Lorraine 40t

Lorraine 40t

▄M26

Char 25t

Lorraine 40t

▄M26

Char 25t

France

V Rank

Battle rating:

AB	RB	SB
7.0	7.7	7.3

Class:

Medium tank

Research:95 000

Purchase:270 000

Show in game

Description

The Char de bataille de 40 tonnes (40 tons battle tank), also known as the Lorraine 40t (Lorraine is both a region of France and the company that made this tank), is a Rank V French medium tank with a battle rating of 7.0 (AB), 7.7 (RB), and 7.3 (SB). It was introduced in Update 1.75 "La Résistance". Introducing tremendous firepower at its BR with its 100 mm SA46 L/58 gun on a highly mobile chassis. Unfortunately, it is plagued with poor armour, which encourages a battle role more similar to that of a light tank.

The Lorraine is one of the best representative of rank IV French medium tanks: it has good mobility, an oscillating turret (fitted with an autoloader), sloped armour in front and back, high hull, high gun placement, good gun depression, 4 crew member, a coaxial MAC 31 machinegun and large tracks. Specifically, the Lorraine distinguishes itself by having a pike nose, similar to that of an IS-3, road wheels instead of metal ones and it is the first French vehicle to be able to consistently pierce more than 200 mm of armour at standard combat ranges and it can do it seven times a minute.

Even if its armour pattern is very efficient, with strong and well-designed angles, it is only at most 40 mm thick, meaning it will only bounce HMG fire. The best way to protect this tank is staying away from the action and taking down its foes as far as possible.

This "medium" tank actually behaves as a light one: high top speed and acceleration, good turning rate (neutral steering) and awesome hill climbing capacity. Use its mobility to follow light tanks into large flanking manoeuvres, providing them an extra punch for scouted targets. In a more "static" usage (i.e. once in good position), its good reverse speed should get it fast enough into cover and out of bad situations if required.

General info

Survivability and armour

Armour type:

• Rolled homogeneous armour (Casemate hull)
• Cast homogeneous armour (Gun mantlet, Driver's hatch)

Armour	Front	Sides	Rear	Roof
Hull	40 mm (57-69°) Front glacis 35 mm (59°) Lower glacis 40 mm (69°) Driver's hatch	30 mm (30°) Top 30 mm Bottom	25 mm (31°)	20 mm 8 mm Engine grille
Turret	45 mm (52-64°) Turret front 30 mm (20-53°) Turret base 50 mm (9-83°) Barrel shroud	30 mm (0-56°) Turret 30 mm (0-28°) Turret base	30 mm (1-29°) Turret bustle 30 mm (6-22°) Pivot ball 20 mm (72-89°) Turret underside	20 mm
Armour	Sides	Roof
Cupola	30 mm	20 mm

Notes:

• Suspension wheels are 20 mm thick while tracks are 30 mm thick.

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	66	27	39.7	1317	1,622	33.17	40.86
Realistic	59	25		752	850	18.94	21.41

Armaments

Main armament

100 mm SA47 L/58
Capacity			Vertical guidance	Horizontal guidance	Stabilizer
49			-8°/+15°	±180°	N/A
Turret rotation speed (°/s)
Mode	Stock	Upgraded	Prior + Full crew	Prior + Expert qualif.	Prior + Ace qualif.
Arcade	28.6	__.__	__.__	__.__	__.__
Realistic	17.9	__.__	__.__	__.__	__.__
Reloading rate (seconds)
Stock	Prior + Full crew	Prior + Expert qualif.	Prior + Ace qualif.
4.0	__.__	__.__	__.__

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
100 mm Obus de rupture	APCBC	273	270	257	242	228	215
100 mm Obus explosif	HE	18	18	18	18	18	18

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%
100 mm Obus de rupture	APCBC	1,000	15.0	N/A	N/A	N/A	48°	63°	71°
100 mm Obus explosif	HE	1,000	15.0	0.1	0.5	1,400	79°	80°	81°

Ammo racks

Ammo racks of the Lorraine 40t

Full ammo	1st rack empty	2nd rack empty	3rd rack empty	4th rack empty	5th rack empty	6th rack empty	7th rack empty	8th rack empty	9th rack empty	Visual discrepancy
49	46 (+3)	41 (+8)	35 (+14)	29 (+20)	24 (+25)	19 (+30)	14 (+35)	7 (+42)	1 (+48)	No

Machine guns

7.5 mm MAC 31
Coaxial mount
Capacity (Belt capacity)				Fire rate (shots/minute)	Vertical guidance	Horizontal guidance
4,800 (150)				1,350	N/A	N/A

Usage in battles

The Lorraine 40t can be used in a lot of combat roles as it has great mobility, weapon, silohuette and has an autoloader. When it comes to medium tanks in 7.0, it is one of the tanks which has a relative low armor penetration, but this does not stop the Lorraine from performing excellent at some roles.

