75/46 M43

75/46 M43

▄StuG III G

M36B1

75/46 M43

▄StuG III G

M36B1

Italy

III Rank

Battle rating:

AB	RB	SB
4.7	4.7	4.7

Class:

Tank destroyer

Research:40 000

Purchase:135 000

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Description

The Semovente 75/46 M43 is a rank III Italian tank destroyer with a battle rating of 4.7 (AB/RB/SB). It was introduced in Update 1.85 "Supersonic".

General info

Survivability and armour

Armour type:

• Rolled homogeneous armour (hull, casemate)
• Cast homogeneous armour (gun mantlet)

Armour	Front (Slope angle)	Sides	Rear	Roof
Hull	25 mm (78°) Upper glacis 50 mm (40°) Lower glacis - top 30 mm (50°) Lower glacis - bottom	40 mm 40 + 25 + 4 mm Casemate area 40 + 4 mm Side skirts area	25 mm Upper part 25 mm (15°) Lower part	25 mm (12°) Front glacis 10-15 mm (12°) Rear - Engine hood 5-15 mm (5°) Rear - Radiator vents
Casemate	75 mm (5°) + 25 mm (25°) Casemate front plate 90 mm (5°) + 25 mm (25°) Driver port 60 + 30 mm (spherical) + 25 mm (25°) Gun mantlet	45 mm (7-9°) + 25 mm	45 mm	15 mm (0-4°) Centre 15 mm (18°) Sides

Notes:

• Suspension wheels are 15 mm thick while tracks are 20 mm thick and bogies 10 mm thick.
• The belly is 15 mm thick.
• Mudguards are 4 mm thick.

The 75/46 M43 has the same protection as the 75/34 M43 but sits at a much higher battle rating, making its armour increase useless. The vertical front armour plate is wide, easy to target and not thick enough to stop most shells. The sides are weak and the roof armour is poor. The lower glacis offers little protection, although shots that penetrate this area will often be absorbed by the transmission, saving the tank at the cost of its mobility.

The armour is ineffective, with Allied guns such as the British 17-pdr, US 76 mm M1 and Soviet 85mm D-5T guns being able to reliably penetrate the vehicle at long range even when your vehicle is angled. The small crew of 3 also means that APHE shells will disable several crew members when they get through its armour.

As with most tank-destroyers, the vehicles' side and rear armour do little to protect it in case of a flank, and players should always look to keep their nose pointed toward the enemy.

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	42	4	15.7	263	353	16.75	22.48
Realistic	39	4		164	185	10.45	11.78

The 75/46 M43 has reasonable mobility for a tank destroyer, being able to hit and maintain around 37 km/h when driving off-road on level ground. The vehicle has a slow reverse speed however, only reaching -4 km/h in its single gear.

Despite its lack of neutral steering, the 75/46 M43 can traverse its hull reasonably quickly from a full stop, greatly helping to overcome its lack of a turret.

Armaments

Main armament

75 mm OTO 75/43 mod.40					Turret rotation speed (°/s)					Reloading rate (seconds)
Mode	Capacity	Vertical	Horizontal	Stabilizer	Stock	Upgraded	Full	Expert	Aced	Stock	Full	Expert	Aced
Arcade	42	-10°/+16°	±18°	N/A	12.3	17.1	20.7	22.9	24.4	7.80	6.79	6.25	6.00
Realistic					8.3	9.8	11.9	13.2	14.0

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
Granate Perforante mod.39	APCBC	151	148	135	121	108	96
Granata mod.34	HE	10	10	10	10	10	10

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%
Granate Perforante mod.39	APCBC	792	6.8	1.2	14	28.9	48°	63°	71°
Granata mod.34	HE	550	5.74	0.1	0.1	686	79°	80°	81°

Ammo racks

Ammo racks of the 75/46 M43

Full ammo	1st rack empty	2nd rack empty	Visual discrepancy
42	25 (+17)	1 (+41)	No

Notes:

• Shells are modeled individually and disappear after having been shot or loaded.

