M10 GMC (France)

▄M10 GMC

▄M4A3 (105)

ARL-44

▄M10 GMC

▄M4A3 (105)

ARL-44

France

II Rank

Battle rating:

AB	RB	SB
3.7	3.3	3.3

Class:

Tank destroyer

Research:14 000

Purchase:32 000

This page is about the tank destroyer M10 GMC (France). For other uses, see M10 (Disambiguation). For other vehicles of the family, see M10 (Family).

Description

The ▄3-inch Gun Motor Carriage M10 (▄M10 GMC) is a rank II French tank destroyer with a battle rating of 3.7 (AB) and 3.3 (RB/SB). It was introduced in Update 1.75 "La Résistance".

The M10 GMC takes much from the M4A2 Sherman which it was derived from. The drivetrain is identical with the drive shaft running from the engine in the rear to the front transmission and sprockets. The hull is sloped to a larger degree. The 3-inch (76 mm) cannon originally mounted on the experimental M6 Heavy Tank lacks the muzzle brake of the 76 mm M1A2 gun used on the later Rank III Sherman's and the M18 Hellcat. The turret is a pentagonal shaped M5 Mount type.

General info

Survivability and armour

The armour of the M10 GMC is essentially decent for the rank, and with proper angling is able to ricochet a lot of shells, however, the armour is not thick enough to resist any of the stronger tank weapons of Rank II and above. The sides and back are quite thin and are not able to resist most weapons stronger than a 12.7 machine gun. The front of the turret can often eat shells as the shell will fragment on the initial armour, and the massive breech of the 76mm cannon will often absorb most if not all of the fragmentation, leaving the crew untouched, allowing for a retreat and repair without crew losses. The turret's top is open and because it that it is quite vanurable to HE shells and planes, being able to survive artillery barrages that fall nearby due to the fact that the crew is protected by the angled sides of the turret.

Armour type:

• Rolled homogeneous armour
• Cast homogeneous armour (Gun mantlet, Transmission carter)
• Structural steel (Counterweight)

Armour	Front (Slope angle)	Sides	Rear	Roof
Hull	38.1 mm (55°) Upper glacis - Top 50.8 mm (55°) Upper glacis - Bottom 50.8 mm (cylindrical) Transmission carter 50.8 mm (51°) Lower glacis	19.05 mm (38°) Top 25.4 mm Bottom	19.05 mm (28°) Top 25.4 mm (7°) Lower plate 25.4 mm (51°) Lower glacis	38.1 mm (35°) Front glacis 19.05 mm Centre half 9.5 mm Rear half
Turret	25.4 mm (68-89°) Turret front 57.15 mm (44-45°) Gun mantlet	100 mm Gun mantlet 25.4 mm (23°)	25.4 mm (30-47°) Turret rear 50 mm (38°) Counterweight	N/A

Notes:

• Suspensions wheels and tracks are 20 mm thick while bogies are 10 mm thick.
• Belly armour is 12.7 mm thick.
• The turret ring is 25.4 mm thick.
• An internal 9.5 mm plate separates the crew compartment from the engine compartment.
• Hull underside above tracks is 9.5 mm thick.
• Hull sides are protected by add-on tracks and grousers that give 20 mm of extra armour.

Mobility

Game Mode	Max Speed (km/h)		Weight (tons)		Engine power (horsepower)		Power-to-weight ratio (hp/ton)
	Forward	Reverse	Stock	AoA	Stock	Upgraded	Stock	Upgraded
Arcade	53	6	29.9	0.5	533	782	17.83	25.72
Realistic	49	5			332	410	11.1	13.49

The M10 GMC (France) has essentially the same mobility features as the M4 Sherman tank. When spaded, the tank is able to move quite fast in a straight line, going slightly below or even up to its max speed. The turning speed is not that great and the reverse speed does not have much going for it either. The M10 GMC (France) struggles while driving on inclines due to its narrow tracks. In conclusion, the mobility is average and it is able to reach wanted positions reasonably fast.

