THE LAST HEAVY TANK - M103 in War Thunder

The M103 in War Thunder is the last Heavy Tank in the US Tech Tree. Because this tank sits at 7.7 a whole host of lightning fast light tanks and MBT's with HEAT-FS and event APFDS have entered the chat. Not so much a heavy tank anymore and more of a giant cannon meme, the M103 is pretty ridiculous.

With a shell weighing 23kg and with a muzzle velocity of 1000m/s+ that makes this Solid AP the highest energy solid AP in the game. Some APCBC may be heavier, but that doesn't mean they're solid. The M103 suffers like all solid AP slingers do by having pretty miserable post penetrating damage. So, whatever size the shell is... it will leave behind some or most of the enemy tanks crew members in tact.

Despite this, it's still funny to hurl gigantic steel slugs at people from across the map and for some reason it does give some spectacular ammo racks! :)

Pretty fun but pretty dumb!

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[Nova_da_proot]

Best thumbnail I've ever seen

"An 8 year old but it's traveling mach 3"

[albundy]

The reasons for the turret layout are to give the commander the ability to operate a "Hunter Killer" system, the British did the same thing with the Conqueror, the panel on Operation Think Tank a few years ago talked about it. Also we're missing the M103A1 with the upgraded engine, but Gaijin only cares about T-80XYZ premiums these days.

[icaindianen]

Honestly, MBTs are basically just speedy heavy tanks.

Like the Abrams is heavier than the M103.

They didn't stop making heavies, they just figured out how to replace all the other tanks with faster heavies.

[Im_AliveWTM]

I feel like the guys in the back of the turret are playing a board game or something like that.

[TonnyH]

Bro, i was screamin USE HEAT and then he absolutely done no damage to the Ho-ri production😂

[liladoodle]

One post WWII US tank I want to see in the game is the T42 medium tank, which is a new hull design with a early design for the M47 Patton turret.

[ThatGuyOrby]

I would like this thing a lot more if Gaijin fixed how uncapped armor piercing shells performed against sloped armor. Especially the M103's AP in particular. The nose of the shell was designed to shatter in such a way that turned the main body of the penetrator in towards the plate offering exceptional angled performance. In game it both lacks in angled penetration and had an ahistorically high chance to bounce at even moderate angles. In real life testing the gun that would be mounted upon the M103 proved that it could penetrate an RHA mock-up of an IS-3 hull at a range of 1.5km reliably. In game that shot is unreliable even at point blank. Same reason why the M26's T33 AP shot performs so ahistorically poorly against the Panther. It should pen the upper glacis reliably out to 1km but it can't even do so at point blank in game. The reason is that Gaijin's penetration calculator just flat out poorly represents uncapped penetrators. T33 AP is also incorrectly modeled as APC when in reality it was APBC.

[TurnyPlays]

Imagine how satisfying the AP would be if they modelled inertia

[KptKosmit]

2:03 i found you saying "another downtier" with the SPJ on screen funny lol

[infrvortex]

I just think this video does a perfect job of displaying what it wrong with heavy tanks in WT. The way BR works just makes heavy tanks like any other tank just fatter and slower than any other tank. They’re supposed to be “heavy” but still die from little tanks that don’t even need to out flank or maneuver. 😔 Poor heavies.

[eric]

i'm so glad you mentioned the part about the M103 having the highest energy solid shot in the game, the raw energy of its cannon and shot was insane

[UnknownMemoryOfTheDistantStar]

I hate how bad the 120mm solid shot is in game, it's lacking alot of 60° pen and the ricochet chance is way too high that a Panther with some luck can ricochet it all day long ground level...

[farmcat]

I remember climbing into one of these M103 tanks when i was a kid at the base and they had one in a park along with a M60 near where I live that honored military and tank crews. The tank was awesome to dee inside and climb on top of. It had the T52 stereo sight and the M14 computer and the M60 power unit the Continental diesel engine.

[solster]

This was running at TankFest last week. Its a big feckin beast

[leafleap]

13:58 *_Highest energy solid AP round, 23.1 kg going 1067m/s with a pen of 301mm at that distance... defeated by a radio box._*
Lmao this game sometimes

[connivingkhajiit]

This is one of the scariest vehicles to see turn the corner towards you. You just know death is coming and you might not be able to do anything about it. And i mean the L3/33. Look forward to seeing you play it next!

[g.williams]

The weird thing about this tank is that the M103 forces your perspective into what seems like the widest view in ground battles.

[ideadliftkg]

ARL-44s Solid shot has more post pen than that shot lmao wtf.

[corrodan]

Seen this vehicle in person, its actually suprisingly small for a heavy tank of its weight. Most of its length comes from the gun.

[ThBlackLotus]

Hey Odd, the F3D has air brakes, so you dive bomb a lot slower without having to lawn dart the ground. Then as you pull up, nail the throttle and put the flaps away and you're out of there safely and at speed.