M3A3 Bradley

M3A3 Bradley

M3A3 Bradley

Description

The Fighting Vehicle, Cavalry, M3A3 is a rank American light tank with a battle rating of (AB), (RB), and (SB). It was introduced in Update "Ixwa Strike". The M3A3 variant differs mainly from the M3 Bradley by its laser rangefinder, its APFSDS belt for the 25 mm cannon and more powerful TOW missiles.

General info

Survivability and armour

Describe armour protection. Note the most well protected and key weak areas. Appreciate the layout of modules as well as the number and location of crew members. Is the level of armour protection sufficient, is the placement of modules helpful for survival in combat? If necessary use a visual template to indicate the most secure and weak zones of the armour.

Armour type:

Armour	Front (Slope angle)	Sides	Rear	Roof
Hull	___ mm	___ mm Top ___ mm Bottom	___ mm	___ - ___ mm
Turret	___ - ___ mm Turret front ___ mm Gun mantlet	___ - ___ mm	___ - ___ mm	___ - ___ mm
Cupola	___ mm	___ mm	___ mm	___ mm

Notes:

Mobility

Game Mode	Max Speed (km/h)		Weight (tons)	Engine power (horsepower)		Power-to-weight ratio (hp/ton)
	Forward	Reverse		Stock	Upgraded	Stock	Upgraded
Arcade				942			__.__
Realistic				538			__.__

Armaments

Main armament

25 mm M242						Turret rotation speed (°/s)					Reloading rate (seconds)
Mode	Capacity (Belt)	Fire rate	Vertical	Horizontal	Stabilizer	Stock	Upgraded	Full	Expert	Aced	Stock	Full	Expert	Aced
Arcade	1,500 (300)	201	-9°/+59°	±180°	Two-plane	57.1	79.1	96.0	106.2	112.9	0.26	0.23	0.21	0.20
Realistic						35.7	42.0	51.0	56.4	60.0

Ammunition

• Default: APDS · HEI-T*
• M791: APDS · APDS · APDS · HEI-T*
• M919: APFSDS

Penetration statistics
Belt	Penetration @ 0° Angle of Attack (mm)
	10 m	100 m	500 m	1,000 m	1,500 m	2,000 m
Default	81	80	76	70	66	61
M791	81	80	76	70	66	61
M919	101	100	97	93	89	85

Belt details
Belt	Type of warhead	Velocity (m/s)	Projectile Mass (kg)	Fuse delay (m)	Fuse sensitivity (mm)	Explosive Mass (TNT equivalent) (g)	Ricochet
							0%	50%	100%
M919	APFSDS	1,385	0.1	N/A	N/A	N/A	78°	80°	81°

Ammo racks

Full ammo	1st rack empty	2nd rack empty	3rd rack empty	4th rack empty	5th rack empty	6th rack empty	Visual discrepancy
5	__ (+__)	__ (+__)	__ (+__)	__ (+__)	__ (+__)	__ (+__)	__

Additional armament

Some tanks are armed with several guns in one or more turrets. Evaluate the additional weaponry and give advice on its use. Describe the ammunition available for additional weaponry. Give advice on about how to use them and how to fill the ammunition storage. If there is no additional weaponry remove this subsection.

BGM-71 TOW missile				Reloading rate (seconds)
Capacity (Belt)	Vertical	Horizontal	Stabilizer	Stock	Full	Expert	Aced
12 (2)	-19°/+29°	N/A	N/A	_.__	_.__	_.__	_.__

Ammunition

Penetration statistics
Ammunition	Type of warhead	Penetration @ 0° Angle of Attack (mm)
		10 m	100 m	500 m	1,000 m	1,500 m	2,000 m
TOW-2	ATGM	800	800	800	800	800	800
TOW-2B	ATGM	430	430	430	430	430	430

Shell details
Ammunition	Type of warhead	Velocity (m/s)	Projectile Mass (kg)	Fuse delay (m)	Fuse sensitivity (mm)	Explosive Mass (TNT equivalent) (g)	Ricochet
							0%	50%	100%
TOW-2	ATGM	329	21.4	0	0.01	3,130	80°	82°	90°
TOW-2B	ATGM	309	22.6	0	0.01	4,100	80°	82°	90°

