGENAME}} is only equipped with one PKT machinegun with an ammo reserve of 1,000 rounds.

It's not useful and cannot aim at air targets due to the coaxial mount. As such, it should only be used on vehicles with soft armour like trucks or at exposed crew members, or just annoy enemies with it. In RB and SB it can be used to throw up dirt in front of an enemy vehicle in order to blind them temporary.

== Usage in battles ==
Due to its nearly non-existent armor, the BMP-1 shouldn't be played like anything with actual armor. It is best used in a support or ambush role, using cover to ambush opponents, then taking them out with the combination of the autocannon and ATGM. The BMP-1 is quite effective when played this way. When in close-quarters combat, it is important to note that the missile launcher has slightly faster traverse than the turret. This can save it from being killed from the flanks. It can also be used to take out opponents from medium to long range with its missiles, although this strategy will prevent the BMP-1 from using its main gun. The small projectiles lose even more of their already small penetration at long ranges, but the missiles will not be affected by gravity or air resistance until very extreme ranges. Finally the missiles and sometimes the autocannon can be used to take out slow air targets such as the helicopters that you will start to meet at these BR's.

=== Pros and cons ===


'''Pros:'''

* Very mobile, can quickly adapt to new situations
* Quick reload on grenade launcher (6 sec autloader, 5 sec max manual with P upgrade)
* Low module RP cost
* BMP-1P upgrade adds smoke launchers, which don't have to be researched separately
* BMP-1P upgrade also makes ATGM more powerful, mouse-guided and it will not launch upwards since its now mounted on top of the turret
* Scouting ability
* ESS allows you to smoke up big areas and provide cover for teammates as well as covering your retreat
* Small turret, hard to hit when hull down
* Upper hull can sometimes bounce shells due to steep angle

'''Cons:'''

* Easily hullbroken
* Big target from the side
* Bad gun depression of -5 degree for the main gun
* Only 3 crew members, bad survivability

== History ==

'''Development'''

In the 1950’s, Soviet armored personnel carrier (APC) tactics consisted of lightly armored vehicles that would transport soldiers to combat zones, and then head back behind the lines to safety. During this time, the West German Bundeswehr was using the Schützenpanzer Lang and infantry fighting vehicle (IFV) tactics, where the vehicles would work with the infantry and tanks in order to support them, especially against lightly armored targets. The BMP was a Soviet IFV design created in the late 1950’s. Some of the requirements were the ability for all of the infantry carried to be able to fire from within the vehicle, which was unseen before in IFV designs. It was intended to support the infantry and combat enemy light vehicles. The design placed emphasis on speed and maneuverability, potent armament, and sufficient armament to protect against 23 mm autocannons over the frontal arc. There was a debate over how the vehicle should be wheeled or tracked, and a number of options were explored including hybrid designs with both. The design that was chosen was a tracked vehicle with the engine in the front and the crew compartment in the rear; it was designated the Object 764. A prototype was created in 1964, and the final design was chosen in 1965 - an improved model called the Object 765. In service the production model was called the BMP-1.

'''Design'''

The BMP-1 features a fully tracked hull, with a sharply angled glacis at the front, a centrally mounted turret, and a crew compartment in the rear of the hull, with doors for the infantry to mount and dismount the vehicle. The hull layout is as follows: the engine was in the front right section of the hull. The driver sat to the front left of the vehicle, the commander sat right behind the driver, and the gunner sat in the right side of the turret. The troop compartment located at the rear of the vehicle could seat 8 infantry soldiers. The ability to fire from inside the vehicle was provided by four firing ports on each side of the hull and one in the left door. There are also four hatches in the roof. The infantry sit on two benches with padding, back to back, facing the outer sides of the vehicle. The armor of the frontal arc is enough to generally protect against 20 mm autocannon fire, the side armor generally protects against 12.7 mm machine gun fire, and the roof and rear armor protects against small arms fire and shell fragments. In addition, the sloped glacis on the front of the hull also increased the chances of shells bouncing, because of the extreme angles. The protection level depended somewhat on the version of the BMP-1 in question, as different nations had differing levels of armor quality. The main armament consisted of a 73 mm 2A28 Grom smoothbore semi-automatic cannon, along with a 9M14 Malyutka anti-tank guided missile (ATGM). Secondary armament consisted of a 7.62 mm PKT machine gun. The engine provides 300 hp, and is a six-cylinder four-stroke diesel engine. The suspension system used was a torsion bar suspension system. The BMP-1 is fully amphibious with little preparation. Before entering the water a trim vane has to be raised, which provides additional frontal armor when in the lowered position. It can achieve 65 kph (40 mph) on road and 8 kph (5 mph) in water.

'''Production and Service'''

Over 20,000 BMP-1's were produced in the Soviet Union alone, with many more produced in China and Czechoslovakia. The BMP-1 was widely exported and saw significant combat worldwide. BMP-1's participated in the Yom Kippur War, the Angolan Civil War, the Iran-Iraq War, the Gulf War, and many other conflicts. It was well liked for its maneuverability, but it was found that the cannon lacked effective range and the 9M14 ATGM's were hard to control. During the Gulf War it was found that the 25 mm Bushmaster cannon found on the M2/M3 Bradley could consistently penetrate the frontal armor of the BMP-1, even at range.

'''BMP-1P Upgrade'''

The BMP-1P was an upgrade to the ATGM systems of the BMP-1. It replaced the 9M14 Malyutka missiles with 9M113 Konkurs or 9M111 missile. This increased the weight of the vehicle, leading to a slight decrease in maneuverability.

'''German Service'''

In 1974, East Germany ordered 1,133 BMP-1, and they were delivered between 1973 and 1989. Some of those BMP-1 were produced in Czechoslovakia. About 270 of the East German BMP-1's were of the BMP-1P type, with 950 being BMP-1SP2. The East German BMP-1P were known as the Schützenpanzer BMP-1P, or SPz BMP-1P. After the German reunification in 1990, the Bundeswehr modified 851 BMP-1 to NATO standards, and they entered service with the Bundeswehr as the BMP-1A1 Ost. Most of the vehicles upgraded were of the BMP-1P variant. In 1990, 110 unmodified BMP-1/BMP-1P were sold to Finland. 501 BMP-1A1 Ost. were sold to Greece between 1993 and 1994, and 350 were sold to Sweden in the early 1990's.

== 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.''

== Bibliography ==

* David B. (2015, December 1). BMP-1. Tank Encyclopedia. https://tanks-encyclopedia.com/coldwar/USSR/soviet_BMP-1.php
* BMP-1. (2020, March 25). In ''Wikipedia''. https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=BMP-1&oldid=947316322

== External links ==


* [https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/BMP-1 <nowiki>[DE Wikipedia] BMP-1</nowiki>]

{{Germany light tanks}}
[[Category:ATGM vehicles]]

SPz BMP-1

2020-06-07T22:07:13Z

U91911790: added info for controls for ATGMs

{{Specs-Card|code=germ_bmp_1_ddr}}
{{About
| about = German light tank '''{{PAGENAME}}'''
| other
| usage-1 = the Russian version
| link-1 = BMP-1
| usage-2 = other uses
| link-2 = BMP (Disambiguation)
}}

== 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 1.93 "Shark Attack"]].

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


The Spz BMP-1 has very little to speak of in the armour department. Minimal frontal and nearly non-existent side armour results in the vehicle being vulnerable to almost any incoming fire. As such, the vehicle's survivability stems entirely from its mobility and reasonably small profile. Where possible, utilise hills or other cover, only exposing as much of the vehicle as is necessary to engage an unaware target.

Despite the lack of armour, however, the SPz BMP-1 will, on occasion, survive hits unexpectedly - the internals of the vehicle are largely non-critical and many rounds will over-penetrate.
{| class="wikitable"
!Armour
!Front (Slope angle)
!Sides
!Rear
!Roof
|-
|Hull
|7-12 mm (80°) ''Front glacis'' 19 mm (56°) ''Lower glacis''
|16 mm (3-18°) ''Top'' 18 + 4 mm ''Bottom''
|16 mm (12°) ''Top'' 12 mm (48°) ''Bottom'' 12 mm (8-51°) ''Doors''
|6 mm 5 mm ''Engine exhausts''
|-
|Turret
|23 mm (0-53°) ''Turret front'' 33 + 26 mm ''Gun mantlet''
|13-23 mm (24-37°)
|13 mm (23-26°)
|6 mm
|-
!Armour
!Sides
!Roof
|-
|Cupola
|7 mm
|7 mm
|-
|}
'''Notes:'''

* Suspension wheels and tracks are 10 mm thick.
* Belly armour is 6 mm thick.

=== Mobility ===


{{tankMobility|abMinHp= 465|rbMinHp= 265|}}

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

{{main|2A28 (73 mm)}}

When stock, all available ammunition for the weapon are unlocked - HEAT and HE.

Between the two, HE should be avoided as it only has 11 mm of pen and 290 m/sec muzzle velocity. While the HEAT round has only 670 m/sec velocity,with some training it can be shot at targets over 1 km reliably.

The HEAT round has 300 mm penetration and very good damage output, oneshots can be achieved quite often when shooting center mass, although larger tanks might give you some headache as they sometimes survive multiple shots.

=== Additional armament ===

{{main|9M14|9M113 Konkurs}}

While stock, the BMP is equipped with 9M14 missiles that penetrate 400 mm of armour. These missiles are first-generation, which means they cannot be aimed with the mouse pointer and are instead aimed with the WASD keys. However, the "BMP-1P" modification, when unlocked, will give the vehicle access to four more lethal 9M113 Konkurs missiles.

The 9M113 has 600 mm of penetration and do very good damage while having good speed. Only their manouverability is a bit lacking, but you can quickly make a follow up shot with your cannon or use smoke if you want to retreat. As these missiles are second generation, they are aimed with both the mouse pointer and WASD keys.

=== Machine guns ===

{{main|PKT (7.62 mm)}}

The {{PAGENAME}} is only equipped with one PKT machinegun with an ammo reserve of 1,000 rounds.

It's not useful and cannot aim at air targets due to the coaxial mount. As such, it should only be used on vehicles with soft armour like trucks or at exposed crew members, or just annoy enemies with it. In RB and SB it can be used to throw up dirt in front of an enemy vehicle in order to blind them temporary.

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

=== Pros and cons ===


'''Pros:'''

* Very mobile, can quickly adapt to new situations
* Quick reload on grenade launcher (6 sec autloader, 5 sec max manual with P upgrade)
* Low module RP cost
* BMP-1P upgrade adds smoke launchers, which don't have to be researched separately
* BMP-1P upgrade also makes ATGM more powerful, mouse-guided and it will not launch upwards since its now mounted on top of the turret
* Scouting ability
* ESS allows you to smoke up big areas and provide cover for teammates as well as covering your retreat
* Small turret, hard to hit when hull down
* Upper hull can sometimes bounce shells due to steep angle

'''Cons:'''

* Easily hullbroken
* Big target from the side
* Bad gun depression of -5 degree for the main gun
* Only 3 crew members, bad survivability

== History ==

'''Development'''

In the 1950’s, Soviet armored personnel carrier (APC) tactics consisted of lightly armored vehicles that would transport soldiers to combat zones, and then head back behind the lines to safety. During this time, the West German Bundeswehr was using the Schützenpanzer Lang and infantry fighting vehicle (IFV) tactics, where the vehicles would work with the infantry and tanks in order to support them, especially against lightly armored targets. The BMP was a Soviet IFV design created in the late 1950’s. Some of the requirements were the ability for all of the infantry carried to be able to fire from within the vehicle, which was unseen before in IFV designs. It was intended to support the infantry and combat enemy light vehicles. The design placed emphasis on speed and maneuverability, potent armament, and sufficient armament to protect against 23 mm autocannons over the frontal arc. There was a debate over how the vehicle should be wheeled or tracked, and a number of options were explored including hybrid designs with both. The design that was chosen was a tracked vehicle with the engine in the front and the crew compartment in the rear; it was designated the Object 764. A prototype was created in 1964, and the final design was chosen in 1965 - an improved model called the Object 765. In service the production model was called the BMP-1.

