AMX M4

AMX M4

▄M4A3E2

AMX-50 (TOA100)

AMX M4

▄M4A3E2

AMX-50 (TOA100)

France

IV Rank

Battle rating:

AB	RB	SB
6.7	6.7	6.7

Class:

Medium tank

Research:71 000

Purchase:210 000

This page is about the French medium tank AMX M4. For other uses, see M4 (Disambiguation).

Description

The AMX M4 is a rank IV French medium tank with a battle rating of 6.7 (AB/RB/SB). It was introduced in Update 1.75 "La Résistance". It uses the same 90 mm SA45 cannon as the ARL-44 but has a 7 rounds auto-loader and a better armour pattern while being more mobile. It is clearly better than any rank III French tanks, offering new battle opportunities.

This is the sturdiest representative of French rank IV vehicles, from which he shares some common features: it has good mobility, an oscillating turret (fitted with an auto-loader), sloped armour in front and back, high hull, high gun placement, good gun depression, 4 crew member, a coaxial MAC 31 machine gun and large tracks. What distinguishes the AMX M4 is its Panther-like hull, it's efficient 90 mm SA45 gun inherited from the ARL-44 and the thickest armour pattern of all French ground forces with 80 mm sloped at ~55° in the frontal area.

General info

Survivability and armour

As said above, this tank's armour is very similar to that of the famous German tanks, it's hull even shares the same general patterns and dimensions, the distinctive features being...weak spots: an almost flat portion between UFP and LFP and two 60 mm "corners" above the tracks. As for the frontal turret part, it is sufficiently thick to endure many nasty hits, as long as you do not leave your foe enough time to aim: the turret ring area, while still being 80 mm thick, is flat. As for side armour, it is a good reason to keep away from front line duty: 35 mm flat armour does not protect from anything bigger than HMG fire. the hull's back is sloped, which may deviate some shots and prevent long-range "back flanking". The most exposed part of this tank is the turret's back, with only 20 mm of armour between the bulge and the turret ring.

In sum, engage frontally, avoid anything bigger than a slight angle as it may expose the 60 mm UFP "corners". Distance is a great tool to avoid your weak spots being easily targeted. This armour's role quite fluctuates as it depends on if what it faces can penetrate it or not.

Dealing with an opponent AMX M4 leads to a new sort of challenge. It is hard to penetrate from a distance, but if you can do it, then it's sniper battle time. If your guns do not provide enough power at distances, then get personal: the closer you are, the better you can disable it, here are a few tips for dealing with an AMX M4:

Frontal assault:

Any French rank IV tank has a good gun capable of going through most armours at standard combat ranges (and above), they are even more frightful when knowing about their good reload rates (they all have autoloaders). With that in mind, engage them first so that they (maybe) will not have enough time to reload a second shell. Specifically, to the AMX M4, this tank's armour is virtually as resistant as a Panther tank: if you can't go through a Panther, you neither cannot with this tank, unless you shoot its weak spots. Don't panic though, its side armour is only 35 mm, which makes it very vulnerable to flanking and "multi-target" engagements: it can't protect itself well from two tank if they are enough apart from each other.

Flanking:

As for flanking onto a single AMX M4, it must be dealt with quick: its fast turret turning speed allows it to react quite fast to either of its sides. Try to disable its large gun breech first so it won't be able to fire in a long time (this may also ammo-rack it if detonating a pre-loaded ammo), only then finish it off, if the first hit/series of hits (SPAAs) does not disable it from firing back, consider yourself done.

Armour type:

Armour	Front (Slope angle)	Sides	Rear	Roof
Hull	80 mm (27-55°) Front glacis 35 mm (61°) Lower glacis 60 mm (39°) Cheeks	40 mm (24°) Sponson 40 mm (0°) Main	40 mm (30°) Main 30 mm (30°) Hatch	20 mm Main 8 mm Engine grille
Turret	85 mm (0-79°) Turret front 60 mm (29-86°)Gun mantlet 40 mm (0-17°) Turret base 85-100 mm (18-79°) Barrel shroud	60 mm (0-61°) Turret 40 mm (0-27°) Turret base	40 mm (0-60°) Turret bustle 25 mm (16-25°) Pivot ball 20 mm Turret underside	20 mm
Armour	Sides	Roof
Cupola	60 mm	20 mm

Notes:

• Suspension wheels and tracks are 20 mm thick.
• The turret and the base overlap in some areas, leading to cumulative armour.
• The armour plate separating the fighting compartment and the engine compartment is 8 mm.
• Floor armour is 20 mm thick, with the underside of the sponsons also being 20 mm thick.

Mobility

Post-war French designs are all very good at moving around: they have good engines, wide tracks and can easily achieve ~40 km/h on most terrains. The AMX M4 may be the worst of them all, on par with the AMX-50-100 as they share a very similar hull, they still have above average mobility, when compared to other medium tanks at the BR. This observation is imbued by the fact that this tank's reverse speed only reaches -5 km/h and it does not have the ability to do neutral steering, anything else is comparable to its contemporaries.

Mobility characteristic
Weight (tons)	Add-on Armour weight (tons)	Max speed (km/h)
52.0	N/A	57 (AB)
		51 (RB/SB)
Engine power (horsepower)
Mode	Stock	Upgraded
Arcade	1,550	1,855
Realistic/Simulator	884	1,000
Power-to-weight ratio (hp/ton)
Mode	Stock	Upgraded
Arcade	29.81	35.67
Realistic/Simulator	17.00	19.23

Armaments

Main armament

The gun may feel a little lackluster in terms of penetration: at the same BR, some tanks can consistently punch through more than 200 mm of armour while this tank's gun can't. This little defect is palliated by its auto-loader mechanism, providing up to 9 rounds a minute, a very good firing rate for the BR. All French medium rank IV tanks share this good reload rate, this is their prominent selling point.