Armaments

Main armament

The 3-inch (76 mm) cannon is a wonderful and powerful gun. APCBC ammo can penetrate any tank on the battlefield even from long range. Because APCBC has enough penetration, the AP ammo is less useful. It is not a bad idea to carry HE ammo as well to fight lightly armoured and open top tanks like the M16 SPAA. The powerful gun and potent ammunition make the M10 a good sniper vehicle at it's battle rating, especially with its -10° gun depression, giving the M10 the ability to maximize a hull-down position. Unfortunately, even though this tank destroyer does feature a turret, its turret rotation speed is extremely slow (< 4.0°/s) due to its historic configuration of only possessing a hand crank for the turret traverse.

76 mm M7					Turret rotation speed (°/s)					Reloading rate (seconds)
Mode	Capacity	Vertical	Horizontal	Stabilizer	Stock	Upgraded	Full	Expert	Aced	Stock	Full	Expert	Aced
Arcade	54	-10°/+30°	±180°	N/A	3.96	5.48	6.66	7.37	7.84	8.19	7.25	6.68	6.30
Realistic					2.68	3.15	3.83	4.23	4.50

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
M62 shell	APCBC	149	146	133	119	106	95
M42A1 shell	HE	7	7	7	7	7	7
M79 shot	AP	134	132	121	109	99	89

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%
M62 shell	APCBC	792	7.00	1.2	14.0	63.7	48°	63°	71°
M42A1 shell	HE	800	5.84	0.0	0.1	390	79°	80°	81°
M79 shot	AP	792	6.80	N/A	N/A	N/A	47°	60°	65°

Ammo racks

Ammo racks of the M10 GMC (France)

Full ammo	1st rack empty	2nd rack empty	3rd rack empty	4th rack empty	5th rack empty	6th rack empty	Visual discrepancy
54	52 (+2)	49 (+5)	37 (+17)	25 (+29)	13 (+41)	1 (+53)	No

Notes:

• As they are modeled by sets of 2, shells disappear from the rack only after you fire both shells in the set.
• Turret and front side racks empty: 25 (+29) shells.

Machine guns

12.7 mm M2HB
Mount	Capacity (Belt)	Fire rate	Vertical	Horizontal
Pintle	300 (200)	577	-10°/+28°	±60°

The turret-mounted M2HB .50 cal heavy machine gun is very good at knocking out tracks, punching through lightly armoured vehicles and shooting down low-flying aircraft. Use it sparsely because of its low ammo count.

Usage in battles

The M10 is a support vehicle. Find a good sniping position and lay behind the team taking out enemy tanks from a distance. Try to stay away from enemy tanks to avoid getting destroyed quickly.

The M10 is a support vehicle. Find a good sniping position and lay behind the team taking out enemy tanks from a distance. Try to stay away from enemy tanks to avoid getting destroyed quickly. To make full use of its decent sniping capacity, find a spot that:

• overlooks key passageway / street / battle area
• is not too close to the frontline
• has slopes, hard covers or bushes
• is not too hard to get to

With a location like that, the M10 can utilise its -10° gun depression and use hull down. Its turret front and mantlet can consistently cause ricochets especially in a downtier. Looming behind bushes, an M10's well aimed shots should be able to knock out most enemy tanks at the battle-rating range from long range. Even if you get spotted, any slope or hard covers will provide protection for you.

If fighting in a close quarter's environment, do not try to push forward without support. Stay behind friendly tanks in order to support them without being shot at. If in an urban scenario on maps like Poland or Normandy, utilize the tank's turning speed to rotate the turret to the right angle. But, the best option is still to find a hull down location. For example, in Normandy, the best location is towards the C point, where there are hills and dips that can be used to hide the hull, while giving a good view of the battlefield.

The M10 has a very slow turret rotation speed, but the M10 can traverse faster than it can rotate its turret and use its high speed when at high gear to produce some interesting skids via the physics engine to swerve the M10 and angle its gun at an enemy tank around the corner. It is recommended to understand and get a good feel of the M10's mobility and horsepower on dirt and paved roads before attempting this stunt. The low turret rotation speed means that a M10 player must always be aware of where the enemy tanks are, because they will not be able to turn the turret quickly if the enemy is able to flank the M10. In addition, the M10's side armour is weak, and the ammunition storage is in the hull sides, so if the enemy is able to shoot the M10 at that location, it is very likely to explode the ammo rack and destroy the tank with one shot.