'''Design'''

The BMP-1 features a fully tracked hull, with a sharply angled glacis at the front, a centrally mounted turret, and a crew compartment in the rear of the hull, with doors for the infantry to mount and dismount the vehicle. The hull layout is as follows: the engine was in the front right section of the hull. The driver sat to the front left of the vehicle, the commander sat right behind the driver, and the gunner sat in the right side of the turret. The troop compartment located at the rear of the vehicle could seat 8 infantry soldiers. The ability to fire from inside the vehicle was provided by four firing ports on each side of the hull and one in the left door. There are also four hatches in the roof. The infantry sit on two benches with padding, back to back, facing the outer sides of the vehicle. The armor of the frontal arc is enough to generally protect against 20 mm autocannon fire, the side armor generally protects against 12.7 mm machine gun fire, and the roof and rear armor protects against small arms fire and shell fragments. In addition, the sloped glacis on the front of the hull also increased the chances of shells bouncing, because of the extreme angles. The protection level depended somewhat on the version of the BMP-1 in question, as different nations had differing levels of armor quality. The main armament consisted of a 73 mm 2A28 Grom smoothbore semi-automatic cannon, along with a 9M14 Malyutka anti-tank guided missile (ATGM). Secondary armament consisted of a 7.62 mm PKT machine gun. The engine provides 300 hp, and is a six-cylinder four-stroke diesel engine. The suspension system used was a torsion bar suspension system. The BMP-1 is fully amphibious with little preparation. Before entering the water a trim vane has to be raised, which provides additional frontal armor when in the lowered position. It can achieve 65 kph (40 mph) on road and 8 kph (5 mph) in water.

'''Production and Service'''

Over 20,000 BMP-1's were produced in the Soviet Union alone, with many more produced in China and Czechoslovakia. The BMP-1 was widely exported and saw significant combat worldwide. BMP-1's participated in the Yom Kippur War, the Angolan Civil War, the Iran-Iraq War, the Gulf War, and many other conflicts. It was well liked for its maneuverability, but it was found that the cannon lacked effective range and the 9M14 ATGM's were hard to control. During the Gulf War it was found that the 25 mm Bushmaster cannon found on the M2/M3 Bradley could consistently penetrate the frontal armor of the BMP-1, even at range.

'''BMP-1P Upgrade'''

The BMP-1P was an upgrade to the ATGM systems of the BMP-1. It replaced the 9M14 Malyutka missiles with 9M113 Konkurs or 9M111 missile. This increased the weight of the vehicle, leading to a slight decrease in maneuverability.

'''German Service'''

In 1974, East Germany ordered 1,133 BMP-1, and they were delivered between 1973 and 1989. Some of those BMP-1 were produced in Czechoslovakia. About 270 of the East German BMP-1's were of the BMP-1P type, with 950 being BMP-1SP2. The East German BMP-1P were known as the Schützenpanzer BMP-1P, or SPz BMP-1P. After the German reunification in 1990, the Bundeswehr modified 851 BMP-1 to NATO standards, and they entered service with the Bundeswehr as the BMP-1A1 Ost. Most of the vehicles upgraded were of the BMP-1P variant. In 1990, 110 unmodified BMP-1/BMP-1P were sold to Finland. 501 BMP-1A1 Ost. were sold to Greece between 1993 and 1994, and 350 were sold to Sweden in the early 1990's.

== 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.''

== Bibliography ==

* David B. (2015, December 1). BMP-1. Tank Encyclopedia. https://tanks-encyclopedia.com/coldwar/USSR/soviet_BMP-1.php
* BMP-1. (2020, March 25). In ''Wikipedia''. https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=BMP-1&oldid=947316322

== External links ==


* [https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/BMP-1 <nowiki>[DE Wikipedia] BMP-1</nowiki>]

{{Germany light tanks}}
[[Category:ATGM vehicles]]

Squadron vehicles

2020-06-07T18:41:30Z

U91911790:

=== Squadron Vehicles ===
Squadron vehicles are special vehicles obtainable by squadron research points or by golden eagles. There are currently 4 squadron vehicles available. Squadron research points are gained from being active while being in a squadron. The earning rate is one (1) squadron point for every 200 research points earned, which are given every two days. Maximum earnings are 360 points every 3 days. Squadron vehicles, as mentioned above, can also be bought for golden eagles. These vehicles often have something special about them, such as the M901's missile launcher or the Firecrest's torpedo.

==== List of Squadron Vehicles ====

* [[M901]], USA, Ground Vehicle
* [[Firecrest]], Great Britain, Air Vehicle
* [[Pr. 35]], Russia, Naval Vehicle
* [[Me 262 A-1a/U1]], Germany, Air Vehicle

Squadron vehicles

2020-06-07T18:41:16Z

U91911790: added content such as list of squadron vehicles

{{Writng}}
=== Squadron Vehicles ===
Squadron vehicles are special vehicles obtainable by squadron research points or by golden eagles. There are currently 4 squadron vehicles available. Squadron research points are gained from being active while being in a squadron. The earning rate is one (1) squadron point for every 200 research points earned, which are given every two days. Maximum earnings are 360 points every 3 days. Squadron vehicles, as mentioned above, can also be bought for golden eagles. These vehicles often have something special about them, such as the M901's missile launcher or the Firecrest's torpedo.

==== List of Squadron Vehicles ====

* [[M901]], USA, Ground Vehicle
* [[Firecrest]], Great Britain, Air Vehicle
* [[Pr. 35]], Russia, Naval Vehicle
* [[Me 262 A-1a/U1]], Germany, Air Vehicle

Squadron vehicles

2020-06-07T18:29:24Z

U91911790:

{{Writng|Theling1@live}}
=== Squadron Vehicles ===
Squadron vehicles are special vehicles obtainable by squadron research points or by golden eagles. There are currently 4 squadron vehicles available. Squadron research points are gained from being active while being in a squadron. The earn rate is one (1) squadron point for every 200 research points earned, which are given every two days. Maximum earnings are 360 points every 3 days. Squadron vehicles, as mentioned above, can also be bought for golden eagles.

Squadron vehicles

2020-06-07T18:27:59Z

U91911790:

== Squadron Vehicles == {{Writng|Theling1@live}}

Squadron vehicles are special vehicles obtainable by squadron research points or by golden eagles. There are currently 4 squadron vehicles available. Squadron research points are gained from being active while being in a squadron. The earn rate is one (1) squadron point for every 200 research points earned, which are given every two days. Maximum earnings are 360 points every 3 days. Squadron vehicles, as mentioned above, can also be bought for golden eagles.

Squadron vehicles

2020-06-07T18:27:41Z

U91911790: Added some content

== Squadron Vehicles == {{Writng|Theling1@live}}Squadron vehicles are special vehicles obtainable by squadron research points or by golden eagles. There are currently 4 squadron vehicles available. Squadron research points are gained from being active while being in a squadron. The earn rate is one (1) squadron point for every 200 research points earned, which are given every two days. Maximum earnings are 360 points every 3 days. Squadron vehicles, as mentioned above, can also be bought for golden eagles.

Squadron vehicles

2020-06-07T18:23:46Z

U91911790: Description of Squadron Vehicles and list

Squadron vehicles

2020-06-07T18:09:35Z

U91911790: Created page with "== Squadron Vehicles == ===What are squadron vehicles?=== Squadron vehicles are special vehicles obtainable from squadron xp points or"

== Squadron Vehicles ==
===What are squadron vehicles?===
Squadron vehicles are special vehicles obtainable from squadron xp points or

Tiger H1

2020-06-07T16:41:34Z

U91911790: described Tiger's armor

{{Specs-Card|code=germ_pzkpfw_VI_ausf_h1_tiger}}

== Description ==

[[File:GarageImage_TigerH1.jpg|420px|thumb|left]]
{{break}}
The '''{{Specs|name}}''', also known as the '''Tiger H1''', is a rank {{Specs|rank}} German heavy tank {{Battle-rating}}. It was introduced during the Closed Beta Test for Ground Forces before Update 1.41. The Tiger I carries its reputation from real-life to its in-game performances, armed with the infamous [[KwK 36 (88 mm)|88 mm gun]] that can easily destroy most tanks it meets. The armour of the Tiger I is formidable at 102 mm and can be easily sloped by tilting the tank approximately 45° to the side, with the side armour thick enough for glancing side fire as well. Mobility is also decent for a heavy tank due to its 650 hp engine and suspension, making the Tiger I a near jack-of-all-trades at its level.

The Tiger H1 is an early production variant of the Tiger I tanks. However, it is the basis of the Tiger I tanks with the three features: the long 88 mm KwK 36 gun, the ''Schachtellaufwerk'' interleaving torsion suspension system, and a box armour shape of the hull with a circular turret housing the 88 mm gun. The tank is painted in a flat ''Dunkelgelb'' yellow coat, though there are large swatches bare metal from scratched off paint.

The Tiger H1 tank is most distinctive from its later production models is its drum-shaped, cylindrical cupola protruding from the top left of the turret. Turret-mounted smoke dischargers known as the ''Wurfbecher'' are mounted to the turret sides slightly behind the gun mantlet. On the hull-roof, there are also five S-Mine dischargers, with three on the left side and two on the right side. On the hull rear, there are two ''Feifel'' air cleaner units that were intended for dusty environments.

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

[[File:TigerIHTank Armour Angling.png|right|thumbnail|The ideal angling of hull armour on Tiger I for maximum effective armour all-around|300px]]
'''Armour type:'''

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

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Armour !! Front (Slope angle) !! Sides !! Rear (Slope angle) !! Roof
|-
| Hull || 102 mm (9°) ''Front plate'' 62 mm (80°) ''Front glacis'' 102 mm (25°) ''Lower glacis''|| 82 mm ''Top'' 62 mm ''Bottom''|| 82 mm (9°)|| 26 mm
|-
| Turret || 100 mm ''Turret front'' 90 - 200 mm ''Gun mantlet'' || 82 mm || 82 mm || 26 mm
|-
! Armour !! Sides !! Roof
|-
| Cupola || 80 mm || 26 mm
|}
'''Notes:'''

* Turret front covered by gun mantlet has variable thickness depending on exact place, ranging from 90 to 200 mm of armour.
* Turret side (about 1/3) is covered by attached tracks, adding additional 30 mm of armour.
* While the hull side of the tank is 82 mm, the side where the suspension is located is only 62 mm thick so be aware of this weak point.
* On paper, the best angle is roughly 38.8° with armour all-round being from the front 130 mm.

One may feel the need to charge head-on into battle, blaring that 88 mm gun as shells bounce off the front armour while the ''Schachtellaufwerk'' suspension system runs over the ground; this is a short-lived strategy.

The Tiger I should be played more like a bulky medium tank rather than a heavy tank despite its status, supporting allies from the sideline or from a distance rather than leading directly from the front. This is due to the poor armour arrangement with its "boxy" features, providing no sloping benefits alone. One must remain a distance, exploit the 88 mm long-distance power, and maintain a diamond-shape compound angling to maximize armour thickness against the trailing enemy shells that will inevitably come towards the Tiger's way.

