Turm III

Turm III

Turm III

Germany

V Rank

Battle rating:

AB	RB	SB
8.3	8.3	8.3

Class:

PREMIUM

Medium tank

Purchase:Bundle or Gift

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Description

The Erprobungsträger mit 3-achs-stabilisiertem Turm is a premium gift rank V German medium tank with a battle rating of 8.3 (AB/RB/SB). It was introduced in Update "Wind of Change".

General info

Survivability and armour

Armourfront / side / back

Hull30 / 20 / 20

Turret30 / 20 / 20

Crew3 people

Visibility95 %

Armour type:

• Rolled homogeneous armour

Armour	Front (Slope angle)	Sides	Rear	Roof
Hull	30 mm (60°) Front glacis 30 mm (51°) Lower glacis	20 mm (26°) Top 10 mm (26°) Engine vents 20 mm Bottom	20 mm Upper plate 20 mm (10°) Lower plate 20 mm (47°) Lower glacis	30 mm (30°) Front glacis 10 mm Engine compartment
Turret	30 mm (45°) Turret front 20 mm (spherical) Turret ball	20 mm (spherical) Turret ball	20 mm (spherical) Turret ball	10 mm
MG cupola	10 mm	10 mm	10 mm	10 mm

Notes:

• Suspension wheels, tracks, and torsion bars are 20 mm thick.

Mobility

Speedforward / back

AB73 / 28 km/h

RB and SB66 / 26 km/h

Number of gears8 forward

4 back

Weight42.5 t

Engine power

AB1 633 hp

RB and SB856 hp

Power-to-weight ratio

AB38.4 hp/t

RB and SB20.1 hp/t

Game Mode	Max Speed (km/h)		Weight (tons)	Engine power (horsepower)		Power-to-weight ratio (hp/ton)
	Forward	Reverse		Stock	Upgraded	Stock	Upgraded
Arcade	73	28	42.5	1,327	1,633	31.22	38.42
Realistic	66	26		757	856	17.81	20.14

Modifications and economy

Repair cost

AB2 901

RB3 311

SB4 427

Crew training10 000

Experts730 000

Aces2 000

Research Aces1 780 000

Reward for battleAB / RB / SB

2 × 140 / 210 / 250 %

2 × 214 / 214 / 214 %

Modifications

Mobility	Protection	Firepower
Tracks Suspension Brake System Filters Transmission Engine	Improved Parts Improved FPE Crew Replenishment	Horizontal Drive Adjustment of Fire 105mm_usa_HESH_ammo_pack Elevation Mechanism Artillery Support 105mm_usa_HEAT_FS_ammo_pack

Armaments

Main armament

105 mm L7A3 cannon

Two-plane stabilizer

Reduces the swing of the gun in two planes while moving

Autoloader

Automatically feeds projectiles into the breech. The speed does not depend on the skills of the loader

Ammunition47 rounds

Reload5.0 s

Vertical guidance-12° / 12°

105 mm L7A3					Turret rotation speed (°/s)					Reloading rate (seconds)
Mode	Capacity	Vertical	Horizontal	Stabilizer	Stock	Upgraded	Full	Expert	Aced	Stock	Full	Expert	Aced
Arcade	47	±12°	±180°	Two-plane	22.8	31.6	38.4	42.5	45.2	5.00	5.00	5.00	5.00
Realistic					14.3	16.8	20.4	22.6	24.0

