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

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

The HSTV-L is a very lightly-armoured vehicle. The HSTV-L also has hull break, if any "solid" module were to get hit (e.g. gun breech or engine/transmission) the vehicle will be hull broken. Depending on where you get shot you might lose 1 crew member but you will still be alive. If you get shot on the left side of the vehicle from the front, the chances of your ammo rack detonating greatly increases. Best case scenario for this vehicle is to not get hit in the first place.

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	93	28	20	1,007	1,240	50.35	62
Realistic	84	25		575	650	28.75	32.5

The HSTV-L has a very good power-to-weight ratio making the vehicle decently fast. The vehicle utilizes a 648 HP gas turbine engine. The HSTV-L is very manoeuvrable due to the gas turbine engine and can get to flanking spots early in the game.

Armaments

Main armament

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	2.2	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

The HSTV-L has 2 M240 machine guns. One is fixed to the gun mantlet and the other is mounted on the Commander's cupola. These machine guns can be used to mark enemies for your allies and can also be used to shoot down some lighter aircraft, but be careful as shooting them will give away your location and can result in them strafing and destroying your vehicle.

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	__°	190°

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 backed 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. The highly-angled armour can also 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 time 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:

• The cannon has a very good ROF with a 1.5s reload
• 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
• 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.
• Very good gun handling

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
• The cannon has relatively low penetration
• Average mobility even with 32hp/t and low ground pressure

History

The HSTVL was a "concept" or test vehicle of advanced systems and armour. The Army was interested in newly emerging technologies and their application to light combat vehicles increased, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) funded the development of a 20-ton, high-survivability test vehicle (HSTV-L). The HSTV(L) prototype was completed in 1980 with a crew of 2 or 3, the HSTV-L was a full track and powered by a 650-hp gas turbine engine coupled through a special gear box to an X-300 transmission and was mounted the developmental 75mm Medium Caliber Anti-Armor Automatic Cannon, and a highly advanced, variable fire control system incorporating a "hunter- killer" target acquisition capability.

The HSTV-L was developed to allow the Armour & Engineer Board to test a lightweight system which combined all the features necessary to make it an effective anti-armour assault or defensive system. Results of HSTV-L testing were combined with the HIMAG and used in future lightweight system requirements such as the Mobile Protected Gun System Program, its testing was more operational than engineering. HSTV-L was a test bed that closely resembled a lightweight armored combat vehicle of the type that might be fielded by the Army or Marine Corps. It would test the ability of two and three man crews to perform their tests in a variety of environments, examine the contribution to target servicing of a hunter-killer fire control system, and gather engineering data peculiar to a lighter weight vehicle (16-20 tons) than HIMAG. HSTV-L also experienced delays in development, delays in hardware and instrumentation availability were not unexpected. Uncertainties and risks are associated with any high technology endeavor. The vehicle did not enter service but was further developed in to the RDF/LT.

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
• https://apps.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/a236965.pdf
• https://www.globalsecurity.org/military/systems/ground/hstv-