=== Mobility ===


{{tankMobility|abMinHp= 839|rbMinHp= 575|}}

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

{{main|KwK 36 (88 mm)}}

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! colspan="6" | [[KwK 36 (88 mm)|88 mm KwK 36]]
|-
! colspan="3" rowspan="1" style="width:5em" |Capacity
! rowspan="1" | Vertical guidance
! rowspan="1" | Horizontal guidance
! rowspan="1" | Stabilizer
|-
| colspan="3" | 92 || -8°/+16° || ±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'' || 7.10 || 9.90 ||16.30||18.00||19.20
|-
| ''Realistic'' || 7.10 || 8.40 ||10.20||11.30||12.00
|-
! 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.
|-
| 9.60 ||8.50||7.90||7.40
|-
|}

===== 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 39 || APCBC ||164|| 162 || 151 ||139||127||117
|-
| Pzgr. || APCBC ||153||151||140||128||116||106
|-
| Sprgr. L/4,5 || HE || 13 || 13 ||12||12||12||12
|-
| Hl.Gr 39 || HEAT || 110 || 110 || 110 || 110 || 110 || 110
|-
|}
{| 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 39 || APCBC || 773 || 10 || 0.8 || 28 || 108.8 || +4° || 48° || 63° || 71°
|-
| Pzgr. || APCBC || 810 || 9.5 || 0.8 || 28 || 285.6 || +4° || 48° || 63° || 71°
|-
| Sprgr. L/4,5 || HE || 820 || 9 || 0.1 || 0.5 || 698 || +0° || 79° || 80° || 81°
|-
| Hl.Gr 39 || HEAT || 600 || 7.6 || 0.0 || 0.3 || 1,100 || +0° || 62° || 69° || 73°
|-
|}

* '''PzGr 39''' The go-to shell for all Tiger H1 drivers as this is arguably the best. It will do incredible damage to any tank shot by it, except SPAA, or any extremely thin armoured vehicles. Heavier tanks like the IS-1, IS-2, or American heavy tanks are able to resist the round at longer ranges, but well-placed shots from close range or sides will do the job. All other medium and light tanks will be history as soon as this shell make contact with them. This shell, however, will almost always over-penetrate all but the most armoured SPAA vehicles, so it is best to use HE or machine gun fire on thin-skinned vehicles.
* '''PzGr ''' This shell is also very useful. It has very similar characteristics as PzGr 39, but sacrifices some penetration for about 50% more Explosive Filler, meaning even more damage than already powerful PzGr 39. It is recommended to carry some of these shells and use them regularly, as the penetration is still enough to deal with most targets (at least when being down-tiered), and switch to PzGr 39 when shooting targets far away, or those that are heavily armoured.
* '''Sprgr. 39''' The HE shell is completely ineffective against all but SPAA or the AI artillery on the Kursk and Ash River maps, and the machine gun mounted on the Tiger has proven quite capable of dealing with these. Keep a small supply of this shell on hand if planning to flank the enemy and take out their SPAA or artillery, but avoid them for everything else.
* '''Hl.Gr. 39''' On paper the HEAT rounds don't bring anything new to the table, however they can be used as a substitute for the HE shells due to the greater explosive mass and still gives a fighting chance if caught with pants down.

===== [[Ammo racks|Ammo racks]] =====
[[File:Ammoracks TigerH1.png|right|thumbnail|x250px|[[Ammo racks|Ammo racks]] of the Tiger I.]]
{| 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" |8th rack empty
! class="wikitable unsortable" |9th rack empty
! class="wikitable unsortable" |10th rack empty
! class="wikitable unsortable" |Visual discrepancy
|-
|| '''92''' || 77 ''(+15)'' || 61 ''(+31)'' || 45 ''(+47)'' || 29 ''(+63)'' || 25 ''(+67)'' || 21 ''(+71)'' || 17 ''(+75)'' || 13 ''(+79)'' || 7 ''(+85)'' || 1 ''(+91)'' || style="text-align:center" | No
|-
|}

Large sides empty: 29 ''(+63)''

=== 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" | 4,350 (150) || 900 || N/A || N/A
|-
|}

== Usage in the battles ==

The main role of the ''Tiger'' tank was to eliminate enemy tanks at a far range, similar to behaving like a sniping tank, or a Tank Destroyer. Nonetheless, the Tiger can excel at brawling with other tanks at medium, even possibly against two [[Panther D|Panther]] tanks to close range and escape undamaged. It's recommended to not stay in one place for too long or risk getting outflanked, spotted, or bombed.

While guns like the Soviet [[D-5T (85 mm)|85 mm]] cannon can easily penetrate the Tiger at close range, the Tiger can stay nearly invulnerable at long range. The 88 can take out any tank on Rank 3 at any combat range but may have problems with the [[IS-1]]'s 120 mm front amour at some ranges. When having to close in a bit, it is generally advisable to angle the hull to the sides by about 30°, improving the armour rating enough that it can keep away 85mm shells very well, even at closer ranges. The Tiger is still vulnerable to the [[SU-152|SU-152s]] howitzer and its HE shell at any range. So whenever encountering these heavy-calibre vehicles, it should be prioritized and eliminated first.

The Tiger's hull has many flat areas that are easily penetrated. To maximize the angles and thus the protection, the tank should be angled about 40º to either side. The side armor is strong enough for such angling, and is flat as well. The turret is more complicated. It features many pieces of armor that overlap and such, and as such will either be exceptionally strong or be penetrated easily. As such, avoid relying on the turret to absorb shells. On the other hand, opponents will also try to avoid hitting the turret, as there is a chance to not penetrate.

'''Mobility'''-wise the Tiger is pretty good for a heavy tank. It is much faster than a [[KV-1 (ZiS-5)|KV-1]] and about as equally fast as the [[IS-1]], although medium tanks like the [[T-34-85]] can easily outmanoeuvre all three at close range. Try to use the Tiger's mobility to keep a distance rather than for closing in on a target. Don't be afraid to use the speed to fall back if necessary as the Tiger cannot survive close range engagements on open terrain vs. mediums, due to the slow turret and the vulnerability to the 85mm guns on Soviet medium tanks.

The Tiger has a very bad '''turret traverse''', it is recommended to get the ''Turret Drive'' traverse modification as fast as possible. Even then, the Tiger will have to turn the tank in the direction of the traverse to make the most of the time to quickly engage a target. This, together with very exposed ammo racks on both sides (though one side can be emptied by reducing the ammo stowage) means that facing multiple enemies at once is almost a certain end to the Tiger tank. The best option is to take cover from one tank and fire on the other.

As far as ammo is concerned, the default ''PzGr 39'' will be the standard AP rounds many players will use. The second AP round available, the ''Pzgr.'', is also a good round to use against the enemy as the shell contains more explosive filler than the default, but suffers from a lower penetration value compared to the ''PzGr 39''. The HEAT rounds offer consistent penetration at all ranges including more than 2000m. However, they provide less damage upon penetration. HEAT rounds usually are usually not used as the primary ammunition type for this sole reason. Upgrading the tank should mainly be dedicated to turret traverse, hull traverse (as this is needed even with the turret traverse upgrade) and engine upgrades. The Tiger's 88 has massive destructive power. Unlike the other German tank of its rank, all armed with 75 mm guns, the Tiger can easily one-shot all the mediums like the T-34s, M4 Shermans, and still be a threat against heavy tanks like the IS-1s. If it doesn't destroy a tank in one hit, most of the enemy crew will be wounded or incapacitated. The best place to aim with the 88 is either at the gunner's side of the enemy turret to incapacitate an enemy's firepower, or between the driver and the gunner which would usually wound or knock out most of the enemy crew at once. Attacking from the side also presents a good shot opportunity, as the best shot placement is right below the turret on the hull where most of the tank ammunition are stored, giving a big chance for an ammo-rack explosion.

When driving the Tiger, plan ahead on where it will drive. Even with engine and track modifications, the Tiger is still a heavy tank and a 90 degree or more turn will almost always mean an immediate standstill as the tank try to make the change in movement. Even small adjustments can knock the speed down a bit. Thus, knowing the terrain and destination is of the utmost importance to preserve its mobility to its fullest extent.

The Tiger is also best used on the flanks of the current maps, as these are usually more open and allow good use of its armour and excellent gun. The centre of the map would seem more logical as there are a lot of enemies, but as has already been established a Tiger taking fire from multiple directions won't last long. Going in a flank and taking down light and medium tanks is an easy task for this beast, and thus a flank can be easily secured if the Tiger is driven carefully. Then, work the Tiger into the enemy sides and rear of the main force in the centre, doing much more damage than if the Tiger faced the force head-on because a shot to the side and rear will set most enemies alight if not outright exploding the ammunition. Able to destroy vehicles in one hit, the Tiger can quickly jump from target to target and eliminate a good number of enemies in its lifespan.

There will be many hard eggs to crack such as the IS- Series, T-34 Series, American Jumbos, and several other tanks that will give the Tiger I trouble.

* The Russians have many tanks at the BR able to handle the Tiger H1 easily. The main tank at this BR is the T-34-85's. While it may have very thin armour and is easy to penetrate it is easy to angle and the T-34 is a franking machine, it will drive circles around the Tiger so it needs to be destroyed quick. The IS- Heavy tanks are the second worst nightmare situation. Thick armour and a huge gun. If the IS tank is not destroyed first, it will definitely destroy the Tiger.
* The American Jumbos are similar to the T-34. The 75 mm variant would have trouble to penetrate the Tiger's armour at long ranges, but caution needs to be exercised when they are armed with a 76 mm gun.
* The Japanese tanks all have very thin armour that the 88 mm gun can easily penetrate through with no problem, but their guns at this BR all have enough penetration to deal with the Tiger if it gets a hit on.

=== Modules ===
{| class="wikitable"
!Tier
! colspan="2" |Mobility
!Protection
! colspan="2" |Firepower
|-
|I
|Tracks||
|Parts
|Horizontal Drive||Pzgr.
|-
|II
|Suspension||Brake System
|FPE
|Adjustment of Fire||HL.Gr 39
|-
|III
|Filters||
|Crew Replenishment
|Elevation Mechanism||Smoke Grenade
|-
|IV
|Transmission||Engine
|
|
|
|-
|}

For Tier I modifications obtained the vital ''Parts'' and ''Horizontal Drive'' modifications as the former will give the Tiger the ability to repair and the latter will provide a much-needed boost to the Tiger's slow turret traverse rate.

