Tor-M1
Contents
Description
The Tor-M1 (GRAU: 9K331; NATO: SA-15 Gauntlet; commonly known in Chinese as 道尔-M1) is a rank VIII Chinese SPAA with a battle rating of 11.7 (AB/RB/SB). It was introduced in Update "Fire and Ice".
Sitting at the end of the Chinese SPAA line and one of the more recent military purchases of Russian equipment by the PLAGF, the TOR-M1 also marked the introduction of SPAA systems that can track and engage multiple targets at once; with its 8 cell VLS onboard and great mobility even at such a huge size, as well as its 9M331 SAMs, the TOR-M1 will strike fear to any aerial targets and provides a vital long-range anti-aircraft measure for the Chinese tech tree.
General info
Survivability and armour
The chassis of tge TOR-M1 (GM-5955) is based on the GM-335 universal chassis, the same as the ZPRK 2S6 in Soviet service. What makes it stands out is the huge size of the battery system; not only does it have overall large dimensions that are barely smaller than the German FlaRakRad, the huge 9K330 "Scrum Half" radar system also easily gives it away during operation so fold down the search radar after confirmed detection for concealment. Its nature of a mobile SPAA battery also means that it does not have any protection against oncoming shots, the overall protection was only rated for rifle-calibre fire or shrapnel so hiding from enemies' guns and cannons is again crucial for its survival.
Armour type:
| Armour | Front (Slope angle) | Sides | Rear | Roof |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hull | 9 mm Upper (45°) 9 mm Lower (37°) |
9 mm Top 9 mm Bottom |
9 mm | 9 mm |
| Turret | 6 mm Turret front | 6 mm | 6 mm | 6 mm |
Notes:
Mobility
Thanks to the V12 diesel engine and transmission with the same gear ratios on both directions, the TOR-M1 is one of the fastest tracked SPAAs, particularly in reversing (almost twice faster than the wheeled Type 93!). This allows the TOR-M1 to keep up with the team for field air-defense, while having more than enough speed to retreat into cover when necessary.
| Game Mode | Max Speed (km/h) | Weight (tons) | Engine power (horsepower) | Power-to-weight ratio (hp/ton) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Forward | Reverse | Stock | Upgraded | Stock | Upgraded | ||
| Arcade | 71 | 71 | 37 | _,___ | 1,488 | __.__ | 40.22 |
| Realistic | 65 | 65 | _,___ | 780 | __.__ | 21.08 | |
Modifications and economy
| Mobility | Protection | Firepower | ||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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Armaments
Main armament
The TOR-M1 system has only one type of missile at its disposal - the eight 9M331 missiles inside its 8 VLS cells; thanks to its sufficient speed and advanced electronics, along with the ability to track-while-scan and track 2 targets at once, the TOR-M1 is extremely efficient at long-range anti-aircraft operations.
| 9M331 missile | Turret rotation speed (°/s) | Reloading rate (seconds) | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mode | Capacity (Belt) | Vertical | Horizontal | Stabilizer | Stock | Upgraded | Full | Expert | Aced | Stock | Full | Expert | Aced |
| Arcade | 8 (8) | N/A | N/A | N/A | __._ | __._ | __._ | __._ | __._ | _.__ | _.__ | _.__ | _.__ |
| Realistic | __._ | __._ | __._ | __._ | __._ | ||||||||
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 | ||
| 9M331 | SAM | 60 | 60 | 60 | 60 | 60 | 60 |
| Missile 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% | ||||||||
| 9M331 | SAM | 850 | 167 | 1 | 0.1 | 8.16 | 79° | 80° | 81° | |
Ammo racks
| Full ammo |
1st rack empty |
Visual discrepancy |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 0 (+8) | No |
Usage in battles
As the long-awaited long-range SPAA for Chinese TT players, TOR-M1 also introduces some unique features from its counterparts in different countries- the most iconic feature is the unique cold-launch VLS cells onboard that ejects the missile vertically, then turn and ignite its motors from a safe distance. While some players enjoy the aesthetic feature of TOR-M1, this also indicated that it has a minimal firing range unlike its counterparts with "direct-fire" SAMs; this 1 km dead zone within the radius of the vehicle can be embarrassing when aircrafts show up in the radius at tree-top altitude in very rare occasions, though the high elevation can make sure targets that are directly overhead will face a miserable end. The other feature of the TOR-M1 is the capability of TWS with up to 2 tracked targets, if in any occasion when there are multiple targets in range, the system can quickly take down two of the locked targets before moving on to the next wave; do note that the targets must be within a 15°x15° scan zone of the radar and the other target should be locked via the "Select Radar/IRST target to lock on” button in the Y-button multifunction tab. The speed of the GM-5955 chassis also makes it very satisfactory at changing position while the extreme reverse speed can make sure it can retreat to safety with ease.