The oscillating turret design also allows an high gun placement, this means you can fire over hills by exposing only the strong top portion of your tank, even more so with its good depression angles. When it comes to elevation, there is a problem: this tank can only lift its gun 15°, which make defending against planes impossible and uphill battle a bit challenging.

90 mm SA45
Capacity			Vertical guidance	Horizontal guidance	Stabilizer
49			-8°/+15°	±180°	N/A
Turret rotation speed (°/s)
Mode	Stock	Upgraded	Prior + Full crew	Prior + Expert qualif.	Prior + Ace qualif.
Arcade	28.56	39.56	47.00	51.48	56.47
Realistic	17.85	21.00	25.50	28.20	30.00
Reloading rate (seconds)
Stock	Prior + Full crew	Prior + Expert qualif.	Prior + Ace qualif.
6.7	6.7	6.7	6.7

Ammunition

Penetration statistics
Ammunition	Type of warhead	Penetration in mm @ 0° Angle of Attack
		10m	100m	500m	1000m	1500m	2000m
90 mm Obus de rupture	APC	215	212	201	188	175	164
90 mm Obus explosif	HE	13	13	13	13	13	13

Shell details
Ammunition	Type of warhead	Velocity in m/s	Projectile Mass in kg	Fuse delay in m:	Fuse sensitivity in mm:	Explosive Mass in g (TNT equivalent):	Normalization At 30° from horizontal:	Ricochet:
								0%	50%	100%
90 mm Obus de rupture	APC	1000	11	N/A	N/A	N/A	°	48°	63°	71°
90 mm Obus explosif	HE	700	11	0.1	0.5	945	+0°	79°	80°	81°

Ammo racks

Ammo racks of the AMX M4.

This tank features an auto-loading system that removes the need for a crew member to reload the main gun, although a loader is present to restock the auto-loader. A large drum of seven rounds is found underneath the gun breach for rapid use. Once this drum is empty, rounds in the hull will need to be placed in the auto-loader rack before it can be used by the auto-loader, which takes about 14 seconds to perform for one round. Nine rounds are found in three racks near the bottom of the hull behind the driver and machine-gunner while the rest of the stowage is found in the side sponsons above the tracks, aside from a small rack of 5 rounds near the rear of the turret.

Full ammo	1st rack empty	2nd rack empty	3rd rack empty	4th rack empty	5th rack empty	6th rack empty	7th rack empty	8th rack empty	9th rack empty	Visual discrepancy
49	44 (X+5)	42 (+7)	35 (+14)	28 (+21)	21 (+28)	14 (+35)	10 (+39)	7 (+42)	1 (+48)	no

• Ammo rack 9 is the auto-loader drum and takes priority in being filled at the beginning of the battle, then fills racks 8 through 1.
• If the auto-loader drum is empty, the main gun cannot fire until ammo is loaded into the auto-loader drum.
• Simply not firing when the main gun is loaded will load ammo from racks 1-8 into the ready rack, as long as there is ammo present in racks 1-8. Firing the main gun will interrupt the loading of the ready racks.

Machine guns

7.5 mm MAC 31
Coaxial mount
Capacity (Belt capacity)				Fire rate (shots/minute)	Vertical guidance	Horizontal guidance
5,000 (150)				1,350	N/A	N/A

Usage in battles

At its BR, 80 mm of sloped frontal armour is more than sufficient to endure close range fights (as long as it is facing the enemy with its frontal armour). But what this tank is really good at is, as any other French rank IV, sniping: a very good gun, great depression and fire rate make it very deadly, even more so that it can take a few hits. The AMX M4 offers the best survivability of all French rank IV tanks since its BR is low and armour, thick. It is a true "medium tank" capable of all roles, given the good context.

This tank can be used in almost all roles on the battlefield, as long as the context is on its side. Here are some roles this tank is the most efficient at:

Sniper:

This is clearly this tank's intended role: at all BR placements, it provides the best results from this tank. There is only a few things that can defeat such tactic: drastically better firepower and thick frontal armour faced towards it. This gun's performance is not the best at its rank, in that way, the AMX M4 may have to rely on surprise attacks to its foe's sides in order to disable them. Use this tank's great mobility to get into a good spot and reposition whenever it is needed do not allow approaching targets as they increase your chances to be dealt with. Don't bother falling back before it is needed: your reverse speed won't allow for hasty retreats.

Frontline fights:

When facing lower BR tanks, the AMX can easily be used in the same role as Panther tanks: breakthrough...but with reserve, your side armour won't allow even the slightest side shot. Use your good reload speed and turret rate to their best: fast reaction times and multi-target engagements are possible.

Flanker:

Got a light tank squad wanting to flank? Go with them and provide extra firepower for these vulnerable scouted targets. All considerations from the "sniper" role can be taken into consideration when flanking, the only difference being a more consistent usage of this tank's mobility.

Pros and cons

Pros:

• Good 90 mm gun inherited from ARL-44 (easy learning curve)
• Front glacis is 80 mm and is heavily sloped for a high chance of ricochets, similar to Panther's
• Very good reload rate between 7 shots due to auto-loader
• Good manoeuvrability
• Fast
• Decent reverse speed
• Good gun depression of -8°
• Good turret rotation

Cons:

• Overall armour is quite thin against expected opponents
• Long reload time after 7 shots due to auto-loader
• Only two ammo choice between APC and HE rounds
• Ammo always held in reload mechanism makes it easy ammo rack targets
• Thin side armour
• 60 mm UFP "corners" makes angling ineffective
• Bad elevation angles
• Vulnerable to planes (thin top armour)

History

The AMX M4 was developed and tested in the late 1940s, though it never saw active 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

• [News] AMX M4