=== Pros and cons ===

'''Pros:'''

* The gun mantlet, MG port and driver's port are particularly hard to penetrate due to their complex, varying shape and thickness. Can absorb quite some shells sometimes.
* Decent cannon with adequate accuracy and a range of shells to choose. Stock shell has great penetration and damage, and can one-shot common opponents easily (eg. T-34-85, M4, IS-1, M6A1). Has another AP that sacrifices a bit penetration for more TNT.
* One of the fastest heavy tanks with its top speed of 45 km/h, meaning it can get to some positions quickly alongside friendly medium tanks.
* The box-like hull shape gives the ability to angling tactic. When angling the hull at around 40° and placing yourself far from the enemies (at least 500m away) the Tiger H1 can resist common tanks like the 76mm Sherman, T-34-85 and [[M36 Jackson (Family)|M36]].
* Good reverse speed and hull traverse allows it to quickly angle for deflecting shells.
* -8° gun depression works well in most hilly terrain
* Smoke shells allow it to escape from danger or to cover allies.
* The rear is surprisingly hard to penetrate, partially due to the slightly-angled armour and partly due to the large exhaust pipes which seem to deflect shells

'''Cons:'''

* Weak and unsloped armor protection. If not angling the Tiger H1 can get destroyed easily by the T-34-85 or 76mm Sherman. Even if the Tiger is angling, the [[IS-2 (Family)|IS-2]] can still one-shot it with ease. Watch out for the IS-2!
* Struggles to penetrate heavy targets frontally like the [[M4A3E2]], [[M26 (Family)|M26]] and IS-2 1944.
* Rather slow acceleration limits its short range maneuverbility.
* Slow turret traverse makes it hard to respond to flankers quickly. The [[M18 GMC|M18]] is very common at this BR
* Ammo storage at the hull sides are very easy to explode when hit.
* Commander's copula is tall and weak, can get the gunner killed if penetrated
* Is a big and tall target, easy to get spotted and shot at.
* S-Mine dischargers on the hull limits gun depression in certain areas

== History ==

===Development===
The '''Tiger I''' heavy tank was arguably the most infamous tank of World War II. The design for this tank began as early as January 1937 when Henschel & Sohn worked on a large "breakthrough" called the ''Durchbruchwagen'' that weighed about 30 tons on request by the German military.<ref name="ImagesOfWarTiger">Anthony Tucker-Jones. ''Images Of War Special: Tiger I & Tiger II'' Great Britain: Pen & Sword Military, 2013</ref> The request was modified over time for more armour and better gun that increased the weight to 36 tons, but this project was dropped in 1938 in favour of the better prototypes VK 30.01(H) and VK 36.01(H). These new prototypes were the start of the usage of the ''Schachtellaufwerk'' wheel arrangements, but these also never passed prototype stages and were both cancelled in 1942.

During the development of the prototypes above, the German invasion of France showed that the Allied tanks such as the Somua, Char B1, and [[Matilda Mk II|Matilda II]] were impervious to their current anti-tank weaponry and a need for better armoured and armed tanks was emphasized. So on May 26, 1941, Henschel and Porsche were asked to submit designs for a 45-ton heavy tank that was to be ready for demonstration by June 1942. During their development in June 1941, Germany initiated Operation Barbarossa against the Soviet Union and was shocked by appearance of the [[T-34 (1941)|T-34]] and [[KV-1 (ZiS-5)|KV-1]] tanks that were invulnerable to all but the most potent anti-tank weapon in German inventory, one of which was the [[KwK 36 (88 mm)|88 mm FlaK cannon]]. The potency of the 88 mm cannon against the heavily armoured tanks that the Germans faced had Hitler ordered that the heavy tank design undertaken by Henschel and Porsche to utilize the 88 mm as its main armament instead of a 75 mm cannon.

The designs of the tank were finalized and ready for demonstration on April 20, 1942, Hitler's birthday, and showed the ''VK 45.01(H)'' and the [[VK 45.01 (P)|VK 45.01(P)]]. The demonstration and subsequent evaluations on the two designs determined that the Henschel variant was superior to the Porsche variant, proving more reliable, more mobile, and more easily produced than the Porsche. This caused the Henschel variant to be adopted as the '''Panzerkampfwagen VI Tiger''' and production started in August 1942. The Porsche variant had many chassis produced as Ferdinand Porsche thought the design would win, so the chassis was instead used in the [[Ferdinand|Ferdinand]] tank destroyer.

===Design===
What perhaps made the Tiger I so unique in tank development and German doctrine is a change of focus between the three characteristics of the tank; with more emphasis to firepower and armour than to mobility. The Tiger I contained the large [[KwK 36 (88 mm)|88 mm KwK 36 cannon]] which was very accurate and powerful, being able to penetrate every Allied armour present at its introduction. The armour on the Tiger I was also one of the greatest at the time, with an astounding 102 mm of armour on the front hull armour, 82 mm on the side superstructure and rear, and 120 mm on the gun mantlet. The armour was vertical faced so no sloping benefits were present like on the [[Panther D|Panther]]. All these armour thicknesses proved invulnerable to most Allied anti-tank weaponry at the time, requiring more creative methods in a shot placement to disable the tank. The mobility, while taken with less emphasis in the development, was still respectable at the time as the tank weighed about 57 metric tons, about 20 tons more than other country's main tanks, yet is able to keep up a speed of 38 km/h (Maximum speed was 45 km/h, but an engine governor was installed to preserve the engine life).

The tank utilized a torsion-bar suspension system in a ''Schachtellaufwerk'' overlapping pattern, making the Tiger one of the first German tank design to use the pattern. While the design gave the Tiger I great flotation due to the use of a wider track for lower ground pressure, it had disadvantages in environment and maintenance. In the Eastern Front, mud and other foreign objects could be jammed in between the overlapping wheels, which would freeze in the winter and jam the wheels; the overlapping wheels also were a hassle to change out, in order to replace one wheel in the inside of the suspension, it requires the removal of at least nine other wheels in order to access it. The first 250 Tiger tanks used a Maybach V-12 HL210 engine with 650 hp before switching over to the more powerful Maybach V-12 HL230 engine with 700 hp. The engine proved adequate in propelling the tank but was still considered underpowered for the tank weight.

The Tiger I, as innovative as it is to tank warfare, was a strain on German war production. The tank was over-engineered, taking much more man-hour and materials for its worth as a war machine. Cost-wise, two [[Pz.IV G|Panzer IVs]] or four [[StuG III G|StuG IIIs]] can be built for the cost of one Tiger I. The tank was also expensive to maintain and took lots of fuel to run. These attributed to the low number of only 1,354 Tiger Is produced from 1942 to August 1944.<ref name="ImagesOfWarTiger">Anthony Tucker-Jones. ''Images Of War Special: Tiger I & Tiger II'' Great Britain: Pen & Sword Military, 2013</ref>

===Variants===
There are three main production Tiger I variants known today, the "early-production", "mid-production", and "late-production" models. The ''Early-production'' model, designated as the '''Panzerkampfwagen VI Ausf. H''', were the first few batches and are distinguished by their drum-style cupola with an over-swinging hatch. The model also had two vehicle lights on the front side of the tank and dished steel wheels with rubber tyres. The ''Mid-production'' featured ''Zimmerit'' paste and a side-swinging cupola with accommodation for a machine gun mounted on the cupola. The vehicle light was also changed to just one placed right in the front of the hull armour. The mid-production was also redesignated in May 1943 as the '''[[Tiger E|Panzerkampfwagen VI Ausf. E]]'''. ''Late-production'' models featured the removal of the ''Zimmerit'' paste as there was an assumed flaw with it, and the overlapping wheels were instead made into interleaving with full-steel road wheels as well, in a manner similar to the [[Tiger II (H)|Tiger II]].

Other specialized variants of the Tiger I was produced as well. A small number of demolition carrier models were field-made in Italy, where it had its main gun replaced by a crane to carry demolition to clear minefields or destroy obstacles. The demolition carrier version was interpreted by Allied intelligence as a ''BergeTiger'', an armoured recovery vehicle, though it is not known if it ever saw service in this role. Another specialized variant produced in 1944 in some numbers was the ''Sturmtiger'', an heavy assault gun with a 38 cm rocket launcher made from a depth charge. 19 of these were made and saw use in all fronts, though its most noteworthy combat action was in the Warsaw Uprising.

===Combat usage===
In its introduction, Hitler ordered the new Tigers to be used in the Leningrad siege in September 1942. However, as the faults of the tank were still not yet fully ironed out at this stage, the mechanical unreliability and the unsuitable terrain caused one of the Tiger Is to be stuck in the swamps and abandoned by its users. This example was then captured by the Red Army and tipped off the Allies of the development of the new Tiger tanks and so developments in countermeasures began. In North Africa, the Tigers saw the first action against the Western Allies in Tunisia in December 1942. Its impact there left an impression on the Allied armour forces, but its myth as an invulnerable tank was shattered when two Tigers were taken out by the British [[Ordnance QF 6-pounder Mk.III (57 mm)|6-pounder anti-tank guns]]. The total loss in that campaign was seven Tigers by February 1943.

Once mass-numbers of Tiger Is were available, they were employed in heavy tank battalions that were to be deployed in breakthrough operations or counter-attacks. Field experience with the Tiger showed that the Tiger's heavyweight proved a nuisance in operational mobility, an example being that small bridges were unable to support the Tiger tank's weight. An attempt to remedy this was to use a snorkel device so the tank could ford rivers as deep as four meters, however, this system was phased out of later production models for cost-savings. The Tiger suffered reliability problems in all of its service life that impeded its effectiveness and its high fuel usage limited its combat operations. Armour recovery of the vehicle was also terrible as three heavy recovery half-tracks were required to tow the tank away, causing a strain on the German support line to keep the Tiger tanks in running order. Despite that, the Tiger I proved superior in terms of armour and armament against the Allies and created massive losses among their armoured forces, causing many soldiers to keep an eye out for the infamous "Tigers".

The impact the Tiger had on the battlefield as the superior tank at its introduction created fame to the commanders and crew operating this tank, further fueling the Tiger's reputation in the war as a killing machine. Some Tiger units were able to achieve kill ratios up to 10:1, and some even higher. Some notable Tiger aces known were Kurt Knispel (168 tank kills), Otto Carius (150+), Johannes Bölter (139+), and Michael Wittmann (138).

However, as the war progressed and the impact of the Tiger's surprise in Kursk and Italy has dissolved, Allied developments gave forth more capable tanks able to defeat the Tiger I tanks. The Soviets solution was to up-gun their [[T-34 (1942)|T-34s]] with an [[D-5T (85 mm)|85 mm gun]] to make the [[T-34-85]], and the Western Allies with the [[M1 (76 mm)|76 mm]] and [[Ordnance QF 17-pounder (76 mm)|17-pounders]] on the [[M4A1 (76) W|M4 Sherman]] and [[Sherman Firefly|Firefly]] respectively.. The Tiger went as an highly-invulnerable tank design into a simple heavy tank as the war went on, and it was replaced by the more powerful and more heavily armoured [[Tiger II (H)|Tiger II]] in 1944. Despite its replacement, many Tiger I models still saw use up until the end of World War II.

===Survivors===
Due to the low number of Tiger Is created during the war (1,354, compared to [[Pz.IV H|Panzer IV]]'s 8,550 and the [[M4|M4 Sherman]]'s ~50,000), very few intact Tiger I pieces are left in the world. Today, only seven tanks in various conditions are existent in the world. The most famous of these is the ''Tiger 131'', captured by the British in Tunisia in April 1943, when the crew abandoned the tank due to a [[Ordnance QF 6-pounder Mk.III (57 mm)|6-pounder]] shot from a [[Churchill Mk III|Churchill tank]] jamming the gun mantlet and turret ring, causing it to be unable to aim. The intact sample is also famous for being the only fully operational Tiger I in the world due to a reconstruction effort by the Bovington Tank Museum in the 1990s. However, the Tiger 131 does not run on its original Maybach HL210 engine, as it was taken out to be used as a separate display; rather, it uses the HL230, which was mostly used for the Tiger II. It is still there as a display and remains the museum's most popular exhibit.

=== In-game description ===
"Work on the creation of a heavy tank began in 1937. Only after the attack on the USSR were the tactical and technical requirements needed for this new war machine met. The tank was designed by the Henschel company, led by Erwin Aders.
Production was handled by Henschel and Weggman factories, which made about 450 tanks from July 1942 to August 1943.