Machine guns

8 mm Breda Mod. 38
Mount	Capacity (Belt)	Fire rate	Vertical	Horizontal
Pintle mount	504 (24)	600	-10°/+80°	±90°

The small calibre of the Breda Mod. 38 machine gun makes it largely ineffective against all armoured vehicles but the ones with an open compartment. It still can be used to ping targets as a rangefinding help or to mow down minor obstacles blocking your line of sight.

Usage in battles

The Semovente is usually most effective when remaining at a distance, where its powerful gun and strong frontal armour can do their best work. A player should ideally look to exploit the tanks' small frontal profile and reasonable mobility to get into strong position's on the enemies' flank. The 75mm gun's high velocity, good reload and post-penetration effectiveness make it ideal for attacking enemy tanks from the side, where it can easily penetrate their side armour even in a full up-tier. This normally represents the safest way to play the vehicle.

Players can be considerably more aggressive when top-rank however. Most adversaries at 4.3 or below will struggle to stop the Semoventes' gun with their frontal armour, and the vehicles' fast traverse time and low profile can allow it to quickly take out an unaware enemy, even in close quarters.

The most dangerous adversaries for the Semovente are either heavy tanks with extremely thick and angled armour, or vehicles with powerful APCBC shells that can defeat its frontal plate. Sherman Jumbos have the frontal armour to stop the Semoventes' gun, with their only weakspot being their machine gun port or their turret ring, both of which represent very small targets. A Jumbo in a hull-down position represents an incredibly difficult target for the Semovente, although its short-barrelled gun will have trouble penetrating the Italian tanks' frontal plate.

Heavy Soviet tanks such as the KV-1 and the rarer IS-1 are also tough opponents for the Semovente, with the KV best shot through the turret cheeks or the machine-gun port when angled. While the IS-1 has a far better gun than either the KV-1 or the Jumbo, its vulnerable turret ring can allow the Semovente to bypass its extremely thick frontal armour.

Modules

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

Pros and cons

Pros:

• Powerful gun with effective penetration and post-penetration damage, high velocity and accuracy, and a decent reload.
• Strong frontal armour that can be easily angled
• Unlike nearly every other Semovente, the guns' best shell is available immediately
• Small frontal profile makes the tank easy to conceal and difficult to hit
• Decent mobility and good hull traverse
• One of relatively few tank-destroyers to mount a machine-gun, allowing players to find and mark targets

Cons:

• Armour becomes much less effective when uptiered against stronger vehicles
• The Italian tech tree lacks effective partners for the Semovente, meaning players are often forced to rely on weaker vehicles once the tank is knocked out, unless they want to be dragged into higher-rank games
• As a casemate tank destroyer, the Semovente is extremely vulnerable to flanks
• The tank lacks any other ammunition choice outside of its (admittedly very good) APHE and lacklustre HE, meaning players do not have the option of switching to an AP or APCR round for tougher opponents when necessary
• A cramped interior and only 3 crew lessens survivablilty

History

Development

The 75/46 M43 is a German-designed variant of the Semovente 105/25, with improved armour and using the German Pak 40 anti-tank gun in place of the original 105 mm howitzer. Due to the low production output of the Italian-licensed version of the gun, only eleven 75/46 M43 were built, while others were outfitted with the available Italian 75 mm Ansaldo L/34 gun, leading to the production of the 75/34 M43 tank destroyer.

Combat usage

They only saw service with German forces in Italy in late 1944 and 1945.

Media

Skins

• Skins and camouflages for the 75/46 M43 from live.warthunder.com.

Videos

75/46 M43 Review, The Stug 3G's italian brother! - Joseph 2000

See also

Vehicles equipped with the same chassis

• 105/25 M43 / M43 "G.C.Leoncello"
• 75/34 M43

Other vehicles of similar configuration and role

• Jagdpanzer 38(t)
• Jagdpanzer IV
• SU-85

External links

• [Wikipedia] Semovente da 75/46