VK 3002 (M)

VK 3002 (M)

VK 3002 (M)

Description

The VK 3002 (M) is a rank German medium tank with a battle rating of (AB), (RB), and (SB). It was introduced in Update "Drone Age".

The prototype model by Maschinenfabrik Augsburg-Nürnberg (MAN) for what would become the Panther tank, the VK 3002 (M) features all the basic characteristics the Panther would receive, with a steep sloping front armour, high-penetrating 75 mm gun, and good mobility but not in turns. The VK 3002 (M) featured a 60 mm front plate and 50-80 mm turret front armour, which were the original armour plate thickness of the Panther prototype prior to its uparmoring into 80 mm and 100 mm respectively in the production vehicles. The grind on this tank is somewhat painful until you obtain the engine and transmission upgrade. The turret traverse is slow even after the horizontal upgrade. Tank has poor turning ability in close quarters.

General info

Survivability and armour

The armour layout is very similar to a standard Panther, though significantly weaker for the front plate (60 mm instead of 80 mm thick) and the turret (80 mm for the turret front and 50 mm for the mantlet instead of the 100 mm on the Panther A). It is adequate against low-velocity projectiles, but its armour should not be relied upon much, unless the distance between you and the target is large. Unlike the Panther A, angling on the VK 3002 is helpful, angling some 15-20 degrees will make the hull almost entirely immune to Soviet 85 mm cannons, which the tank will commonly face. The same procedure goes against most American cannons. Of course, if they aim at the turret, you'll end up penetrated, but the good thing is that this prototype shares the same good post-penetration survivability of a Panther, due to the driver and machine gunner being far from the turret, even the "fat" Soviet 85 mm APHE rounds will not usually knock it out from a turret penetration.

Armour type:

Armour	Front (Slope angle)	Sides	Rear	Roof
Hull	60mm, 55°.	40mm, 40° 40mm, 0°	40mm, 30°	10 - 16 mm
Turret	80mm, 12° 99-158mm, 7-56°	45mm, 21°	45mm, 25°	16mm, 85°
Cupola	110mm, 0°	110mm, 0°	110mm, 0°	16mm, 90°

Notes: The cupola's armor is composed of Cast homogeneous armor, while the rest of the vehicle is protected by Rolled homogeneous armor.

Mobility

In a straight or nearly straight line the tank has decent mobility. However, the tank slows appreciably in turns and close quarter turning is painfully slow. Reverse speed is slow as well. Because close quarter mobility is not a strong point with this tank you should try to keep your distance from the enemy; otherwise enemy medium tanks and light tanks will flank you easily.

Game Mode	Max Speed (km/h)		Weight (tons)	Engine power (horsepower)		Power-to-weight ratio (hp/ton)
	Forward	Reverse		Stock	Upgraded	Stock	Upgraded
Arcade				1,007			__.__
Realistic				575			__.__

Armaments

Main armament

The VK 3002 (M)'s 75mm cannon grants the vehicle an edge over most other vehicles seen at it's BR, especially at longer ranges thanks to it's high shell velocity and low projectile mass. The aforementioned characteristics of this gun, paired with its relatively long reload and the VK 3002 (M)'s poor turret rotation speed, render the vehicle a powerful opponent on longer ranges, but a lackluster tank in close combat due to its lack of flexibility most other mediums at it's BR have. The reload speed of 9.4s and turret rotation speed of 3.8 m/s allows the VK 3002 (M) to be easily flanked by more agile opponents, and destroyed due to it's thin side armor. The player's ammunition load should be composed of mostly the stock APCBC shells, with a few HE rounds in case one meets a vehicle vulnerable to them.

75 mm KwK42					Turret rotation speed (°/s)					Reloading rate (seconds)
Mode	Capacity	Vertical	Horizontal	Stabilizer	Stock	Upgraded	Full	Expert	Aced	Stock	Full	Expert	Aced
Arcade	79	-8°/+20°	±180°	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
PzGr 39/42	APCBC	192	188	173	156	140	126
Sprgr. 42	HE	11	11	11	11	11	11

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%
PzGr 39/42	APCBC	935	6.8	1.2	14	28.9	48°	63°	71°
Sprgr. 42	HE	700	5.74	0	0.1	725	79°	80°	81°

Ammo racks

Ammo racks of the VK 3002 (M)

Full ammo	1st rack empty	2nd rack empty	3rd rack empty	4th rack empty	5th rack empty	6th rack empty
79	72 (+7)	66 (+13)	60 (+19)	56 (+23)	52 (+27)	42 (+37)
7th rack empty	8th rack empty	9th rack empty	10th rack empty	11th rack empty	Visual discrepancy
32 (+47)	22 (+57)	12 (+67)	5 (+74)	1 (+78)	No

Machine guns

7.92 mm MG34
Mount	Capacity (Belt)	Fire rate	Vertical	Horizontal
Coaxial	2,700 (150)	900	N/A	N/A

Usage in battles

Describe the tactics of playing in the vehicle, the features of using vehicles in the team and advice on tactics. Refrain from creating a "guide" - do not impose a single point of view but instead give the reader food for thought. Describe the most dangerous enemies and give recommendations on fighting them. If necessary, note the specifics of the game in different modes (AB, RB, SB).

Pros and cons

Pros:

• High speed on flat terrain and satisfactory agility
• Deadly cannon with 192 mm maximum penetration, can frontally penetrate any tank it can face (e.g. IS-2, M4A3E2, Churchill VII, etc)
• 75 mm cannon has flat trajectory and high shell velocity, beginner-friendly for long range engagements
• Frontal armour is immune against some lower-tier tanks like T-34-76, 75 mm M4, M24, etc.
• Has smoke grenades, helpful to conceal the tank

Cons:

• Has big and tall silhouette of the Panther family, very easy to get hit
• Frontal armour can still get penetrated by most common foes (e.g. T-34-85, Avenger, M36, M18, etc)
• Poor -4 km/h reverse speed can prevent the player from retreating into cover
• Side & rear armour are flat and thin (~40 mm), easily penetrable by SPAAs and light vehicles (e.g. ZSD63, M24, etc)
• Slow turning ability
• Slow turret traverse

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

Skins

• Skins and camouflages for the VK 3002 (M) from live.warthunder.com.

Videos

The Shooting Range #325 - Metal Beasts section at 00:29 discusses the VK 3002 (M).

See also

Related development

• Panzer V Panther (Family)

External links

• [Devblog] VK 30.02 (M): The Cub Roars

Maschinenfabrik Augsburg-Nürnberg Aktiengesellschaft (MAN AG)
Medium tanks
Panther	VK 3002 (M) · Panther A · Ersatz M10 · Panther D · Panther F · Panther G · Panther II
Export/captured
USSR	▂T-V
France	Panther "Dauphiné"