The first 495 vehicles included equipment that enabled the crossing of water obstacles up to 4 meters deep. Beginning with the 251st tank, the Maybach HL 230 P30 engine (600 hp) was replaced with a Maybach HL 230 P45 (700 hp). The Tiger was armed with an 88 mm 8,8 cm KwK-36 L/56 gun, which was a tank version of the famous Flak 18/36 anti-aircraft gun. In the spring and summer of 1943, the tank received smoke grenade launchers and mortars for launching anti-personnel mines.

The Pz.Kpfw. VI Tiger entered service with heavy tank battalions. The tanks were first used in the fall of 1942, on the Leningrad front, in the 502nd heavy tank battalion. In December 1942, in North Africa, Tigers entered service with the 501st battalion.

The first tanks which arrived often broke, owing to the haste with which they were put into mass production. The vehicle was very heavy, with low maneuverability. It consumed 10 liters of fuel every 1 kilometer. A full fuel tank, 567 liters, was enough for only two and a half hours of combat work, which was one of the tank's major drawbacks. But this was all compensated for by the battle machine's simplicity and ease of operation. Tank operators who served in Tigers were constantly praising its transmission and steering. The tank's armor also gave the crew a high chance of surviving battle, even if the tank was disabled."

== Media ==


;Skins

[http://live.warthunder.com/feed/camouflages/?q=%23tiger_h1 Camouflages and skins for the Tiger H1 from live.warthunder.com.]

;Sights

* [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]

;Videos
{{Youtube-gallery|QEz1MgTjUAw|'''War Thunder: Pz.Kpfw. VI Tiger Ausf. H1'''|9_txEPailKc|'''The Shooting Range #92''' - ''Tactics & Strategy'' section at 10:50 discusses the Tiger I.|dXP0QhbBDC8|'''''Tiger Day 2014''''' Tiger 131 makes its rounds|kFQd8TYt6Ew|Bovington Tank Museum Tank Chats: Tiger I}}

==References==
<references />

== Read also ==

[https://warthunder.com/en/news/2641/current/ [Vehicle Profile<nowiki>]</nowiki> Pzkpfw VI "Tiger" Ausf. H1 (2014)] 
[http://warthunder.com/en/news/4528-profile-pz-kpfw-vi-tiger-ausf-h1-en/ [Vehicle Profile<nowiki>]</nowiki> Pz.Kpfw. VI Tiger Ausf. H1 (2017)]

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

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

{{Germany heavy tanks}}

T95

2020-06-07T16:34:34Z

U91911790: Added how to fight the T95

{{Specs-Card|code=us_t95}}

== Description ==

[[File:GarageImage_T95GMC.jpg|420px|thumb|left]]
{{break}}
The '''{{Specs|name}}''' is a rank {{Specs|rank}} American tank destroyer {{Battle-rating}}. It was introduced in [[Update 1.49 "Weapons of Victory"]].

The T95 is good at providing support and dragging enemy fire. As of [[Update 1.59 "Flaming Arrows"]], the T95 shares the HE-filled APCBC T13 shells, researchable at tier 1 modifications, giving it an incredible punch that puts it on par with the [[Jagdtiger]]. It is very well known for its amazing frontal armour, hard to penetrate for the majority of guns at its rank. Experienced enemy players are aware of the T95's downsides: one hit weak spots, poor top speed, long reload and they will subsequently use it against the ''mighty Doom Turtle''.

The T95 is a very heavy and slow TD, the main purpose of which is to hold and defend a tactical position or to lead a forward push, thereby giving allied vehicles the the chance to strike at the enemy, most likely distracted by the defying task of taking down the immensely armoured T95. 
Even with its great frontal armour, a few enemies can still destroy the T95 frontally by using HEAT ammo (e.g. [[M103|M103]]: 380 mm and [[SU-122-54]]: 400mm pen), or for any other tank starting with [[:Category:Third_rank_ground_vehicles|rank 3]] by hitting the two obvious weak spots.

To hide the weak spots, one should try to find a spot where the cupolas are at well hidden from the enemy, either by finding a favourable slope or a high place, thus angling the vehicle to a point where only the front armour plates are in the sights of the enemy. Staying out of range (+600 m) to deny easy hits, alternatively, is a simple yet still quite effective tactic. Whenever an object such as a pillar presents itself in a combat area, the T95 driver should cleverly place the driver's cupola behind it — as with any other vehicle, proper use of the terrain is of utmost importance.

Despite its bad top speed, the T95 has amazing traverse speed, making it quite hard for an enemy (even light tank) to flank. This is further enhanced with good lower side armour and well angled top side armour. The sides are around 210 mm total with spaced armour in the tracks, any shot that hits it using HE-filled rounds will often explode before penetration inside occurs.

Though the T95 is a walking shield (aside from the two weak spots), the tank is very situational due to its slow speed. It has advantages in smaller maps with narrow corridors, such as city-based maps, while it struggles in larger maps with hilly terrain due to its poor climbing ability.

Using the explosive-filled T13 shell (APCBC), the T95 can dispatch almost any tank it can penetrate in one go, given that the necessary conditions of detonation are present, i.e. the penetration of 20mm of armour and the total of 1.2m travelled — a lucky [[ASU-85]] could endure a hit from the side without the customary fate of disastrous explosion, but these rare moments shouldn't be expected by anyone versing the T95. Anyways, the 12.7mm machine gun does a fine job at disposing of such lightly armoured targets when the necessity arises.

The .50 calibre machine gun is mounted on the commander's cupola and manned by the very same, this heavy machine gun allows for decent anti-air fire arcs. Fire arcs are ~300° with a small dead spot to the rear and ~80° upwards, or rather for how much the camera allows for. If used freely and without constraint, the ammo will drain quickly. Some moderation is advised, given the lack of a co-axial MG for clearing bushes and fences. Clearing obstacles is the secondary armaments primary usage. Mostly due to the cannons low mounting height. Even small fences can obstruct the sight.

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

'''Armour type:'''

*Rolled homogeneous armour
*Cast homogeneous armour

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Armour !! Front (Slope angle) !! Sides !! Rear !! Roof
|-
| Hull basic || 305 mm (0-29°) ''Front'' 133.35 mm (60°) ''Lower Glacis'' || 152 mm bottom 63.5mm top|| 50.8 mm || 38.1 mm
|-
| Additional armour || 292.1 mm ''Mantlet'' 76.2 mm ''Cupolas'' 76.2 mm ''track guard'' || 76.2 - 101.6 mm ''lower track guard'' 63.5 mm ''upper outer track guard'' 25.4 mm ''upper inner track guard (drawer)'' || N/A || 38.1mm ''radiator cover'' 
|}

*Engine-crew-compartment wall is 25.4mm
*Plenty of attached ''rolled homogeneous'' accessory with 25.4mm
*25.4mm of belly armour at quite a big height off the ground. Therefore safe from 122mm cannons using HE between the tracks.
*20mm of ''structural steel'' for suspension and rollers. The track section is riddled with them

=== Mobility ===


{{tankMobility|abMinHp= 710|rbMinHp= 442|}}

== Armaments ==
[[File:T95 firing.jpg|thumbnail|right|In the ruins of the Berlin map this T95 wears the "Destruction" decal, unlockable for defeating 700 enemy tanks with US ground forces.]]
=== Main armament ===

{{main|T5E1 (105 mm)}}

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! colspan="6" | [[T5E1 (105 mm)|105 mm T5E1]]
|-
! colspan="3" rowspan="1" style="width:5em" |Capacity
! rowspan="1" | Vertical guidance
! rowspan="1" | Horizontal guidance
! rowspan="1" | Stabilizer
|-
| colspan="3" | 62 || -5°/+19.5° || -10°/+11° || 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'' || 5.95 || 8.20 || 10.00 || 11.10 || 11.80
|-
| ''Realistic'' || 5.95 || 7.00 || 8.50 || 9.40 || 10.00
|-
! 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.
|-
| 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
|-
| T32 || APCBC || 258 || 248 || 218 || 190 || 178 || 155
|-
| T13 || APCBC || 219 || 217 || 207 || 193 || 181 || 171
|-
| T29E3 || APCR || 315 || 310 || 285 || 251 || 223 || 196
|-
| T30E1 || 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%
|-
| T32 || APCBC || 975 || 18 || N/A || N/A || N/A || +4° || 48° || 63° || 71°
|-
| T13 || APCBC || 899 || 19 || 1.2 || 20 || 177.38 || +4° || 48° || 63° || 71°
|-
| T29E3 || APCR || 1128 || 11 || N/A || N/A || N/A || +1.5° || 66° || 70° || 72°
|-
| T30E1 || HE || 945 || 15 || 0.1 || 0.5 || 1,550 || +0° || 79° || 80° || 81°
|-
|}

=====Shell types=====
'''T32 ''APBC''''' 
The stock shell and previously the only one ever needed, unless engaging in combat over 1,000 m distance. It features decent normalization and good penetration even at ~60°, unlike the T29E3 APCR. Only downfall is the 50% ricochet chance against ~60° angled armour plates, like the frontal plate of the [[T-54 (1947)|T-54s]], which the shell would otherwise easily penetrate up to 1,000 m range([[T-54 (1949)|mod. 1949]] & [[T-54 (1951)|mod. 1951]]). 
Post-penetration effects are meagre. No HE filler, therefore only spalling and direct impact cause damage. For ammo racks, the detonation chance is roughly 5-10%. A bit better for starting fires, though. Therefore focus on crew members and vital modules.

'''T29E3 ''APCR''''' 
+50 mm penetration on all ranges looks good on paper, but a further check reveals a great disadvantage. With greater armour angles the penetration quickly drops, even past the stock APBC shot! And as angled plates become very common in era IV, this shell can just be ignored. Exemption is on ranges '''exceeding 1,000 m.''' Pack extra for expected long-range sniper duels. 
Additionally, the post-penetration effects are small and angle normalization does not happen upon impact. Direct hits on ammo racks have a small chance to cause an explosion like the APBC. Focus fire on crewmen and important modules!

'''T30E1 ''HE''''' 
Despite the calibre the HE is worse than similar calibres found on [[Tiger II (10.5 cm Kw.K)|King Tiger's]] [[KwK L/68 (105 mm)|105 mm]] and [[D-10S (100 mm)|D-10 cannon]], even less than on [[M3A1 (90 mm)|90 mm cannons]] on the [[M46|Patton]]'s. Damage against common [[:Category:Anti-aircraft_vehicles|SPAA]] is therefore unsatisfactory and the roof mounted [[Browning M2 (12.7 mm)|M2HB Browning]] heavy machine gun is the better weapon of choice.

'''T13 ''APCBC''''' 
This should be the go-to ammunition with the T95, at any range. While it sacrifices some penetration (about 40mm at many ranges when compared to the T32 APBC), it has a HE filler. This allows this shell to one-shot almost anything it penetrates. It has massive post-penetration damage, and this is why the sacrifice of raw penetration is worth it. Despite the lower penetration, with proper aiming, the T13 shot can penetrate any tank it sees. When fighting King Tigers, simply aim for the turret faces (right side preferably) and lower glacis. When fighting T-44s and T-55s, aim for the turret faces, to the left and right of the gun, or the cupola if close enough to consistently hit. When fighting another heavy TD like the Jadgtiger, simply aim for the lower glacis, while it will rarely be a one-shot like this, it will immobilize him, and allow the leisure of finishing it off at an opportune time. Tanks like the IS-3 and T-10 are one of the greatest challenges for this shot, as their pike fronts are usually strong enough to bounce it if they are facing the T95. To defeat them aim for the area right at the top of the pike and below the gun, though this can be challenging. The cupola is again a valid target for pike front soviet heavies if close enough. To destroy an IS-6 frontally, aim for turret front, cupolas, or right under the gun where the shot can bounce down into the hull. While on paper, this shot lacks the penetration to penetrate the front of the Maus turret, it can actually penetrate it due to the armour penalty that the Maus has, which makes its armour weaker. Most other tanks can simply be shot centre of mass.