Enemies worth noting:

R3 T20 FA-HS: this vehicle is the exact opposite tank when comparing to an M10: extremely high topspeed, great traverse and fast gun rotation. A well-maneuvered R3 can easily circle around the M10 and shoot AP shells through the thin side, while the M10 struggles to get the gun on target even when traversing the hull with the gun. If you know an R3 is around, you better turn your hull towards the possible direction and be ready to engage. Move the hull with the gun to target quicker. Even if you miss, the M2 Browning can still penetrate the R3 and knock out its crews. Note that a side shot on the R3 does not guarantee a kill as the fuse might not get triggered, and the crew are pretty separated. The R3 can run away and repair for another attack. A frontal shot, however, is likely to one shot it as the crew are all lined up.

8,8 cm Flak 37 Sfl.: also known as the "flak truck", it is rather hard to knock out due to the fact that its armor is so thin that almost every shell will over-penetrate, dealing almost no critical damage. Plus this vehicle mostly face their side to the targets, making it even harder to kill them as the crew are all far apart. So it can usually take quite some hits and take out the shooters one by one. As the shooter, aim for the left side of its turret first to disable its gunner first, then knock out the rest of its crew (right turret & driving compartment). Do not hope that the M2 HB can kill the crews, the "flak truck" 's armor is too thick for any MG to penetrate.

Modules

Tier	Mobility		Protection	Firepower
I	Tracks		Parts	Horizontal Drive
II	Suspension	Brake System	FPE	Adjustment of Fire	M79 shot
III	Filters		Crew Replenishment	Elevation Mechanism
IV	Transmission	Engine	Add-on Armor

First off get all protection modifications: Parts and FPE. After that move on to research modifications from the Firepower tree: Horizontal Drive, Adjustment of Fire, and the Elevation Mechanism. Lastly research the Mobility tree: Tracks, Filters, Engine, Transmission, Suspension, Brake System.

Though the M79 shot stock is an available module in the modifications, it can be at the bottom of prioritization as it currently possess no advantage over the stock M62 shell, having the same shell velocity but with worse penetration at all distances and angles, shallower ricochet angle, higher shell cost

Pros and cons

Pros:

• Main cannon penetration and damage is very good for the rank, can knock out many tanks in one hit. For example the Chi-Nu, Pz.IV F, StuG III or even the Tiger H1 when aiming carefully
• Good gun depression of -10°, perfect for hull-down positions.
• Front armour can resist certain shots: front glacis steeply sloped and the huge, V-shaped gun mantlet can often bounce / absorb shells (eg. 75 mm M3 and 76 mm F-34 / ZIS-5), as well as the large gun breech behind it further protecting the turret crew
• 5 crew members to replace 3 incapacitated crew members, plus one more with Crew Replenishment modification.
• Turreted purpose-built tank destroyer allows for wide field of fire compared to casemate designs.
• Pintle mounted HMG can offer effective anti-aircraft fire.
• Access to modification "Add-on Armour", that actually helps a lot.
• Has relatively no problem when getting uptiered.

Cons:

• Very poor turret traverse speed combined with its rather sluggish hull traverse "locks" it as a long range sniper for most players- close quarters combat is very difficult and great situational awareness is required, as it often cannot get its gun on target in time. It is also vulnerable to flankers like the Sd.kfz.234/2
• Base armour is quite thin, can get easily penetrated by common opponents like the Pz.IV F2 or the US M10
• Open topped, vulnerable to aircraft strafing
• Poor reverse speed can sometimes get the player killed

History

Combat usage

The M10 GMC was provided officially to the Free French Forces mostly through the lend-lease program from 1943. 227 M10 were delivered to the Free French Forces. They saw combat action in Italy, France and Western Germany in 1944 and 1945.

Media

Skins

• Skins and camouflages for the M10 GMC (France) from live.warthunder.com.

Videos

M10 GMC (France) Tank Review - NUSensei

See also

Vehicles equipped with the same chassis

• M10 (Family)
• M36 Jackson (Family)

Vehicles equipped with the same gun

• M6A1

External links

• [Wikipedia] M10 tank destroyer
• [Tanks Encyclopedia] 3in GMC M10 Wolverine

France tank destroyers
Lorraine 40t derivatives	CA Lorraine · Lorraine 155 Mle.50
ATGM	MEPHISTO · AMX-10M
Other	AMR.35 ZT3 · Lorraine 37L · SAu 40 · ARL-44 · ELC bis · AMX-50 Foch · AuF1
USA	▄M10 GMC · ▄M36B2