Lorraine 40t
Contents
Description
In the late 1940s, French engineers initiated the development of the Lorraine 40t, a lighter tank project intended to complement the AMX-50 heavy tank. Mounted on the chassis of the Canon d'Assaut Lorraine, the tank featured an oscillating turret and utilized advanced technologies from previous experimental projects like the CA Lorraine and the AMX-50 prototype, including the revolver autoloader. Despite its maximum 45 mm armour thickness, the Lorraine 40t compensated with cleverly angled armour and a distinctive chevron-shaped front hull design that effectively provided the equivalent protection of 90 mm armour. The strategic use of lighter armour facilitated increased speed and manoeuvrability, paired with steel roller wheels and bulletproof tires powered by an 850 horsepower German Maybach engine, enabling the tank to reach speeds of 60 km/h. Although two prototypes were completed in 1952, the Lorraine 40t never entered production due to geopolitical shifts linked to the formation of NATO, France's integration into the alliance, and the supply of M47 Patton tanks by the US during the Korean War.
It was introduced in Update 1.75 "La Résistance". The Lorraine is one of the best representative of rank IV French medium tanks: it has good mobility, an oscillating turret (fitted with an autoloader), 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. The Lorraine distinguishes itself by having a pike nose, similar to that of an IS-3, road wheels instead of metal ones and it is the first French vehicle to be able to consistently pierce more than 200 mm of armour at standard combat ranges and it can do it seven times a minute. This tank offers high top speed and acceleration, good turning rate (neutral steering) and awesome hill climbing capacity. Use its mobility to follow light tanks into large flanking manoeuvres, providing them an extra punch for scouted targets. In a more passive playstyle, its good reverse speed should get it fast enough into cover and out of bad situations if required.
General info
Survivability and armour
Armour type:
- Rolled homogeneous armour (Casemate hull)
- Cast homogeneous armour (Gun mantlet, Driver's hatch)
| Armour | Front | Sides | Rear | Roof |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hull | 40 mm (57-69°) Front glacis 35 mm (59°) Lower glacis 40 mm (69°) Driver's hatch |
30 mm (30°) Top 30 mm Bottom |
25 mm (31°) | 20 mm 8 mm Engine grille |
| Turret | 45 mm (52-64°) Turret front 30 mm (20-53°) Turret base 50 mm (9-83°) Barrel shroud |
30 mm (0-56°) Turret 30 mm (0-28°) Turret base |
30 mm (1-29°) Turret bustle 30 mm (6-22°) Pivot ball 20 mm (72-89°) Turret underside |
20 mm |
| Cupola | 30 mm | 30 mm | 30 mm | 20 mm |
Notes:
- Suspension wheels are 20 mm thick while tracks are 30 mm thick.
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 | 66 | 27 | 39.7 | 1,317 | 1,622 | 33.17 | 40.86 |
| Realistic | 59 | 25 | 752 | 850 | 18.94 | 21.41 | |
Modifications and economy
| Mobility | Protection | Firepower | ||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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Armaments
Main armament
| 100 mm SA47 L/58 | Turret rotation speed (°/s) | Reloading rate (seconds) | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mode | Capacity | Vertical | Horizontal | Stabilizer | Stock | Upgraded | Full | Expert | Aced | Stock | Full | Expert | Aced |
| Arcade | 49 | -8°/+15° | ±180° | N/A | 28.6 | 39.5 | 48.0 | 53.1 | 56.5 | 4.00 | 4.00 | 4.00 | 4.00 |
| Realistic | 17.9 | 21.0 | 25.5 | 28.2 | 30.0 | ||||||||
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 | ||
| Obus de rupture | APCBC | 273 | 270 | 257 | 242 | 228 | 215 |
| Obus explosif | HE | 30 | 30 | 28 | 26 | 24 | 22 |
| Shell details | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ammunition | Type of warhead |
Velocity (m/s) |
Projectile mass (kg) |
Fuse delay (m) |
Fuse sensitivity (mm) |
Explosive mass (TNT equivalent) (kg) |
Ricochet | |||||
| 0% | 50% | 100% | ||||||||||
| Obus de rupture | APCBC | 1,000 | 15 | - | - | - | 48° | 63° | 71° | |||
| Obus explosif | HE | 1,000 | 14.8 | 0.2 | 0.1 | 1.4 | 79° | 80° | 81° | |||
Ammo racks
| 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 | 46 (+3) | 41 (+8) | 35 (+14) | 29 (+20) | 24 (+25) | 19 (+30) | 14 (+35) | 7 (+42) | 1 (+48) | No |
Machine guns
| 7.5 mm MAC 31 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mount | Capacity (Belt) | Fire rate | Vertical | Horizontal |
| Coaxial | 4,800 (150) | 551 | N/A | N/A |
Usage in battles
The Lorraine 40t can be used in a lot of combat roles as it has great mobility, weapon, silhouette and has an autoloader. When it comes to medium tanks at the battle rating, it is one of the tanks which has a relative low armour penetration, but this does not stop the Lorraine from performing excellently at some roles.