===== [[Ammo racks|Ammo racks]] =====
[[File:Ammoracks_T28GMC.png|right|thumbnail|Ammo racks of the T28.|300px]]
{| 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" |6th rack empty
! class="wikitable unsortable" |7th rack empty
! class="wikitable unsortable" |8th rack empty
! class="wikitable unsortable" |9th rack empty
! class="wikitable unsortable" |10th rack empty
! class="wikitable unsortable" |Visual discrepancy
|-
| '''62''' || style="text-align:right" | ''Projectiles'' ''Propellants'' || 57 ''(+5)'' 52 ''(+10)'' || 47 ''(+15)'' 41 ''(+21)'' || 42 ''(+20)'' 36 ''(+26)'' || 37 ''(+25)'' 31 ''(+31)'' || 31 ''(+31)'' 25 ''(+37)'' || 25 ''(+37)'' 19 ''(+43)'' || 19 ''(+43)'' 13 ''(+49)'' || 13 ''(+49)'' 7 ''(+55)'' || 7 ''(+55)'' 1 ''(+61)'' || 1 ''(+61)''   || style="text-align:center" |Yes: Rack 2 holds 10 instead of 11 shells Right upper rear rack (x) currently never depletes
|-
|}

20 rounds are enough for [[:Category:Game_modes|AB]]

30 rounds are enough for [[:Category:Game_modes|RB]]/[[:Category:Game_modes|SB]]

=== Machine guns ===

{{main|Browning M2 (12.7 mm)}}

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! colspan="7" | [[Browning M2 (12.7 mm)|12.7 mm M2HB]]
|-
! 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" | 1,000 (200) || 577 || -10°/+70° || ±140°
|-
|}

== Usage in the battles ==

With this in mind let us talk about the need for speed:

The Doom Turtle is slow. Very slow. To be exact the slowest vehicle in-game, if we exclude a [[F-86F-2|F-86F]] without the engines running.

For tactics, we must rather think of strategy: It may only reach one specific point through an entire match, so make sure the T95 is actually needed at that point or all that will be spent is digital gasoline.

Study the map and look for choke points, places of fierce narrow fielded conflict. Points were fighting will always take place.

There are two main playstyles: '''Support''' and '''CHARGE!!!'''. Playstyle does not really change with the game modes, they can be universally used.

=====Support=====
The biggest problem of the Doom Turtle is the weak spots, undermining the trade-off speed for armour. However, if the T95 stays beyond decent accuracy (+500 m), or gain height advantage and use gun depression, then the weak spots are no longer accessible. Do not mistake this with a sniper role! The average range should be 400m to 800m. Stay with the team, the T95 is their shield. Be a classic ''tank'' in RPG sense. If the situation is about to grind down and come to hold, change to the '''CHARGE!!!''' strategy (see below).

The main task is to provide fire assistance since the cannon is not made to take out tanks and features a long reload, disabling enemy tanks with engine hits is the priority. Further, draw the enemies attention to the T95. Force foes into sniper duels. Every shot at the T95 is one away from an ally. To enhance this sit in an exposed position and attack enemies with the machine gun. Make them shoot at the T95. Once using the T13 shell, the disabling shots the T32 made will turn into nasty shots with post-penetration damages.

Good places to go for are where the heavy tanks would rush to fight with their armour. Or spots medium tanks use but do not hide in the cover, leave it open for the allied medium tanks. Their support is essential to enhance the T95 own's slow firing rate. Playing driving cover/pillbox is also something to consider under these circumstances.

=====Charge=====
[[File:T95 - putting up pressure.jpg|thumbnail|'''CHARGE!!!''' Although going this close is ill-advised, as for enemy tanks can have better reverse speeds than the T95 can drive forwards. Not to mention the cupola weak spots becomes an easy target. '' However!'' The T95 is putting pressure on and places the opponent under stress. Psychological effects should not be underestimated. In this case, the [[Tiger II (10.5 cm Kw.K)|Kingtiger 105]] got stuck on the rubble pile and is further blocking his allied [[IS-4M]] the sight. Reversing now allows for a free shot into the Tigers transmission, locking him in place.]]
The following tactic goes against anything one would expect with the above and described the tank's issues. While it sounds easy, there must be put a lot of thought into it to succeed.

Press and hold "W" and click "Mouse button 1" once in a while. It, in theory, will get the T95 heavily damaged or even destroyed, but in practice, a 86 tonnes vehicle is determined to steamroll everything in its path . . . and everyone gets scared, panicked even. An example can be seen in the screenshot on the right

But which place to charge through like the Light Brigade? The goal of this attack is to push the team out of camping positions and draw selected enemy's fire onto the T95. Long narrow sections with decent cover left and right is good places. Other places would be on the edge of the map and come in from an angle, limiting the foes attack front to only <100°. Having on to worry about only one side armour section allows for good angling opportunities. On Poland, the northern town's part in domination is a good example of this. The northern side is usually clear and south are only has got a few spots where fire can hit the side, make sure to turn south at those spots to further improve the south facing side armour via armour angling. 
Next step ones close enough is to capture the control point and/or keep advancing into the enemy to dig them out. 
Now, once the position is secured, the strategy can be changed to a Support role (see above), or go sneaky and hide around a corner.

Main difference to support is the change of module targets: Gun breech and gunner are to priorities, as this close up the T95's weak spots are very easy to hit. Further keep spamming the machine gun, to cloud the foe's sight and make them focus on the T95, helping the allies (who hopefully followed) to take them out.

[[File:T95 EasternEurope.jpg|thumbnail|left|Although a '''''stationary''''' tank destroyer, this does not mean to remain immobile! Keep changing position after some shots and be aware of the surroundings — otherwise, the T95 turns into one of those craters.]]

Sitting at an uneasy spot with 7.0 in AB and 6.7 in RB/SB, facing off Rank 5 vehicles and a variety of WW2 vehicles. All vehicles can penetrate the upper side armour and the weak spots. Therefore all medium vehicles are dangerous and their engines should be disabled ASAP. 
Foes able to frontally penetrate the T95 are labelled red. 
As only solid shot ammo is available, specific modules must be a target. Generally: Medium tanks - Engine; Heavy tanks - Cannon breech, crew; TDs - Crew compartment, gunner;

* Tank destroyers/☠[[SU-122-54]]: Except for the Jagdtiger all TDs should be shot at their gunner position to disable at least two crewmen.
*[[IS-3]]: Pike is difficult to get through. Try to disable the cannon, or wait for him to angle the tank wrong to shoot through the pike. Otherwise, with only 4 crewmen keep disabling them one by one.
*[[IS-4M]]: The drives hatch is hard to get through with the tiny hole behind the additional armour. More favourable is the lower plate. The same as for the IS-3 applies.
*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 glacis plate may also be targeted, if it is straight pointed at the T95. Target either the engine or the ammorack+fuel tank at the front (chance to set if off is slim though).
*[[T-44]]: Turret can be very trolly, but is the best way to avoid return fire. Engine and crew are again good targets.
*[[Tiger II (H)|Kingtiger]]: Right turret cheek to disable the gunner, alternatively the lower glacis to get the transmission.
*[[Maus|Maus]]: Given its height, the T95's weak spot is very easy to hit. Disable the gunner via a shot in the right turret cheek. If closer than 1000m, retreat before he can man the cannon again.
*[[Jagdtiger|Jagdtiger]]: A tough nut, plus 250mm of raw and sloped armour disables APBC and APCR shells. Thankfully the lower plate is a good place to shoot. Make sure to hit at a good flat angle, as the APBC likes to bounce.
*☠[[Leopard I|Leopard]]: Shoot anywhere at the front, but do so quickly, as a good player can shoot and very quickly destroy the T95. Yet, due to the low armour thickness, the shrapnel damage inflicted is great and may even one shot it.
*☠[[M103|M103]]: Try to shoot into the turret trap (lower gun mantlet) or the turrets cheeks. Try to disable the cannon, breech and crew men.
*[[Panther_F|Panthers]]/[[M26|Pershing]]/[[M46|M46]]: Entire front is penetrable. Shooting the upper glacis and into the engine through the fighting compartment will deal decent damage.
*☠[[M47|M47]]: Don't shoot the upper glacis, more preferably the turret. Engine and gun breech are good targets to start with
*☠[[M60|M60]]: Lots of sloped armour. Frontally, the commander's hatch can be hit quite easily, but this fight should be avoided at all costs. Basically an up-armoured Leopard.
*☠[[U-SH 405]]: Easy to destroy with one shot, but extremely fast and armed with 18 rockets with 330 mm of penetration. These rockets will cut right through your armor. Do not miss your shot when engaging one of these tanks.

==== Fighting Against the T95 ====
When facing the T95, it is very important to know the weak spots. A major weak spot is the commander's cupola on the top left (right if facing it) of the T95. This spot can be penetrated by most guns at its BR, and if APHE or HESH is used is likely to result in the death of a few crew members. Another strategy is to disable the tracks, then flank to the side. This is probably the most viable strategy when the T95 is alone. However, if it is accompanied by team members, which it should be, then this strategy will be more difficult to pull off. It is important to disable all of the tracks, as the T95 is still able to turn with only 2 or 3 tracks intact. Once you are at its flank, however, it will be easy to take it out. Like most tanks with formidable frontal armor, it has much less armor at the sides. Also, most of the crew or ammo racks are able to be hit from the side without interference from other modules. Overall, the T95, like other turretless tank destroyers, is very formidable from the front, albeit for the weak spot on the cupola, but suffers when flanked. As stated above, however, due to the 4 tracks the T95 has a very good turning speed, which makes flanking much more risky.

===Modules===
{| class="wikitable"
!Tier
! colspan="2" |Mobility
!Protection
! colspan="2" |Firepower
|-
|I
|Tracks
|
|Parts
|Horizontal Drive
|T13
|-
|II
|Suspension
|Brake System
|FPE
|Adjustment of Fire
|T29E3
|-
|III
|Filters
|
|Crew Replenishment
|Elevation Mechanism
|
|-
|IV
|Transmission
|Engine
|
|
|
|-
|}
After Parts and FPE, priority research targets for this tank should be mobility upgrades and the T13 APCBC explosive-filled shell.