Ammunition

• DM13; APDS (Armour-Piercing Discarding Sabot) will comfortably penetrate the armour of most foes; be aware however that some vehicles such as the IS-4 or M103 are only vulnerable in specific weak spots. APDS rounds do require some finesse with their placement due to their lack of explosive filler. Unless you're confident you can destroy the enemy before they can respond, you should attempt to disable their weaponry first to ensure your own safety. Against targets with known ammunition storage, it's possible to try to detonate it with a well-placed shot. Keep in mind, however, that ammo detonations always occur with a random chance, so taking out crew members is a more reliable method to destroy your enemies. This, of course, requires knowledge about the vehicles you may face - so be sure to use the game's X-Ray view in the hangar and analyse your potential foes for their weak spots! Also, keep in mind that with increased armour thickness, the amount of shrapnel shrinks.
• DM512; HESH (High-Explosive Squash-Head) works very differently than other shell types. It ignores any angle, except for ricochet and deals damage by metal-flakes which are blown off inside the armour by the exterior explosion. To create this deadly shrapnel inside the tank, make sure to only hit armour plates which are directly adjacent to the interior crew compartment of the tank. Hitting exterior parts of a tank like spaced armour, the suspension, tracks etc. will not harm crew members/modules at all. Unfortunately, HESH is particularly ineffective against particularly high true armour values (as opposed to high 'effective' armour values sourced from highly angled but thin armour - HESH loves angles!). Like all high-explosive shells, the fuse is very sensitive and can be set-off by most objects e.g. fences, trees, shrubbery. The low muzzle velocity of this shell can make it quite hard to hit targets at larger distances, although an experienced tanker may be able to use this to their advantage by lobbing a round over a small defilade or hill. It's also worth noting that HESH can be rather unreliable at times; it's best used as a fall-back ammo, or saved for particularly lightly armoured targets.
• DM12; HEATFS (High-Explosive Anti Tank Fin-Stabilised): Knowledge of potential opponents vehicle layouts can be very handy - as you now have a round at your disposal that can penetrate essentially any vehicle's armour frontally. Like the APDS shot, increased armour thickness results in a reduced amount of shrapnel after penetration. You are able to take out enemies on any distance since the HEAT round does not lose penetration effectiveness with distance - very handy on big scaled maps like Kursk. There is, however, a significant downside to HEATFS. Given that it is a chemical energy round, its fuse is highly sensitive in regards to its practical application in battle. As a result, virtually anything, such as trees or even a fence, will set it off prematurely, so you cannot fire through obstructions with this kind of round. It's often a good idea to clear bushes and fences with your machine guns quickly before taking a shot. Finally, the HEATFS round is relatively expensive in terms of SL, so keep that in mind when loading up.

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
DM13	APDS	350	347	333	317	302	287
DM512	HESH	127	127	127	127	127	127
DM12	HEATFS	400	400	400	400	400	400

Shell 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%
DM13	APDS	1,478	4	-	-	-	75°	78°	80°
DM512	HESH	732	11.2	0.1	4	4.31	73°	77°	80°
DM12	HEATFS	1,174	10.5	0.05	0.1	1.27	65°	72°	77°

Ammo racks

Full ammo	1st rack empty	2nd rack empty	3rd rack empty	4th rack empty	5th rack empty	6th rack empty	Visual discrepancy
47	__ (+__)	__ (+__)	__ (+__)	__ (+__)	__ (+__)	__ (+__)	__

Notes:

• Shells are modeled individually, and disappear when fired.

Additional armament

30 mm HSS 831L cannon (coaxial)

Ammunition300 rounds

Belt capacity50 rounds

Reload15.0 s

Fire rate651 shots/min

30 mm HSS 831L					Reloading rate (seconds)
Capacity (Belt)	Fire rate	Vertical	Horizontal	Stabilizer	Stock	Full	Expert	Aced
300 (50)	600	N/A	N/A	N/A	15.00	15.00	15.00	15.00

Ammunition

• Default: SAP-I · HEI-T*

Penetration statistics
Ammunition	Penetration @ 0° Angle of Attack (mm)
	10 m	100 m	500 m	1,000 m	1,500 m	2,000 m
SAP-I	53	50	39	29	21	16
HEI-T*	9	8	7	5	4	4

Shell details
Ammunition	Velocity (m/s)	Projectile mass (kg)	Fuse delay (m)	Fuse sensitivity (mm)	Explosive mass (TNT equivalent) (g)	Ricochet
						0%	50%	100%
SAP-I	1,080	0.36	1.2	9	30.6	47°	56°	65°
HEI-T*	1,080	0.36	0.1	0.1	85	79°	80°	81°