But do remember that the TOR-M1 is also a huge vehicle (one of the tallest even with radar mast folded, at 5.1 m), both ground vehicles or aircraft can see such a huge vehicle from a distance; so hide the vehicle at all costs and never move in plain open fields - the speed itself most likely won't save the vehicle, and hits from enemy explosives will very likely overpressure the crew.
Pros and cons
Pros:
- Excellent mobility for such a huge vehicle with very high reverse speed
- 8 powerful, long-range SAMs
- Radar system with up to 30 km detection range
- IRST tracking for better concealment against enemy RWR
Cons:
- Lightly protection rated up to rifle-calibre fire, easily overpressured
- Huge size with radar raised
- Only NVD available, no thermal sights
- The missile system has dead zones within 1 km due to its unique trajectory
History
The Tor System
The Soviet Army has developed a complete and extensive field air defense network to repel the possible oncoming air assaults from their enemies, where the Soviet Army has great variety of missile systems for short-range defense. Although there are SA-8 Gecko/9K33 Osa systems for the army, the Soviet Armed Force still requested for the successor of the 9K33 system with land/sea-based systems for different platforms; the joint efforts of Antey, Fakel and Altair (now part of the Almaz-Antey). After extensive tests under the restrictions from the armed force and the use of their latest electronics including PESA radar, the ground-based version Tor (9K330) entered service in March 1986; the -M1 variant (9K331) was the further improvement for the system including the capability of attacking 2 targets simultaneously, revised missiles, new FCS, as well as new electronics for complicated battlefields with electronic interferences. The new system joined the Soviet Army in 1991.
While they were used extensively by succeeding countries of Soviet Union and some export customers in various conflicts, the system was also involved in the accidental shot-down of Ukrainian International Airlines flight 752 (PS/AIU752) in early 2020 over Tehran.
The Chinese Purchase
Although PLAGF have developed some system of the HQ (HongQi 红旗; Red Banner) family SAMs including HQ-7 (licensed French Crotale EDIR) and domestic HQ-61 for short-range field air-defense, they deemed insufficient as the load per vehicle and range were low/short. As part of the 21st century purchase of Russian equipment, PLAGF signed the contract with Rosoboronexport for 35 systems of TOR-M1 in 2013; these systems including the missiles were then reverse-engineered and improved with new domestic electronics and later known as the HQ-17 system, distinguished by a shorter, rectangular "solid" PESA search radar and AESA tracking radar, as well as longer range (at 15 km) than the imported -M1 systems.
Devblog
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;
- other literature.
| China anti-aircraft vehicles | |
|---|---|
| Radar SPAAG | PGZ09 |
| Gun and Missile SPAAG | PGZ04A |
| Missile SPAA | Antelope |
| Other | ZSD63/PG87 · ZSL92 · WZ305 |
| Germany | ␗Sd.Kfz.222 |
| North Vietnam | Phòng không T-34 |
| USA | CCKW 353 (M45) · ␗M42 |
| USSR | Tor-M1 |