=== Pros and cons ===

[[File:T95 vs KingTiger Comparison.jpg|thumbnail|right|T95 and [[Tiger II (H)]] height comparison. The T95 is as tall as the Tiger's chassis and with similar hull length. The Tiger II is one of the taller vehicles.]]
'''Pros:'''

* Extremely tough armour; 300 mm of frontal armour, and very strong sides thanks to the massive tracks
* Massive gun mantlet
* Four sets of very strong tracks that are very difficult to destroy
* The four sets of tracks gives this tank incredible hull traverse that rivals most light tanks
* Very resilient to bombs, rockets, and HE shells
* One of the few turretless TD's that has really nice reactive manoeuvrability; flanking this tank is not a guaranteed win
* Mounts the same impressive 105 mm found on the T28 and T29, firing extremely powerful APHE shell
* Roof-mounted .50 cal machine gun; can actually defend its self against attacking aircraft

'''Cons:'''

* The single slowest tank in the game, with very little potential of fleeing or even reaching an objective on time
* A prime target to many aircraft attacks thanks to its terrible top speed
** Always expect to get bombed
* Armour still stands no chance against APDS and HEAT ammunition
* Gun mantlet isn't as good as the Jagdtiger's, with HEAT and close-range APDS shots able to go through the mantlet and destroy the breach
* Same gun as the T29, but has a much slower rate of fire
* The side armour above the tracks is weakly armoured and lined with ammo
* The driver can be knocked out due to shots to the top left cupola
* Some maps, especially large ones, are just unplayable, thanks to how slow this tank is
* Slow speed results in very few opportunities to destroy enemy vehicles in a game, unless a good camping spot is found

== History ==

===Development===
Years before the invasion of Normandy, there were men among the Allied planners worrying about the heavily-defended fortification lines such as the Siegfried Line blocking the path from France to Germany. One of the proposed methods was to develop extremely heavily armoured vehicles capable of destroying any fortification it comes across and any resistance the German had. Britain and America both worked on this project in order to develop these super-heavy tanks.

The American solution was a vehicle that would be called the '''T28 Heavy Tank''' and work began on such vehicle in September 1943. The initial vehicle concept called for a casemate design with a [[T5E1_(105_mm)|105mm T5 gun]], which was evaluated to be "extremely effective at reducing heavy fortifications". The only other armament on the vehicle would be a .50 cal machine gun for use by the commander. The armour on the design was 203 mm at first, but in January 1945 the head of Ordnance worried about the effect of German APCR ammunition, and so the already significant armour was upped to an astounding 305mm thick frontal armour, at the increase of weight to 95 tons. The vehicle's electric drive was a carryover from the [[M6A1|M6]] and T23 tank, with the engine the same from the [[M26|M26 Pershing]] (which was the same as the [[M4A3 (76) W|M4A3 Sherman]]). The heavyweight with the underpowered engine allowed the T28 to reach a whopping 8 miles per hour speed. To carry this design, the vehicle had four sets of tracks, two on each side, 328mm wide each in order to lower ground pressure. For transport, the extra set of tracks on the sides can be removed to make the vehicle thinner (4.55m to 3.15m) for easier transport, but raising ground pressure (0.82kg/cm2 to 1.14kg/cm2) and reducing armour since the detached track sets comes with 102 mm skirt armour.<ref name="EstesHeavyTanks">Estes Kenneth W. ''Super-heavy Tanks of World War II'' Great Britain: Osprey Publishing Ltd., 2014</ref>

The T28 heavy tank continued with the development and in March 1944, the U.S. Army gave it the name and also placed an order for five pilot models for testings. In March 1945, Ordnance then renamed the T28 into the '''[[T95|105 mm Gun Motor Carriage T95]]''' due to the lack of turret for a "tank" and any regular secondary armaments. Then, in June 1946, the vehicle was renamed again to the '''[[T29|Super Heavy Tank T28]]''' due to the United States construction of self-propelled guns being lightly armoured, in order to distinguish it as a radically different design than simply a "tank destroyer". Today, the T95 and T28 naming are both used to title this vehicle.<ref name="EstesHeavyTanks" />

[[File:T28 Front Quarter.jpg|thumbnail|right|Front three-quarter view of the T28 at the Patton Museum. T28 Super Heavy Tank - no longer on exhibit as it has been prepared to move to Fort Benning GA.]]

===Procurement and deployment===
The five pilot models requested by the U.S. Army had Ordnance look for a manufacturer to produce these vehicles. The war effort had made many prominent manufacturers busy with pre-existing orders. The Pacific Car and Foundry Company were then contracted to produce the design, with production starting in March 1945. The complete tank design was finished by August 1945, by this time the war had already ended in Europe three months ago. Efforts continued on the tank until the surrender of Japan in September, ending World War II. The post-war cutbacks led to the request for five tanks lowered to just two. The first T28 prototypes appeared in Aberdeen Proving Grounds on 21 December 1945, with the second arriving on 10 January 1946. These two prototype tanks went through evaluations at Aberdeen and Yuma Proving Grounds, mostly for engineering tests to check the durability of the components used. The second prototype model caught an engine fire in Yuma and had to be scrapped. The T28 project finally ended in October 1947 when development for such heavy vehicles stopped. Records on the sole T28 prototype ended afterwards, many assumed the vehicle was destroyed or scrapped.<ref name="EstesHeavyTanks" />

In 1974, the sole remaining T28/T95 prototype was found in the fields behind Fort Belvoir, Virginia by a wanderer, rumoured to be a farmer out hunting or a lieutenant conducting inventory inspection. To this day, no one is certain how the T28 tank was left abandoned in the fields or what happened during the years in absence. It was moved to the Fort Knox, Kentucky to be displayed in the Patton Museum of Cavalry and Armor. Today, its resting place is in the National Armor and Cavalry Museum in Fort Benning, Georgia.<ref name="EstesHeavyTanks" />

===Legacy===
In the end, the super heavy tanks designs made by the Americans (T28) and the British ([[Tortoise|Tortoise]]) only proved that such needs for tanks were unnecessary. The Siegfried Line and other such fortifications were taken out by use of the standard issued medium tanks such as the [[M4|M4 Shermans]], proving that affordable, mass-produced vehicles could dominate the modern battlefield. The super heavy tanks were also a strain on battle operations, as one of the most pressing questions during the development of the super-heavy tanks were on just how to get the tanks across the ocean to Europe and supply them with the fuel and ammo. The only positive note that these heavy tanks provided was that it showed the true extent of American and British industrial capabilities, being able to produce these massive monsters.

=== In-game description ===
A heavy assault tank developed on the basis of research conducted by the armament department. It was designed to break through well-fortified positions. Two models were built and underwent testing between 1945 and 1947. A new 105mm gun was attached to the base, allowing the tank to fight against fortifications. However, the project was eventually determined to be unrealistic.

== Media ==


;Skins

* [http://live.warthunder.com/feed/camouflages/?q=%23t95 '''Skins''' and '''camouflages''' for the T-95 from live.warthunder.com.]

;Videos
{{Youtube-gallery|tt_oGX4_ORg|Gameplay footage: "'''T-95 V Normandy - (1080p)'''" by DodgerRoger|3NLhMpMywKE|Overview & introduction: "'''T95 Tank Review'''" by ''CornyBros''|7AZJOj38heg|Comedy: "'''T95 vs Jagdtiger'''"(Sort of) by ''Fabulous shepArd''}}

==References==
<references />

== Read also ==

*[http://forum.warthunder.com/index.php?/topic/243508-tales-of-the-doom-turtle-%E2%80%93-the-blog/ WT Forum T95 Blog: "''Astonishing and amazing 'Tales of the Doom turtle!' – The blog''"]
*[https://warthunder.com/en/devblog/current/767/ [Devblog<nowiki>]</nowiki> T28 and T95] 

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

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

{{USA tank destroyers}}

M5A1

2020-06-07T16:14:50Z

U91911790: Mentioned the ability to scout

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

== Description ==

[[File:GarageImage_M5A1Stuart.jpg|420px|thumb|left]]
{{break}}
The '''{{Specs|name}}''' is an rank {{Specs|rank}} American light tank {{Battle-rating}}. It was one of the first American tanks to be released with the American ground tree in [[Update 1.45 "Steel Generals"]]. An improvement over the earlier [[M3 Stuart|M3 Stuarts]] with better front sloping armour, it helps the light tank keep up to date with the evolving tanks of the time.

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

'''Armour type:'''

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

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

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

=== Mobility ===


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

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

{{main|M6 (37 mm)}}

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! colspan="6" | [[M6 (37 mm)|37 mm M6]]
|-
! colspan="4" rowspan="1" style="width:5em" |Capacity
! rowspan="1" | Vertical guidance
! rowspan="1" | Horizontal guidance
|-
| colspan="4" | 147 || -12°/+20° || ±180°
|-
! 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'' || 14.28 || 19.80 || 24.0 || 26.60 || 28.24
|-
| ''Realistic'' || 14.28 || 16.80 || 20.4 || 22.60 || 24.00
|-
! 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.
|-
| 3.77 || 3.33 || 3.07 || 2.90
|-
|}

===== 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
|-
| M74B1 || AP || 90 || 89 || 69 || 50 || 37 || 27
|-
| M63 Shell || HE || 2 || 2 || 2 || 2 || 2 || 2
|-
| M51B1/B2 || APC || 79 || 78 || 69 || 59 || 51 || 43
|-
|}
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center" width="100%"
! colspan="10" | Shell details
|-
! rowspan="2" data-sort-type="text" | Ammunition
! 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%
|-
| M74B1 || 883 || 0.87 || N/A || N/A || N/A || -1° || 47° || 60° || 65°
|-
| M63 Shell || 807 || 0.73 || 0.1 || 0.5 || 38 || +0° || 79° || 80° || 81°
|-
| M51B1/B2 || 883 || 0.87 || N/A || N/A || N/A || +4° || 48° || 63° || 71°
|-
|}

===== [[Ammo racks|Ammo racks]] =====
[[File:Ammoracks M5A1.png|right|thumbnail|[[Ammo racks|Ammo rack]] of the M5A1 Stuart|x250px]]
{| 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" |Visual discrepancy
|-
|| '''147''' || 111 ''(+36)'' || 74 ''(+73)'' || 37 ''(+110)'' || 1 ''(+146)'' || style="text-align:center" | No
|-
|}

=== Machine guns ===

{{main|Browning (7.62 mm)}}

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! colspan="7" | [[Browning (7.62 mm)|7.62 mm M1919A4]]
|-
! 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" | 3,000 (250) || 500 || N/A || N/A
|-
! 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" | 3,000 (250) || 500 || -10°/+70° || ±60°
|-
|}

== Usage in the battles ==

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

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

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

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

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

===Modules===
{| class="wikitable"
!Tier
! colspan="2" |Mobility
!Protection
! colspan="2" |Firepower
|-
|I
|Tracks||
|Parts
|Horizontal Drive||M51B1/B2
|-
|II
|Suspension||Brake System
|FPE
|Adjustment of Fire||Airstrike
|-
|III
|Filters||
|Crew Replenishment
|Elevation Mechanism||
|-
|IV
|Transmission||Engine
|
|Artillery Support||Improved optics
|-
|}
=== Pros and cons ===

'''Pros:'''

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

'''Cons:'''

* Crew of four leaving one spare, vehicle efficiency decreases after the spare crew is used up
* Exposed engine and fuel tank, prone to fires
* As with the American 37 mm cannons, AP rounds does not contain HE filler
* AP Shots often fail to fragment when penetrating other vehicles
* Relatively tall for a light tank, a challenge to find adequate defensive positions

== History ==

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

== Read 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.''

''ETC.''

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

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

{{USA light tanks}}

M16 MGMC

2020-06-07T16:06:22Z

U91911790: I changed some wording and added that the M16 cannot turn on the spot

{{Specs-Card|code=us_halftrack_m16}}

== Description ==

[[File:GarageImage_M16MGMC.jpg|420px|thumb|left]]
{{break}}
The '''{{Specs|name}}''' is a rank {{Specs|rank}} American Self-Propelled Anti-Aircraft (SPAA) gun {{Battle-rating}}. It is one of the first American vehicles to be released with the American ground tree in [[Update 1.45 "Steel Generals"]]. Unlike its predecessor, the [[M13 MGMC|M13 MGMC]], the M16 is equipped with not two, but four .50 calibre machine guns mounted on a Maxson M45 Quadmount to fight against enemy aircraft.