Urban combat:
The Lorraine just lacks stabilizer to be one of the best tanks in urban combat. It is capable of doing everything but being an assault tank when it comes to urban maps. The Lorraine should be used as a support vehicle for heavier vehicles, flanker or sniper (in maps like Eastern Europe). Thanks to the 4.0 second reload with autoloader, the Lorraine is able of engaging multiple targets at a time with its turret rotation speed of 21.0°/s, be aware that the autoloader is a revolver autoloader, meaning the barrel has to be replenished after all the rounds have been fired. You can also use your quick reload as bait, meaning you can fire a single round at the air to make enemies push as they will think you will be reloading slowly but by the time they have sight on you you will be able to fire them multiple times and incapacitate or destroy them. It also should be noted that the autoloader will reload regardless of if you are on fire or the loader is has been knocked, only 1 crew member needs to be alive in the turret in order to reload. Thanks to its speed and agility, the Lorraine is able to "Hit N' Run" when flanking and engaging multiple targets at a time.
Rural combat:
The Lorraine has almost the mobility of an M18 but with greater firepower. The relatively high muzzle velocity of the gun makes the Lorraine capable of doing sniping attacks and hit them continuously thanks to the autoloader. Thanks to its mobility, it is able to travel with great speed to one side of the map to another in little time. When sniping, always stay on the move after firing. Fire and move, hence and repeat. This is to maintain the Lorraine's reduced profile when enemy players try to take revenge with tanks or aircraft. Do not stray too far from friendly tanks as they will be your main line of defence as you do not have great armour. Always stay aware of your surroundings.
Pros and cons
Pros:
- One of the fastest and most agile medium tank in the game. Can legitimately outrun and outmanoeuvre many of the light tanks at the BR
- Excellent 100 mm gun that has great penetration and damage potential
- Equipped with an 8-shot autoloader, giving this tank an outstanding 4 second reload
- The excellent speed and manoeuvrability coupled with the 8-shot autoloader makes the Lorraine one of the most dangerous flankers/ambushers in the game. Can single-handedly decimate half a dozen enemies in seconds
- The high reverse speed coupled with the 8 degrees of gun depression makes cresting ridgelines a viable tactic
- 6x magnification on the gunners optics. Good for both close and long range engagements
Cons:
- Abysmal levels of frontal armour and absolutely terrible side armour. Tanking shots will lead to a quick death
- Bad roof armour too. Attackers and artillery is extremely hazardous to the Lorraine
- The Lorraine has a rather large and long silhouette. Not that easy to find proper concealment
- Like most French tanks, doesn't have access to any APHE shells
- Conical fragmentation makes side shots less effective
- Due to the nature of oscillating turrets, the tank has bad turret elevation
- Despite the length of the barrel, the 100 mm gun has sub-par levels of accuracy. Sniping at weak points past 500 m is not that easy
History
At the end of the 1940s, during development of the AMX-50 heavy tank project, French engineers also decided to try creating a lighter tank that could serve the same role as the AMX-50.
The project was initially designated "40 ton battle tank" with an oscillating turret on the Cannon D'assaut Lorraine's chassis. Later, the vehicle was called the Lorraine 40t, based upon the name of the company that developed it : Lorraine-Dietrich. The tank used many of the same technological developments of the experimental, specially the CA Lorraine but sharing also technology with the AMX-50 prototype, specifically the revolver autoloader.
With armour plating at a maximum thickness of 45 mm, the Lorraine 40t isn't as well armoured as the AMX-50. The designers, however, set the armour plates on the Lorraine 40t at clever angles and implemented a chevron shape for the front of the hull (for which the tank is known). This effectively armoured the most vulnerable parts of the front projection and effectively exceeded the equivalent of 90 mm armour.
In addition, the Lorraine 40t's lighter armour significantly reduced its weight, thereby increasing its speed and allowing the use of steel paired roller wheels with bulletproof tires. Combined with the 850 horsepower German Maybach engine, the Lorraine 40t could reach 60 km/h, move smoothly and fire effectively at low speeds.[1]
Two prototypes of the Lorraine 40t were completed in 1952. But the tank never reached production due to the creation of NATO, France invitation to NATO and the US supplying M47 Patton to France due to the Korean War outbreak.
Media
- Skins
- Videos
See also
- Other vehicles of similar configuration and role
External links
References
| Lorraine | |
|---|---|
| Tanks | |
| Medium tanks | Lorraine 40t |
| Tank destroyers | Lorraine 37L · CA Lorraine · Lorraine 155 Mle.50 |
| France medium tanks | |
|---|---|
| M4 Derivatives | M4A1 (FL10) · M4A4 (SA50) |
| AMX-50 | AMX M4 · AMX-50 (TOA100) · AMX-50 (TO90/930) |
| AMX-30 | AMX-30 · AMX-30 (1972) · AMX-30B2 · AMX-30B2 BRENUS · AMX-30 ACRA · AMX-30 Super |
| AMX-32/40 | AMX-32 · AMX-32 (105) · AMX-40 |
| Leclerc | Leclerc · Leclerc S2 · Leclerc SXXI · Leclerc AZUR |
| Other | D2 · S.35 · Lorraine 40t |
| Germany | Panther "Dauphiné" |
| USA | ▄M4A1 · ▄M4A3 (105) · ▄M4A4 · ▄M26 |
