M24 (China)

␗M24

␗M5A1

Object 211

␗M24

␗M5A1

Object 211

China

II Rank

Battle rating:

AB	RB	SB
3.3	3.7	3.7

Class:

Light tank

Research:14 000

Purchase:32 000

Description

The ␗Light Tank M24 Chaffee is a rank II Chinese light tank with a battle rating of 3.3 (AB) and 3.7 (RB/SB). It was introduced in Update 1.91 "Night Vision".

General info

Survivability and armour

The M24 Chaffee has thin armour on all sides, and can only effectively resist machine gun fire or very low-penetrating shells. Its crews are also very close to each other, increasing the chance of it getting one-shotted. The V-shaped gun mantlet might bounce some small caliber shells if you are lucky enough. However, don't rely on it as the rest of the tank is still poorly protected.

Armour	Front (Slope angle)	Sides	Rear	Roof
Hull	25.4 mm (60°) Front glacis 25.4 mm (44°) Lower glacis	25.4 mm (13°) Front 12.7 mm (13°) Rear	12.7 mm (71-74°) Top 19 mm (1-43°) Bottom	12.7 mm
Turret	38.1 mm (8-40°) Turret front 38.1 mm (1-45°) Gun mantlet	25.4 mm (17-26°)	25.4 mm	12.7 mm

Mobility

The M24 travels at an average of 40 km/h on/off-road which is the average light tank speed. It also responds fast when reversing. Thanks to its short and wide tracks it is able to turn quickly. However the acceleration is poor, making it to feel sluggish when performing short manoeuvres.

Game Mode	Mobility characteristics			Engine power (horsepower)		Power-to-weight ratio (hp/ton)
	Max Speed	Weight	AoA Weight	Stock	Upgraded	Stock	Upgraded
Arcade	63	18.4	N/A	459	565	24.94	30.71
Realistic	56			262	296	14.24	16.09

Armaments

Main armament

The 75 mm M6 gun has two types of AP, one HE and one smoke shell to choose from. The M61 shot, which is an APCBC, is generally better than the M72 AP. It has 63.7g explosives which brings a deadly blast once penetrated, has better penetration (104mm max) and it has a slightly lower chance of ricocheting. With the M61 shot, the Chaffee is able to one-shot plenty of tanks at its BR.

105 mm M68					Turret rotation speed (°/s)					Reloading rate (seconds)
Mode	Capacity	Vertical	Horizontal	Stabilizer	Stock	Upgraded	Full	Expert	Aced	Stock	Full	Expert	Aced
Arcade	48	-10°/+15°	±180°	Vertical	14.28	16.80	24.00	26.60	28.20	8.45	7.47	6.89	6.50
Realistic					14.28	16.80	20.40	22.60	24.00

Ammunition

Penetration statistics
Ammunition	Type of warhead	Penetration in mm @ 90°
		10m	100m	500m	1000m	1500m	2000m
M72 shot	AP	91	88	78	67	57	49
M48 shell	HE	10	10	10	10	10	10
M61 shot	APCBC	104	101	90	78	68	59

Shell details
Ammunition	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%
M72 shot	619	6.3	N/A	N/A	N/A	-1°	47°	60°	65°
M48 shell	463	6.3	0.4	0.5	666	+0°	79°	80°	81°
M61 shot	618	6.79	1.2	14	63.7	+4°	48°	63°	71°

Smoke characteristic
Ammunition	Velocity in m/s	Projectile Mass in kg	Screen radius in m	Screen time in s	Screen hold time in s:	Explosive Mass in g (TNT equivalent):
M64	381	6.9	13	5	20	50

Ammo racks

Ammo rack of the M24 Chaffee

Full ammo	1st rack empty	2nd rack empty	Visual discrepancy
48	25 (+23)	1 (+47)	No

Machine guns

The two machine guns on the M24 Chaffee are the good old .50 cal M2HB and the 7.62 mm M1919A4. The roof-mounted .50 cal can traverse 360 degrees and has great depression & elevation, posting a big threat to any plane that is flying too close to the M24. It has an unbelievable penetration of 31mm at 10m, meaning it can easily penetrate plenty of lightly armoured vehicles and even the side of some low rank medium tanks. The 7.62mm, on the other hand, can only efficiently damage exposed crews due to its low penetration.

12.7 mm M2HB
Mount	Capacity (Belt capacity)	Fire rate (shots/minute)	Vertical guidance	Horizontal guidance
Commander cupola	1,00 (200)	576	-10°/+70°	±60°

7.62 mm M1919A4
Mount	Capacity (Belt capacity)	Fire rate (shots/minute)	Vertical guidance	Horizontal guidance
Coaxial	1,800 (250)	500	N/A	N/A

Usage in battles

The M24 Chaffee is a very agile little tank. Its good speed allows the player to quickly cap a point early on in the game, or get to some flanking positions easily to get some side shots with the powerful 75mm cannon. When doing flanking manoeuvres, remember to always look around you, especially to the directions where the enemies are most likely to appear. This can increase the player's survivability on the battlefield a lot, as the M24 has little to no armour and is very likely to get one-shotted by the common 75mm & 76mm guns. In a surprise close-quarter encounter, you must be confident and aim carefully. Slow yourself down and the stabiliser will help a lot. Overall the M24 perfectly fits a guerrilla-warfare play style (hit-n-run).

Enemies that worth noting

The M24, 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 (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 stabiliser, fast turret and the piercing .50 cal. In an intense tank "dogfight", you might miss your shots. Don't worry, your reliable .50 cal got you! It can penetrate the sides, or even the front of the puma easily. The Sd.Kfz.234/3 and 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 .50 cal.

The famous KV series can cause a bit of troubles too. They are well know for their well-protected hull and turrets. The M24 can manoeuvre to point-blank range, line up your gun so it's pointing dead flat at the armour and fire. The 104mm penetration of the M61 shell should punch a hole in the KV's armour with ease. If you are close enough but do not have the space to manoeuvre, shoot their gun barrel to prevent them from getting a shot off, then go for their turret ring or the vertical part on their gun mantlet.

Pros and cons

Pros:

• Decent mobility: good top speed and great turning ability
• Uses the same gun as the 75mm Shermans: various shell types, great penetration & damage and good gun depression
• 13 smoke grenades allow escaping from dangerous situation for many times
• Access to a vertical stabiliser
• Powerful roof-mounted .50 cal
• Fast turret traverse
• Small profile

Cons:

• Acceleration is rather sluggish, especially on soft terrains
• On-road top speed is still inferior to some wheeled vehicles like the Sd.Kfz.234/2
• Thin armour and closely packed crews severely decrease survivability
• Shells drop dramatically at long distances
• Reload time is pretty slow for a light tank

History

Describe the history of the creation and combat usage of the vehicle in more detail than in the introduction. If the historical reference turns out to be too long, take it to a separate article, taking a link to the article about the vehicle and adding a block "/History" (example: https://wiki.warthunder.com/(Vehicle-name)/History) and add a link to it here using the main template. Be sure to reference text and sources by using <ref></ref>, as well as adding them at the end of the article with <references />. This section may also include the vehicle's dev blog entry (if applicable) and the in-game encyclopedia description (under === In-game description ===, also if applicable).

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

Paste links to sources and external resources, such as:

• topic on the official game forum;
• encyclopedia page on the tank;
• other literature.