LVT(A)(4) (ZiS-2)

LVT(A)(4) (ZiS-2)

␗M10 GMC

LVT(A)(4) (ZiS-2)

␗M10 GMC

China

II Rank

Battle rating:

AB	RB	SB
2.3	2.3	2.3

Class:

Tank destroyer

Research:7 900

Purchase:10 000

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Description

The LVT(A)(4) (ZiS-2) is a rank II Chinese tank destroyer with a battle rating of 2.3 (AB/RB/SB). It was introduced in Update 1.91 "Night Vision".

General info

Survivability and armour

Armour type:

• Rolled homogeneous armour
• Cast homogeneous armour (Gun mantlet, Machine gun shield)

Armour	Front (Slope angle°)	Sides	Rear	Roof
Hull	12.7 mm (31°) Front plate 6.35 mm (83-84°) Upper glacis 6.35 mm (41-81°) Lower glacis	6.35 mm (11-51°) Top 6.35 + 6.35 mm Bottom	6.35 mm (0-62°)	6.35 mm
Turret	38 mm (10°) Turret front 5 mm (1-81°) Gun mantlet	25 mm	25 mm	N/A

Notes:

• Suspension wheels and tracks are 15 mm thick.
• Front hull has flat armour area where driver & co-driver sits.

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	44	6	18.3	355	477	19.4	26.07
Realistic	40	5		221	250	12.08	13.66

Armaments

Main armament

57 mm ZIS-2					Turret rotation speed (°/s)					Reloading rate (seconds)
Mode	Capacity	Vertical	Horizontal	Stabilizer	Stock	Upgraded	Full	Expert	Aced	Stock	Full	Expert	Aced
Arcade	76	-5°/+15°	±25°	N/A	10.6	14.6	17.8	19.6	__._	8.7	7.7	7.1	_._
Realistic					7.1	8.4	10.2	11.3	__._

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
BR-271	APHEBC	145	143	132	119	108	98
BR-271К	APHE	145	143	132	119	108	98
O-271	HE	5	5	5	5	5	5

Shell details
Ammunition	Type of warhead	Velocity (m/s)	Projectile Mass (kg)	Fuse delay (m)	Fuse sensitivity (mm)	Explosive Mass (TNT equivalent) (g)	Normalisation at 30° from horizontal	Ricochet
								0%	50%	100%
BR-271	APHEBC	990	3.14	1.2	9.0	21.56	+4.0°	48°	63°	71°
BR-271К	APHE	990	3.14	1.2	9.0	27.72	-1.0°	47°	60°	65°
O-271	HE	700	3.72	0.4	0.01	220	+0.0°	79°	80°	81°

Ammo racksof the LVT(A)(4) ZIS-2.

Ammo racks

Full ammo	1st rack empty	2nd rack empty	3rd rack empty	4th rack empty	5th rack empty	6th rack empty	Visual discrepancy
76	71 (+5)	65 (+11)	49 (+27)	33 (+43)	17 (+59)	1 (+75)	__

Machine guns

7.62 mm M1919A4
Mount	Capacity (Belt capacity)	Rate of fire (shots/minute)	Vertical guidance	Horizontal guidance
Hull	3,000 (250)	500	-10°/+20°	±15°

Usage in battles

LVT(A)(4) Zis-2 is a fragile tank with a strong bite. The main gun is a very powerful Soviet Zis-2 that have no problem penetrating through the hardest of enemies at its BR. Being such a large tank it got an amazing manouverbility that works on most terrain. It's high profile makes it a easy target for enemy to spot from afar and behind objects, fences and hills. Since the LVT(A)(4) got such thin hull armor makes it vulnerable to machine gun and auto cannon fire. This makes Self Propelled Anti-Air vehicles and vehicles with a 20mm Automatic cannons a lethal enemy, but that is not all the worries, large caliber guns with HEAT and HE can with ease penetrate and cause detonation to the soft armor of the LVT(A)(4).

LVT(A)(4) Zis-2 got a decent speed and maneuverable to handle close combat with even with a lacking of a full 360° turret. But to best counter the most dangerous of enemies is to utilize the long gun to its advantage.

