75/46 M43

75/46 M43

75/46 M43

Description

The Semovente 75/46 M43 is a rank Italian tank destroyer with a battle rating of (AB), (RB), and (SB). It was introduced in Update 1.85 "Supersonic".

General info

Survivability and armour

Armour type:

• Rolled homogeneous armour (hull, casemate)
• Cast homogeneous armour (gun mantlet)

Armour	Front (Slope angle)	Sides	Rear	Roof
Hull	25 mm (78°) Upper glacis 50 mm (40°) Lower glacis - top 35 mm (50°) Lower glacis - bottom	40 mm 40 + 25 + 4 mm Casemate area 40 + 4 mm Side skirts area	25 mm Upper rear 25 mm (15°) Lower rear	25 mm (12°) Front glacis 15 mm (1-12°) Engine deck 5 mm (12°) Engine Vents 15mm (5°) Radiator hood 5 mm (5°) Radiator vents
Casemate	75 mm (5°) + 25 mm (25°) Casemate front plate 90 mm (5°) + 25 mm (25°) Driver port 60 + 30 mm (spherical) + 25 mm (25°) Gun mantlet	45 mm (7-9°) + 25 mm	45 mm	15 mm (0-4°) Centre 15 mm (18°) Sides

Notes:

• Gun barrel is 30 mm thick.
• Suspension wheels are 15 mm thick while tracks are 20 mm thick and bogies 10 mm thick.
• The belly is 15 mm thick.
• Mudguards are 4 mm thick.

The 75/46 M43 has the same protection as the 75/34 M43 but sits at a higher battle rating, reducing its effectiveness. While still effective against earlier guns, it will begin to encounter enemies with weapons that can more easily defeat its armour, such as the American 76mm M1 or British QF 17-pounder. The upper glacis will be easily penetrated by these guns, and the superstructure, while more heavily protected, will similarly be easily penetrated, and due to the confined nature of the fighting compartment likely result in destruction of the vehicle. The lower glacis is easily penetrated at closer ranges, however the transmission will typically prevent further damage. Angling can be used to increase the effectiveness of the superstructure, however the cheeks can provide an unangled target to enemies if exposed; as such, using terrain to cover the vehicles cheeks while angling is important to maintain effective armour.

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				263			__.__
Realistic				164			__.__

The 75/46 M43 has reasonable mobility for a tank destroyer, being able to hit and maintain around 37 km/h when driving off-road on level ground. The vehicle additionally has a useful, if unimpressive, reverse speed, reaching -6 km/h in its single gear.

Despite its lack of neutral steering, the 75/46 M43 can traverse its hull reasonably quickly from a full stop, greatly helping to overcome its lack of a turret.

Armaments

Main armament

75 mm OTO 75/43 mod.40					Turret rotation speed (°/s)					Reloading rate (seconds)
Mode	Capacity	Vertical	Horizontal	Stabilizer	Stock	Upgraded	Full	Expert	Aced	Stock	Full	Expert	Aced
Arcade	42	-10°/+16°	±18°	N/A	12.3	17.1	20.7	22.9	24.4	7.67	6.79	6.25	5.90
Realistic					8.3	9.8	11.9	13.2	14.0

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
Granate Perforante mod.39	APCBC	151	148	135	121	108	96
Granata mod.34	HE	10	10	10	10	10	10

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%
Granate Perforante mod.39	APCBC	792	6.8	1.2	14	28.9	48°	63°	71°
Granata mod.34	HE	550	5.74	0.1	0.1	686	79°	80°	81°

Ammo racks

Ammo racks of the 75/46 M43

Full ammo	1st rack empty	2nd rack empty	Visual discrepancy
42	25 (+17)	1 (+41)	No

Notes:

• Shells are modeled individually and disappear after having been shot or loaded.

Machine guns

8 mm Breda Mod. 38
Mount	Capacity (Belt)	Fire rate	Vertical	Horizontal
Pintle mount	504 (24)	600	-10°/+80°	±90°

The small calibre of the Breda Mod. 38 machine gun makes it largely ineffective against all armoured vehicles but the ones with an open compartment. It still can be used to ping targets as a rangefinding help or to mow down minor obstacles blocking your line of sight.

Usage in battles

The Semovente's lack of turret and unreliable armour lend it a less aggressive role; at a distance, the limited traverse is less impactful and makes it harder for the vulnerable sides of upper glacis of the vehicle to be hit. The vehicle's primary advantages, its low profile and powerful gun, also add to this, as it can defeat most enemies it will encounter at range while remaining a relatively obscured target. Using the vehicle's gun depression and low profile to take advantage of terrain, such as a rock, building, or hill, will make it harder to hit, increasing its survivability. Against weaker enemies, such as vehicles equipped with the American 75 mm M3, it can more aggressively expose itself, but care must be taken in case the M43's mobility is impaired or against vehicles with more powerful guns.

The OTO 75 mm gun can defeat most enemies at its ranking, with only some heavier tanks able to effectively resist the gun, such as the Churchill VII or later KV-1s; in this case, waiting for the enemy to expose a vulnerable area of their armour or identifying them for allies to target is ideal; attempting to flank or more aggressively approach should be avoided due to the above mentioned disadvantages. If facing higher ranked vehicles, more caution must be used, as there will be more enemies able to resist your fire while being able to defeat your own armour. Knowledge of appropriate weakspots can help defeating vehicles like the M4A3E8 Sherman or Soviet IS tanks, but these may be unreliable, meaning a more cautious approach is safer.

Pros and cons

Pros:

• Effective gun penetration, damage, and reload
• Small frontal profile makes the tank easy to conceal and difficult to hit
• High gun depression, can be used to crest over hills while only exposing the more heavily armoured superstructure
• Decent mobility and good hull traverse
• Mounted machine gun can be used to fire in a frontal arc

Cons:

• Generally ineffective armour against similarly tiered vehicles
• Lack of turret and thin side armour are vulnerable to being flanked
• Lacks an APCR shell for more heavily armoured targets
• Confined interior and only 3 crew lessens survivablilty on penetration

History

Development

The 75/46 M43 is a German-designed variant of the Semovente 105/25, with improved armour and using the German Pak 40 anti-tank gun in place of the original 105 mm howitzer. Due to the low production output of the Italian-licensed version of the gun, only eleven 75/46 M43 were built, while others were outfitted with the available Italian 75 mm Ansaldo L/34 gun, leading to the production of the 75/34 M43 tank destroyer.

Combat usage

They only saw service with German forces in Italy in late 1944 and 1945.

Media

Skins

• Skins and camouflages for the 75/46 M43 from live.warthunder.com.

Videos

75/46 M43 Review, The Stug 3G's italian brother! - Joseph 2000

See also

Vehicles equipped with the same chassis

• 105/25 M43 / M43 "G.C.Leoncello"
• 75/34 M43

Other vehicles of similar configuration and role

• Jagdpanzer 38(t)
• Jagdpanzer IV
• SU-85

External links

• [Wikipedia] Semovente da 75/46