Ammo racks

Full ammo	1st rack empty	2nd rack empty	3rd rack empty	4th rack empty	5th rack empty	6th rack empty	Visual discrepancy
6	__ (+__)	__ (+__)	__ (+__)	__ (+__)	__ (+__)	__ (+__)	__

Machine guns

7.62 mm M240
Mount	Capacity (Belt)	Fire rate	Vertical	Horizontal
Coaxial	4,400 (200)	941	N/A	N/A

Usage in battles

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

Pros and cons

Summarise and briefly evaluate the vehicle in terms of its characteristics and combat effectiveness. Mark its pros and cons in a bulleted list. Try not to use more than 6 points for each of the characteristics. Avoid using categorical definitions such as "bad", "good" and the like - use substitutions with softer forms such as "inadequate" and "effective".

Pros:

• Access to a full belt of 25mm APFSDS shells - higher consistent performance against (the sides of) enemy vehicles than the M3 Bradley's mixed APDS/HEI-T belts
• Access to the fast travelling TOW-2B top-attack missile - capable of penetrating the weak top armour of enemy tanks (1 of currently 3 vehicles in game that have access to these kind of missiles. The others are the Swedish Strf 9040 BILL and the Chinese CM25)
• TOW-2B missiles can attack enemy vehicles that are hiding behind cover
• Access to excellent 2nd generation gunners thermals and CITV
• Respectable reverse of -13 km/h
• Scouting ability
• Can use the engine smoke system mechanic - deployment of a smoke screen by using the engine and its fuel
• Good mobility
• Can engage enemy aerial vehicles with the main gun due to +59 degrees of gun elevation
• -9 gun depression and a small turret mean you can effectively use hull down tactics
• Laser rangefinder for the main gun
• Great zoom of 4.0x - 12.0x and a good sight FOV of 18-6
• The TOW-2B missiles, scouting mechanic and excellent thermals make the M3A3 very effective even at top tier
• More armour than the M3 Bradley, can absorb up to 30mm APDS (as fired by, for example, the BMP-2) in some places at range
• Quick turret traverse
• Decent reactive mobility
• Shreds light vehicles and lightly armoured MBT's with the APFSDS belt

Cons:

• Due to the increase in weight, slightly less mobile and less willing to accelerate as the preceding M3 Bradley
• Not as fast as the preceding M3 Bradley, though only by 4 km/h - top speeds are 62 km/h for the M3A3, 66 km/h for the M3 (though either vehicles rarely reach their top speed in game)
• Continously firing the main gun increases dispersion, thereby reducing accuracy
• Low rate of fire for the main gun
• Cannot fire missiles on the move, except for using battle speed, which is a slow 4 km/h forwards
• Missile launchers take some time to elevate when standing still
• Cannot reliably engage enemy MBT's from the front with 25mm APFSDS - 25mm APFSDS simply lacks the raw penetration to do so
• Infrared countermeasures (as found on the French AMX-30B2 BRENUS and Russian T-90A) knock the missiles off course
• Despite the increase in armour over the regular M3, the armour is still thin and only 3 crewmembers - low survivability
• Enemy vehicles with thermals can see through ESS clearly
• Missiles can be detonated when hit by enemy fire

History

Devblog

Following the Gulf War of the early 1990's, US engineers developed a new modification of the widely used M3 Bradley in order to incorporate improvements derived from the operational experience gained during the conflict. As such, the Bradley received numerous upgrades to its electronic systems, including a new fire control system, a laser rangefinder and thermal imaging for the commander along with other improvements to the vehicle's protection and firepower.

The M3A3 modification of the Bradley started being shipped to the first U.S. Army units in 1998 with the first vehicles officially entering service in 2000. By late 2010, well over 3,300 Bradleys were converted to the A3 standard and the vehicle continues serving as one of the cornerstones of the U.S. armored units today.

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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

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• topic on the official game forum;
• other literature.