HSTV-L

HSTV-L

M3A3 Bradley

HSTV-L

M3A3 Bradley

USA

VII Rank

Battle rating:

AB	RB	SB
11.7	11.7	11.7

Class:

Light tank

Research:350 000

Purchase:950 000

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Description

The High Survivability Test Vehicle — Lightweight is a rank VII American light tank with a battle rating of 11.7 (AB/RB/SB). It was introduced in Update "Starfighters".

General info

Survivability and armour

Describe armour protection. Note the most well protected and key weak areas. Appreciate the layout of modules as well as the number and location of crew members. Is the level of armour protection sufficient, is the placement of modules helpful for survival in combat? If necessary use a visual template to indicate the most secure and weak zones of the armour.

Armour	Front (Slope angle)	Sides	Rear	Roof
Hull	38 mm (80°)	19 mm Top 38.1 mm Bottom	25.4 mm	5 - 19 mm
Turret	25.4 mm Turret front 25.4 mm Gun mantlet	25.4 mm	25.4 mm	25.4 mm
Cupola	25.4 mm	25.4 mm	25.4 mm	25.4 mm

Notes:

Mobility

Write about the mobility of the ground vehicle. Estimate the specific power and manoeuvrability, as well as the maximum speed forwards and backwards.

Game Mode	Max Speed (km/h)		Weight (tons)	Engine power (horsepower)		Power-to-weight ratio (hp/ton)
	Forward	Reverse		Stock	Upgraded	Stock	Upgraded
Arcade	93	28	20	_,___	1,240	__.__	62
Realistic	84	25		_,___	650	__.__	32.5

Armaments

Main armament

Give the reader information about the characteristics of the main gun. Assess its effectiveness in a battle based on the reloading speed, ballistics and the power of shells. Do not forget about the flexibility of the fire, that is how quickly the cannon can be aimed at the target, open fire on it and aim at another enemy. Add a link to the main article on the gun: {{main|Name of the weapon}}. Describe in general terms the ammunition available for the main gun. Give advice on how to use them and how to fill the ammunition storage.

75 mm XM274					Turret rotation speed (°/s)					Reloading rate (seconds)
Mode	Capacity	Vertical	Horizontal	Stabilizer	Stock	Upgraded	Full	Expert	Aced	Stock	Full	Expert	Aced
Arcade	26	-17°/+45°	±180°	Two-plane	54.3	75.1	91.2	100.9	107.3	1.5	1.5	1.5	1.5
Realistic					33.9	39.9	48.5	53.6	57.0

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
XM885	APFSDS	276	269	262	252	243	234

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%
XM885	APFSDS	1,463	3.05	N/A	N/A	N/A	78°	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
26	__ (+__)	__ (+__)	__ (+__)	__ (+__)	__ (+__)	__ (+__)	__

Machine guns

Offensive and anti-aircraft machine guns not only allow you to fight some aircraft but also are effective against lightly armoured vehicles. Evaluate machine guns and give recommendations on its use.

7.62 mm M240
Mount	Capacity (Belt)	Fire rate	Vertical	Horizontal
Coaxial	1,600 (200)	750	N/A	N/A
Pintle	1,600 (200)	750	__°	__°

Usage in battles

The HSTV-L is a light tank with a quick ready-rack reload, making it adept at dealing with multiple enemies in ambush situations. It can achieve a very good top speed thanks to its light weight and has a similarly good turning ability. With this mobility (which is on par with that of top MBTs), the HSTV-L can achieve desirable early-game positions and move quickly around the map when necessary.

Like most light tanks, this vehicle is lacking in the protection department. It has thin armour in all directions, which is not backup up by any spaced or composite protection, and is susceptible to hull-break. In some situations, the armour may be thin enough that kinetic rounds overpenetrate and pass straight through the vehicle without causing much damage. And, the highly-angled armour can sometimes bounce shots. In most cases though, the HSTV-L cannot be counted on to sustain heavy fire.

This tank is fairly unique in that it is equipped with an autoloader with a 6-round ready-rack. This means that the first 6 shots fired from the HSTV-L can come in very rapid succession--the reload time for these shells is a mere 1.5 seconds. After these first rounds, the ready-rack is empty and the reload rate increases dramatically. The player must take this into account when deciding which enemies to engage. The HSTV-L can pull off short bursts of high firepower, but needs time to replenish its ready-rack. The shell itself, an APFSDS round, is decent, but may have trouble penetrating the frontal armour of top MBTs. This combined with the vehicle's poor armour means that head-on attacks are rarely advisable.

The HSTV-L is better suited to firing at enemies without their noticing--from ambush positions, from the flanks, and from behind corners. The vehicle's great mobility will aid with this playstyle. Indeed, its mobility is what makes the HSTV-L great on urban maps. Furthermore, in ambush situations the tank is able to easily deal with multiple enemies thanks to its fast ready-rack reload. This tank has a 45 degree gun elevation and a 17 degree gun depression. This gun depression is extremely powerful, and makes the vehicle very effective at hill camping and at firing from behind ridgelines. A thermal sight in both gunner and commander/binocular views makes the HSTV-L a great scouting vehicle. It is recommended to use the vehicle's high mobility to aid in scouting enemies for teammates to locate and destroy.

Modules

Tier	Mobility		Protection	Firepower
I	Tracks		Parts	Horizontal Drive
II	Suspension	Brake System	FPE	Adjustment of Fire	Airstrike
III	Filters		Crew Replenishment	Elevation Mechanism	Laser rangefinder	Smoke grenade
IV	Transmission	Engine		Artillery Support	Improved optics	NVD

Pros and cons

Pros:

• Good mobility, is on par with MBTs
• Powerful gun with one of the fastest reload times in the game of 1.5 seconds
• Due to its light armour, some kinetic rounds may over penetrate, leaving it untouched
• Excellent urban fighting vehicle as in up-tiers, side shots are much more effective
• Can bounce multiple shots due to extremely angled armour
• Internal 30 mm armour can help protect crew
• Thermal sight for both gunner and commander = Great scouting vehicle
• Up to 45° elevation and -17° depression.

Cons:

• As with all light vehicles, it is susceptible to the "Hull Break" mechanic
• Commander's cupola can be penetrated by heavy machine gun fire
• Limited ammo, at only 26 rounds
• Extremely poor ammo selection; can only fire APFSDS
• APFSDS round has problems penetrating frontal armour of later MBTs
• The APFSDS shell is designated as short-rod, causing minimum damage after penetration
• Very inaccurate gun makes long-range engagements very hard.

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 HSTV-L from live.warthunder.com.

Videos

The Shooting Range #203 - Metal Beasts section at 00:30 discusses the HSTV-L.

HSTV-L - Tank History and Review - Spookston

Best experimental vehicles discusses the HSTV-L at 4:00 - War Thunder Official Channel

See also

Links to the articles on the War Thunder Wiki that you think will be useful for the reader, for example:

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

External links

• [Devblog] HSTV-L: View of Tomorrow