The point of the vehicle is to protect the team against threatening aircraft, it does so quite unusual when compared to other nations SPAA of this rank. Other nations SPAA come equipped with cannons, like the Sd.kfz 6/2 of Germany that comes equipped with the lethal 37 mm Flak 18. The M16 MGC uses several HMGs to shoot down hostile aircraft with a hail of bullets that focuses on volume-of-fire rather than damage-per-round.

Multiple heavy machine guns harmonized together to allow for surprisingly decent self-defence against poorly armoured enemy tanks and equipment.

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

'''Armour type:'''

*Rolled homogeneous armour

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Armour !! Front (Slope angle) !! Sides !! Rear !! Roof
|-
| Hull || 6.35 mm (31°) ''Hood front'' 12.7 mm (31°) ''Driver port'' || 6.35 mm || 6.35 mm || N/A
|-
| Turret || 12.7 mm || N/A || N/A || N/A
|-
|}
'''Notes:'''

* Suspension bogies are 10 mm thick, suspension wheels are 15 mm thick, and tracks are 7 mm thick. Front wheels provide 2 mm armour.

=== Mobility ===


{{tankMobility|abMinHp= 210|rbMinHp= 131|}}

== Armaments ==

{{main|Browning M2 (12.7 mm)}}

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! colspan="6" | [[Browning M2 (12.7 mm)|12.7 mm M2HB]] (x4)
|-
! colspan="2" rowspan="1" style="width:5em" |Capacity (Belt capacity each)
! rowspan="1" | Fire rate (shots/minute)
! rowspan="1" | Vertical guidance
! rowspan="1" | Horizontal guidance
! rowspan="1" | Stabilizer
|-
| colspan="2" | 4,800 (200) || 577 || -10°/+90° || ±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'' || 35.70 || 49.40 || 60.00 || 66.30 || 70.60
|-
| ''Realistic'' || 35.70 || 42.00 || 51.00 || 56.40 || 60.00
|-
! 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.
|-
| 18.20 || 16.10 || 14.84 || 14.00
|-
|}

=== Ammunition ===
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center" width="100%"
! colspan="8" | Penetration statistics
|-
! rowspan="2" data-sort-type="text" | Ammunition
! colspan="6" | '''Penetration''' '''''in mm''''' '''@ 0° Angle of Attack'''
|-
! 10m
! 100m
! 500m
! 1000m
! 1500m
! 2000m
|-
| AP || 26 || 25 || 19 || 12 || 7 || 4
|-
| I || 2 || 2 || 2 || 1 || 1 || 1
|-
| AP-I || 23 || 22 || 16 || 10 || 6 || 5
|-
| APIT || 23 || 22 || 16 || 10 || 6 || 5
|-
|}
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center" width="100%"
! colspan="9" | Shell details
|-
! rowspan="2" data-sort-type="text" | Ammunition
! 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%
|-
| AP || 856 || 0.05 || N/A || N/A || N/A || 47° || 56° || 65°
|-
| I || 944 || 0.04 || N/A || N/A || N/A || 47° || 56° || 65°
|-
| AP-I || 887 || 0.04 || N/A || N/A || N/A || 47° || 56° || 65°
|-
| APIT || 887 || 0.04 || N/A || N/A || N/A || 47° || 56° || 65°
|-
|}

===Belt types===
{| class="wikitable"
| '''Belts''' || '''Shell composition''' || '''Combat usage'''
|-
| align="left" |''Default'' || align="left" | '''API-T''' / '''I''' / '''AP''' / '''API-T''' || align="left" | These rounds work well until the others are researched.
|-
| align="left" |''API'' || align="left" | '''API-T''' / '''AP-I''' / '''API-T''' || align="left" | These are absolutely devastating in the AA role with slightly less performance against enemy tanks than AP.
|-
| align="left" |''AP'' || align="left" | '''AP''' / '''AP''' / '''API-T''' || align="left" | These are best against enemy tanks at close range and do good damage to planes.
|-
| align="left" |''APIT'' || align="left" | '''API-T''' || align="left" | Better than API in all regards but not as good against tanks as AP, this is the belt choose in almost all situations. Since every bullet is a tracer makes destroying aircraft much easier and detect-ability is not greatly increased over AP-I, however is increased a bit over AP.
|}

=== [[Ammo racks|Ammo racks]] ===
[[File:Ammoracks_M16MGMC.png|right|thumbnail|x250px|[[Ammo racks|Ammo racks]] of the M16 MGMC]]
{| 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" width="10%" |Recommendations
! class="wikitable unsortable" |Visual discrepancy
|-
|| '''24''' || 16 ''(+8)'' || 4 ''(+20)'' || style="text-align:left" | Keep full || style="text-align:left" | No
|-
|}

== Usage in battles ==

First of all go to a good open spot, most times it is enough to stay in the spawn point. Best ammunition for this vehicle are API (Armour Piercing Incendiary bullet) or APIT (Armour Piercing Incendiary Tracer bullet), as the specialized AP belt doesn't offer a significant advantage.

"The Meat Chopper" is inaccurate when enemy planes are operating at high altitudes, but in these cases, its function is more psychological than effective. Shooting short bursts at enemy planes at high altitudes will show them that the team is always covered by AA fire and it won't be an easy task a ground attack.

When an enemy is diving, the best way to defend the attack is by creating a thick fire curtain with prolonged bursts.
The most vulnerable moment for aircraft is when they just dropped bombs or rockets and climb again. They´re flying very slow and become easy targets.
Take care if planes are attacking. Fighters with their MG´s and cannons are a great menace. So start moving while firing and take cover behind trees or even buildings.

Watch out for remaining ammunition. The {{PAGENAME}} has 800 rounds to shoot but reloading is very slow, making the {{PAGENAME}} and the team vulnerable in the worst moments. More than 200 rounds is a good margin.

Don't try to do anti-tank tasks, the {{PAGENAME}} is equipped with 50 cal. Machine guns are not as effective as cannons at fighting more armored vehicles, as they have much less penetration, so stay at the spawn point and do anti-aircraft work. The machine gun tracers can reveal enemy snipers position shooting, allowing teammates to see them, but it's not advisable.

In addition, artillery barrages are very dangerous, move immediately and relocate.

===Modules===
{| class="wikitable"
!Tier
! colspan="2" |Mobility
!Protection
! colspan="2" |Firepower
|-
|I
|Tracks||
|Parts
|API||Horizontal Drive
|-
|II
|Suspension||Brake System
|FPE
|AP||Adjustment of Fire
|-
|III
|Filters||
|Crew Replenishment
|APIT||Elevation Mechanism
|-
|IV
|Transmission||Engine
|
|Artillery Support||
|-
|}

=== Pros and cons ===

'''Pros:'''

* Powerful guns that can shred planes with well-aimed bursts within 1 km
* API shells are powerful enough to damage or even destroy enemy light tanks and other SPAAs
* Fast on flat ground and can remarkably speed through terrain that would impede wheeled vehicles
* Can turn in place, compared to other wheeled SPAA
* Great acceleration
* Fast turret traverse allows following aircraft easily
* Can shrug off rifle calibre ammunition (<7.92 mm) quite easily
* Fast reverse speeds, can evacuate an area quickly if necessary
* Accurate on the move

'''Cons:'''

* Armour will not resist HMG fire and shrapnel
* A nearby explosion will seriously damage the vehicle and injure or maim the crew
* Fighter aircraft can destroy this vehicle, especially cannon-armed fighters
* Can not hurt vehicles to a full extent of its rank and Battle Rating, excluding SPAA trucks and half-tracks
* Engine catches fire easily and the vehicle can be "tracked
* No weight to pull: Towing or pushing allies is nearly impossible unless it is a lighter vehicle
* Prone to tipping over when turning at high speeds or travelling across steep inclines
* Only 1 spare crew member
* Cannot turn on the spot, as it is a half-track

== History ==

===Development===
The role of a mobile anti-aircraft vehicle in the US Army was seen as necessary in order to protect ground troops from enemy aircraft at any place of their deployment. The first such development was the [[M13 MGMC|M13 MGMC]], which was an anti-aircraft system of two .50 cal machine gun on the back of an M3 Half-Track car. The M13 served with some success, but by 1943 an upgraded version was in production.

The new vehicle in development was an improvement over the M13 MGMC from replacing the two .50 cal machine guns with four instead, while still based off the M13 design by using the M3 Half-Track as the chassis. The prototype was called the ''T61 MGMC'', but once accepted at the Aberdeen Proving Grounds, it was designated the '''M16 Multiple Gun Motor Carriage'''. During the evaluations, some changes to the design were made, including the addition of a gun shield. Production started in May 1943 and continued on until March 1944 with the production of 2,877 M16 MGMC vehicles by White Motor Company. An additional 568 M13 and 109 T10 Half-tracks were also converted into M16 vehicles for a total of about 3,550 M16 units made.

===Combat usage===
The M16 MGMC saw service in early 1944, replacing the M13 that came before it. Deployment of the M16 MGMC is usually alongside the [[M15A1 CGMC|M15 CGMC]], another anti-aircraft weapon equipped with a 37 mm autocannon as well as two .50 machine guns. The M16 MGMC was very popular with the troops as not only was it able to take down low-flying aircraft with relative ease, it was also used in an infantry support role where it earns the nickname "The Meat Chopper". The ability to provide covering fire with its four .50 calibre machine guns give the M16 a huge firepower advantage over the standard infantry and in some cases, were used to cut down trees where snipers were suspected to be hiding. The M16 also saw service with the Allies in the British Commonwealth and the Soviet Union, where they make use of it in the same way America did in anti-aircraft and ground support roles. The M16 saw service in the Italian Campaign, the French Campaign, and the Battle of the Bulge.

After World War II, the M16 MGMC still saw service in American forces in the Korean War, as well as by their South Korean allies. While still superb at a ground support role, the advancing technology in aircraft make them more advanced and durable to the .50 calibre machine guns and so its effect as an anti-aircraft gun has diminished. By late 1951, the M16 MGMC was declared a "limited standard" and were gradually retired from US service, though they continued to serve until the end of the US involvement in the Korean War. The M16 MGMC was finally declared obsolete by 1958.

=== In-game description ===
The W.L. Maxson Corporation developed the M45 turret emplacement, which was equipped with four 12.7 mm Browning M2HB machine guns, to meet troop requirements for more concentrated defensive fire. The new turret was tested on the M2 half-track personnel carrier chassis, later moving to the M3 chassis.

The self-propelled AA weapon with the new turret went through trials and was accepted as the M16 MGMC.
The new vehicles were produced by the White Motor Company beginning in May 1943, continuing through 1943 and into 1944. In all, 2,877 units were assembled.

Almost all of the M16 MGMCs served in the US army's AA divisions, while an additional 70 were sent to the Free French army. The model was used primarily in the European theater to go along with a small number that saw action in the Philippines.

The M16 MGMC was successfully used against both air and ground targets, as well as to take out enemy infantry. It was also used somewhat widely by US army divisions during the Korean War, after which it was removed from service.

== 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/devblog/current/677/|[Devblog<nowiki>]</nowiki> Steel Generals: M16 Halftrack]]
* [[wt:en/devblog/current/719/|[Devblog<nowiki>]</nowiki> Developers about the M16 MGMC]]
* [[wt:en/news/3511/current/|[Vehicle Profile<nowiki>]</nowiki> M16 MGMC - The Meat Chopper]]

{{USA anti-aircraft vehicles}}