When in urban combat:

The Lorraine just lacks stabilizer to be one of the best tanks in urban combat. It is capable of doing everything but being an assault tank when it comes to ubran maps. The Lorraine should be used as a support vehicle for heavier vehicles, flanker or sniper (in maps like Eastern Europe). Thanks to the 4.0 second reload with autoloader, the Lorraine is able of engaging multiple targets at a time with its turret rotation speed of 21.0°/s, be aware that the autoloader is a revolver autoloader, meaning the barrel has to be replentished after all the rounds have been fired. You can use your gun as a bait as well. Meaning you can fire a single round at the air to make enemies push as they will think you will be reloading slowly but by the time they have sight on you you will be able to fire them multiple times and incapacitate or destroy them. It also should be noted that the autloader will reload regardless if you are on fire or the loader is dead, at least 1 crew memeber should be alive at the turret in order to reload. Thanks to its speed and agility, the Lorraine is able to "Hit N' Run" when flanking and engaging multimple targets at a time.

When in rural combat:

The Lorraine has almost the mobility of an M18 but with greater firepower. The relatively high muzzle velocity of the gun makes the Lorraine capable of doing sniping attacks and hit them continiously thanks to the autoloader. Thanks to its mobility, it is able to travel with great speed to one side of the map to another in little time. When sniping, always stay on the move after firing. Fire and move, hence and repeat. This is to maintain the Lorraine's profile reduced when enemy players try to make revenge with tanks or with aircrafts. Do not stay too far from friendly tanks as they will be your main defense line as you do not have great armor. Always stay aware of your surroundings.

Modules

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

Pros and cons

Pros:

• Very mobile
• Excellent penetration from the gun
• High top speed
• Fast reverse speed
• Sloped frontal armour, a similar pattern to that of an IS-3
• Great conical fragmentation from the gun. Frontal penetrations/centre of mass shots are deadly
• Very fast turret rotation speed, almost as fast as some SPAA
• Excellent flanker
• Powerful gun with fast reload rate
• 7 rounds autoloader allows engaging multiple threats before having to "long reload"
• Good gun depression angle
• Neutral steering

Cons:

• Thin frontal armour
• Lack of explosive filler in the round
• Conical fragmentation makes side shots less effective
• Side armour is flat and thin
• Very high repair costs (similar to that of MBTs)
• Filled with ammo
• Bad turret elevation angle
• Thin top armour, vulnerable to strafing planes and artillery

History

At the end of the 1940s, during development of the AMX-50 heavy tank project, French engineers also decided to try creating a lighter tank that could serve the same role as the AMX-50.

The project was initially designated “40 ton battle tank”. Later, the vehicle was called the Lorraine 40t, based upon the name of the region in which the experimental prototypes of it were built. The tank used many of the same technological developments of the experimental AMX prototypes, and was clearly influenced by the German Tiger II, Panther/E-50, and the Soviet IS tanks.

With armor plating at a maximum thickness of 45mm, the Lorraine 40t isn’t as well armored as the AMX-50. The designers, however, set the armor plates on the Lorraine 40t at clever angles and implemented a chevron shape for the front of the hull (for which the tank is known). This effectively armored the most vulnerable parts of the front projection and effectively exceeded the equivalent of 90mm armor..

In addition, the Lorraine 40t’s lighter armor significantly reduced its weight, thereby increasing its speed and allowing the use of steel paired roller wheels with bulletproof tires. Combined with the 850 horsepower German Maybach engine, the Lorraine 40t could reach 60 km/h, move smoothly and fire effectively at low speeds.

Two prototypes of the Lorraine 40t were completed in 1952. But the tank never reached production.

Media

Skins

• Skins and camouflages for the Lorraine 40t from live.warthunder.com.

Videos

The Shooting Range #79 - War Machines section at 00:42 discusses the Lorraine 40t.

Top 7 off-road beasts discusses the Lorraine 40t at 1:31 - War Thunder Official Channel

Best medium tanks discusses the Lorraine 40t at 4:01 - War Thunder Official Channel

Best experimental vehicles discusses the Lorraine 40t at 2:51 - 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] Lorraine 40t: Sports Heavy