Modules

Tier	Mobility		Protection	Firepower
I	Tracks		Parts	Horizontal Drive
II	Suspension	Brake System	FPE	Adjustment of Fire	BR-271K
III	Filters		Crew Replenishment	Elevation Mechanism
IV	Transmission	Engine

Pros and cons

Summarise and briefly evaluate the vehicle in terms of its characteristics and combat effectiveness. Mark its pros and cons in a bulleted list. Try not to use more than 6 points for each of the characteristics. Avoid using categorical definitions such as "bad", "good" and the like - use substitutions with softer forms such as "inadequate" and "effective".

Pros:

• Good speed and maneuverability
• Five crew members
• Powerful main gun
• Decent elevation and depression
• Well-armed turret can lead to some shells bouncing
• Amphibious
• Spaced Interior

Cons:

• High Profile
• Very thin hull, penetration by any main armament and machine guns
• The crew in the turret are very close together, meaning they'll be taken out in a single shot
• Open Top
• Limited turret traverse

History

The LVT series of tracked amphibious vehicles originated from a pre-war civilian design, the Alligator hurricane rescue vehicle which had been designed by Donald Roebling (1908-1959) in 1935. An article on a further development of this vehicle in 1937 caught the attention of the US Marine Corps, but initially the proposal of militarising the Alligator met resistance both from the US Navy, who felt conventional landing craft could do the job just as well, and from Roebling himself, who disliked the idea of his vehicle being used for military purposes. The outbreak of war in Europe persuaded Roebling into building it anyway, and by May of 1940 he had completed a militarised prototype, which was tested in November 1940 and subsequently approved for production.

Even before the first prototype had been tested, Roebling had started designing a turret-equipped armed version of his LVT, intended for providing fire support for landings. Originally the design languished, but in June of 1941 the USMC recommended the development of a fire support version of the LVT. Development of this variant was slow, as the entire LVT had to be redesigned: light armour was added to the hull and a 37 mm armed turret similar to that of the M3 Stuart light tank was mounted on top, resulting in the initial fire support variant, the LVT(A)(1).

Combat experience with the LVT(A)(1) soon showed that the 37 mm gun was insufficient for fire support purposes, so the original M3 Stuart turret was replaced by that of a 75 mm Howitzer Motor Carriage M8, creating the LVT(A)(4) variant, of which 1890 were built. Of these, several dozen were delivered to Nationalist China under the Lend-Lease Agreement.

In KMT service, the LVT(A)(4) ended up being used both against the Japanese forces during World War II, as well as against the PLA during the ensuing civil war. Most of them eventually fell into PLA hands. The lack of western supplies meant that ammo soon became sparse for the 75 mm M3 Howitzer gun mounted by the LVT(A)(4); to keep them useful as well as to bolster the number of available armoured vehicles in the PLA inventory, the LVT(A)(4)s were locally converted to either accept the 37 mm M6 tank gun - essentially retrofitting them to LVT(A)(1) status - or the 57 mm ZiS-2 anti-tank gun - identical to the gun used on the ZiS-30 tank destroyer, and technically similar to the ZiS-4 gun used on both the T-34-57 and the SU-57B.

The haphazard way in which these conversions took place, as well as the lack of official documents on them, make it unclear how many LVT(A)(4)s were converted. The lack of available spares for their automotive components makes it unlikely that they were used for long, and it is likely they were withdrawn from frontline use as soon as Soviet deliveries of tanks and armoured vehicles started in the early 1950s.

Media

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See also

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• reference to the series of the vehicles;
• links to approximate analogues of other nations and research trees.

External links

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• encyclopedia page on the tank;
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China tank destroyers
PLA
Gun vehicles	PLZ83 · PLZ83-130 · PTZ89
Missile vehicles	AFT09
ROC
Missile vehicles	CM25
USA
Gun vehicles	␗M8 HMC · LVT(A)(4) (ZiS-2) · ␗M10 GMC · ␗M36 GMC
Missile vehicles	␗M113A1 (TOW)
USSR
Gun vehicles	␗SU-76M · ␗ISU-152 · ␗ISU-122 · ␗SU-100