XM803

XM803

T95E1

MBT-70

XM803

T95E1

MBT-70

USA

VI Rank

Battle rating:

AB	RB	SB
8.7	9.0	9.0

Class:

Medium tank

Research:190 000

Purchase:520 000

Description

The Tank, Combat, Full-Tracked, 152-mm Gun/Launcher XM803 is a Rank VI American light tank with a battle rating of 8.7 (AB) and 9.0 (RB/SB). It was introduced in Update 1.79 "Project X".

General info

Survivability and armour

The XM308's frontal armour is only effective versus full-calibre AP and APHE rounds and certain APDS rounds. Almost all large calibre (76 mm and up) have no trouble slicing through it, even when hitting the frontal armour at an angle. Large calibre HEAT-FS too has no problem going through, although the large fuel tank behind the frontal hull armour can sometimes absorb most damage. Because the armour has a layer of air in it, it is very effective against HESH rounds. All the spalling generated by the HESH round when it hits the first plate will get absorbed by the plate behind it. One big weak spot on the turret it the left (when facing it) turret cheek. This is because this part of the turret is not protected by spaced armour and only consists of 177.8 mm thick CHA plate, which most chemical and kinetic energy projectiles can penetrate with ease.

Armour type:

• Spaced armour (Hull front, Turret front)
• Rolled homogeneous armour
• Cast homogeneous armour

Armour	Front (Slope angle)	Sides	Rear	Roof
Hull	38.1 mm (64°) Front glacis 76 mm (63°) Lower glacis	35 mm Top 25.4 mm Bottom	25.4 mm (12°) Top 25.4 mm (67°) Bottom 5 mm (13°) Engine exhaust	25.4 mm Front 5-12.7 mm Engine deck
Turret	38.1-203 mm (0-75°)	12.7-38.1* mm (29-34°)	12.7* mm (27-84°)	25.4-76 mm Front 12.7 mm Rear turret
Armour	Sides	Roof
Cupola	25.4 mm	25.4 mm
Spaced armour*	Front	Sides	Rear	Roof
Hull	250 mm Kinetic 240 mm Chemical	N/A	N/A	N/A
Turret	270-300 mm Kinetic 220-350 mm Chemical	38 mm sections: 200 mm Kinetic 220 mm Chemical 12.7 mm sections: 50 mm Kinetic 60 mm Chemical	30 mm Kinetic 40 mm Chemical	N/A

Notes:

• Road wheels are 20 mm thick and tracks are 30 mm thick.
• A 6.35 mm RHA plate separates the engine from the crew compartment
• The crew is protected by a 6.35mm thick turret basket
• Hull spaced armour configuration is 38 mm RHA + 127 mm air + 51 mm RHA.
• Turret spaced armour configuration is 38 mm RHA + 127 mm air + 127 mm CHA.
• Turret rear side spaced armour configuration is 12.7 mm RHA + 38 mm air + 25.4 mm RHA
• Turret rear spaced armour configuration is 12.7 mm RHA + 38 mm air + 12.7 mm RHA.

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	72	33	51.7	1937	2,385	37.47	46.13
Realistic	64	30		1106	1,250	21.39	24.18

The mobility of the XM803 is worse than that of the MBT-70. In its stock configuration, it has a horsepower/ton ratio of 21.39, while with all upgrades this increases to 24.08 HP/t. The top speed (both forward and reverse) is 64 km/h (40 mph) with 8 gears for both directions. The tank can reach its top speed quickly on flat roads, while on more difficult terrain the top speed drops by around 20 km/h. The tank has neutral steering and good turning ability on all terrains.

Armaments

Main armament

152 mm XM150E5
Capacity			Vertical guidance	Horizontal guidance	Horizontal guidance
53			-10°/+20°	±180°	Two-plane
Turret rotation speed (°/s)
Mode	Stock	Upgraded	Prior + Full crew	Prior + Expert qualif.	Prior + Ace qualif.
Arcade	34.3	47.3	57.4	63.5	67.6
Realistic	21.4	29.5	35.9	39.7	42.2
Reloading rate (seconds)
Stock	Prior + Full crew	Prior + Expert qualif.	Prior + Ace qualif.
10.00	10.00	10.00	10.00

Ammunition

Penetration statistics
Ammunition	Type of warhead	Penetration in mm @ 90°
		10m	100m	500m	1000m	1500m	2000m
XM578E1	APFSDS	346	343	334	323	311	300
M409A1	HEAT	380	380	380	380	380	380
MGM-51C	ATGM	431	431	431	431	431	431

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%
XM578E1	1,478	3.7	N/A	N/A	N/A	+1.5°	76°	77°	78°
M409A1	754	18.9	0.0	0.1	3,730	+0°	62°	69°	73°
MGM-51C	323	27.8	0.0	0.01	3,600	+0°	80°	82°	90°

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):
XM410E1	754	18.9	25	5	30	50