Ammo racks

Full ammo	1st rack empty	2nd rack empty	3rd rack empty	4th rack empty	5th rack empty	6th rack empty	Visual discrepancy
6	__ (+__)	__ (+__)	__ (+__)	__ (+__)	__ (+__)	__ (+__)	__

Machine guns

7.62 mm MG3A1 machine gun

Ammunition2 000 rounds

Belt capacity200 rounds

Reload8.0 s

Fire rate1 200 shots/min

7.62 mm MG3A1
Mount	Capacity (Belt)	Fire rate	Vertical	Horizontal
Pintle	2,000 (200)	1,200	-8°/+25°	±180°

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:

• Huge first stage ammo rack
• Has a fast autoloader for the main armament
• Has an autocannon for coaxial weapon that can defeat even some MBTs through the side armour
• Extremely good mobility, can easily get up to 66 kilometres per hour in RB
• Two-axis stabilizer, unlike its equivalent counterpart, the Leopard I
• Weak armour can cause some shells to over-penetrate and do almost nothing
• Familiar Leopard 1 chassis

Cons:

• Nearly nonexistent armour
• Ammunition practically fills up the turret ball, making almost any shell that penetrates end up detonating it
• Machine gun cannot aim directly level to the main gun, making it disorienting when you are reloading the 30 mm autocannon and want to spray a lightly armoured target
• Poor gun elevation, making it difficult to use the 30 mm against aircraft

Arbeitsgruppe C (Borgward) proposed a design featuring a stabilized autoloading turret for the Europanzer project in 1958. However, they failed to produce two prototypes before the deadline due to the high development risks. Some point later, during the development process of the MBT-70, engineers decided to examine the practicality of triaxial stabilization more closely with a functional model. With a three-axis stabilized turret, you could improve the hit probability by correcting the longitudianl axial tilt of the main gun.In the mid-1960s, Rheinische Stahlwerke (then Rheinstahl-Hanomag) and AEG (then AEG-Telefunken) developed a functional model. Rheinstahl-Hanomag received the build order; While the electrical turret drives and controls were developed by Telefunken AG.

Turret III featured a 105mm L7A2, a coaxial 30mm HS 831A automatic cannon and a 7.62mm MG3 on the commander's optics. The primary and secondary weapons were rigidly mounted. So, the secondary does not have a directing system independent of the primary weapon. The lower half of the turret was spherical to allow longitudinal axial tilt. The turret was mounted gimballed in a chassis, decoupled from the rotary movements of the vehicle. The left hemisphere of the turret accommodated the crew compartment of three. The right hemisphere housed the ammunition supply and autoloader. The stern of the turret was a cooling system for the crew fighting compartment. The combat weight of the turret was 17.75 tons.

Turret III was placed on a chassis that, for logistical reasons, contained the drive and running gear elements of the Leopard 1. The chassis was made of mild steel and widened to 3.51 meters. An auxiliary motor (74 kW) was placed in the chassis to supply the turret drives and stabilization system. Arranged in the middle of the vehicle's bow was the driver's seat. The driver's control panel actuated the accelerator, brake and steering. The transmission shifted automatically. When the crew hatches were closed, the driver would see using the driver's TV set. If necessary, the commander could take over the function of the driver from the turret; They installed a camera on the upper front plate for this purpose. The commander could also operate the central control unit (fire control system) just as equally as the gunner.

There is no available information regarding the results of the tests. However, it's safe to assume that the complex turret drives frequently tended to fail. The placement of the drive elements made them difficult to access. So, for technical and cost reasons, the triaxial stabilizer was never implemented into production. Today, main battle tanks use a gyro to account for the axial tilt.

Media

Skins

• Skins and camouflages for the Turm III from live.warthunder.com.

See also

Related development

• Leopard 1 (Family)

External links

• [Devblog] Turm III and pre-order bonuses