Ammo racks

Full ammo	1st rack empty	2nd rack empty	3rd rack empty	4th rack empty	5th rack empty	Visual discrepancy
53	48 (+5)	46 (+7)	39 (+14)	27 (+26)	1 (+52)	No

Machine guns

12.7 mm M85
Pintle mount
Capacity (Belt capacity)				Fire rate (shots/minute)	Vertical guidance	Horizontal guidance
1,000 (200)				577	-9°/+65°	±180°

7.62 mm M73
Coaxial mount
Capacity (Belt capacity)				Fire rate (shots/minute)	Vertical guidance	Horizontal guidance
6,000 (250)				500	N/A	N/A

Usage in battles

The XM308, like the MBT-70, is a very good flanker. To get the most out of this tank you must use its high speed and acceleration to flank the enemy or set up ambushes. Its gun and ammunition are good enough to penetrate most lower BR tanks with ease, although when up-tiered you will have to resort to aiming for the weak spots of opponents. The HEAT round you get is free, and will easily penetrate tanks with plain steel armour, but it's lacking when facing tanks with composite armour, and it has a rather mediocre muzzle velocity, making aiming and leading at longer ranges more difficult. The APFSDS round has decent penetration and will penetrate most opponents with relative ease. It also has very high muzzle velocity, almost 1.5 km/s, making aiming even at longer ranges easily. The ATGM is very useful and free, it's very good at long ranges, and is very effective against stationary or slow-moving helicopters.

While the armour may seem impressive at first, it won't protect you against most guns at and around its battle rating. Most tanks at this rank have access to powerful APFSDS and HEAT-FS rounds, which have no trouble penetrating you. Knowing this, you mustn't rely on your armour to protect you.

Pros and cons

Pros:

• Stock ammunition consists of the good MGM 51C "Shillelagh" Guided Missile, means no ammo costs for using it, plus a decent but inferior HEAT Shell.
• Can fire ATGM without restriction, even when moving on full speed
• Somehow has better ergonomics than the MBT-70
• Has access to APFSDS Shells with 346 mm of penetrating Power on a 90° angled armour plate @ 10m
• Good mobility and acceleration, high speed both forwards and backwards
• Top mounted 50 cal can allow you to damage low-flying aircraft
• Frontal Fuel tank behind the spaced armour which can sometimes absorb enemy chemical energy rounds
• Since this tank has an autoloader, losing a crewmember will not impact the reload speed, and it still functions when putting out a fire
• Has smoke grenade launchers
• Very versatile tank once all ammo types are researched
• Turret mantlet is strong, can resist even certain APFSDS rounds
• Has hydropneumatic suspension
• Excellent dual zoom of 8x and 12x
• Is not considered to be a threat by most players

Cons:

• Long reload on the gun (10 seconds) which cannot be improved since it is an autoloader
• The spaced armour is not composite armour and cannot provide adequate protection against most guns of its rank
• Frontal armor can be penetrated even by some APHE rounds
• Weak sides and LFP
• Weaker engine than the MBT-70, noticeable decrease in top speed and overall performance
• Ammo racks are large and can be easily hit, and does not have blowout panels
• Vulnerable to the rear due to raised engine deck
• Only single use of smoke grenades is permitted before having to reload
• Cramped interior, loss of more than one crew member more likely when penetrated
• Poor roof armor protection on the ammo and engine section
• Does not have access to the roof-mounted 20 mm like the MBT-70 which could be very useful in certain situations

History

Once it became apparent that the MBT-70 project was doomed to fail in the early ‘70s due to high costs and reliability issues, the U.S. Congress decided to cut their losses on the project by cancelling the MBT-70, and instead, diverted funding to the development of a new project called XM803.

The XM803 was, in essence, envisioned to be a “budget version” of the MBT-70. Although the new vehicle would heavily be based on the MBT-70, inheriting many of its design solutions, it would also try to drastically reduce production costs by using more conventional and only American-made parts. Although this meant that the XM803 had to give up some of its high-tech equipment in favour of lower production costs, it was projected that the influence of these changes on the XM803’s combat performance would be minimal.

Despite showing favourable performance and being seen as a promising design by the Army, the XM803 still remained a comparably expensive tank to produce even with the applied changes over the MBT-70. Moreover, neither the MBT-70 nor the XM803 seemed to offer any substantial increase in combat performance over the already in service M60 Patton to justify the high production cost. This ultimately led to the Congress cancelling work on the XM803 only a short while after the cancellation of the MBT-70. In the late 1970s, some funding of the two failed projects would, later on, find its way to support the development of an entirely new, but this time around, more conventional tank project. That tank, of course, being the legendary M1 Abrams itself.

- From Devblog

Media

The Shooting Range #104 - Metal Beasts section at 00:32 discusses the XM-803.

The Shooting Range #106 - Pages of History section at 12:39 discusses the XM-803.

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

• [Devblog] XM803: The Second Chance