R.35 (SA38)

R.35 (SA38)

D2

R.35 (SA38)

D2

France

I Rank

Battle rating:

AB	RB	SB
1.0	1.0	1.0

Class:

Light tank

Research:2 900

Purchase:700

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Description

The Char léger d'accompagnement 1935 R (SA38) was the most common tank in the French Armed Forces at the start of WWII, with 900 units in active service. The tank was doctrinally intended for infantry support, being fielded in infantry tank battalions, as such, the vehicle had a very poor anti-tank performance. Not all R.35s received the SA 38 gun, instead, H.35s and H.39s had priority in this aspect. A limited version of the R.35 sometimes referred as R.40 saw limited service. A few were used by the French Resistance during the fall of Paris in 1944.

It was introduced in Update 1.75 "La Résistance" as the R.39 and was subsequently renamed R.35 (SA38) in Update 1.89 "Imperial Navy". The R.35 is in many ways similar to the other light tanks in the lower French tech tree; mobility is exchanged for thicker armour. It also has the other well-known features like a one-man turret and a decent gun with poor post-penetration damage. The reload time is longer than that of most tanks at its rank, but this is usually overcome by its low silhouette and thick side armour. It shares many of its shortcomings with other French tanks of rank I, so players should already be used to the playstyle. It is overall a decent vehicle, with very potent armour and a sluggish top speed.

General info

Survivability and armour

Armourfront / side / back

Hull43 / 40 / 32

Turret45 / 40 / 40

Crew2 people

Visibility72 %

With good armour thickness and surprising hull angles, this tank can take some beating at a distance, provided you do not get a lucky shot in the turret ring or that you face a heavy-hitting gun. This should get you into effective combat ranges (500- m) in relative safety. The most obvious weak spot is its turret flat left side, which is only 45 mm thick and badly angled, this makes hull-down position ineffective.

With its heavy side armour, one should use angles at its advantages and angle it at about 35° while facing opponents. Such an angling gives about 60 mm of effective thickness for 80% of the exposed area.

In an ambush position, this tank could face its opponents backwards (engine deck first). This unusual tactic could confuse enemies for a moment and provide extra protection as your engine may absorb shots. This will also decrease the chances of a lucky penetration : if turret is facing enemy, almost 90% of exposed surfaces have ~60 + mm of LoS thickness. If danger gets too high, you could give it the gas and "fly" away in forward motion.

Armour type:

• Cast homogeneous armour (hull, turret, cupola)
• Rolled homogeneous armour (front glacis, engine vents)
• Structural steel (mudguards, trench-crossing tail, storage boxes, exhaust cover)

Armour	Front (Slope angle)	Sides	Rear	Roof
Hull	32 mm (23-61°) Upper plate 32 mm (23°) Driver hatch 25 mm (74°) Front glacis 32 mm (24-26°) Lower plate 32 mm (cylindrical) Lower glacis	40 mm (4-28°) Top 40 mm Bottom	40 mm (12°) Top 40 mm (33°) Bottom	25 mm (16°) Front glacis 25 mm Centre 25 mm (1-6°) Rear 5 mm Engine vents
Turret	45 mm (4-28°) Turret front 45 mm (28-30°) Left side 25 mm (10-11°) + 45 mm (4°) Gun mantlet	40 mm (0-28°)	40 mm (30°)	25 mm (22°) Front 25 mm Centre and rear
Cupola	40 mm (cylindrical) Base 40 mm (spherical) Dome

Notes:

• Suspension wheels, bogies and tracks are 15 mm thick.
• The trench-crossing tail is 5 mm thick and the mudguards are 4 mm thick.

Mobility

Speedforward / back

AB23 / 4 km/h

RB and SB20 / 3 km/h

Number of gears4 forward

1 back

Weight11.0 t

Engine power

AB156 hp

RB and SB82 hp

Power-to-weight ratio

AB14.2 hp/t

RB and SB7.5 hp/t

Game Mode	Max Speed (km/h)		Weight (tons)	Engine power (horsepower)		Power-to-weight ratio (hp/ton)
	Forward	Reverse		Stock	Upgraded	Stock	Upgraded
Arcade	23	4	11	89	156	8.09	14.18
Realistic	20	3		73	82	6.64	7.45

The mobility is the R.35 (SA38)'s biggest weakness: while it does not like long-range engagements and needs to close-up with its foes in order to damage them, its very low speed will always leave it far behind its allies. With its narrow tracks and poor power ratio (8.09 HP/ton), the R.35 (SA38) hates being taken out in the mud as its speeds fall drastically. 20 km/h forward and -3 km/h backwards is all you'll get from this struggling 73 HP engine. Plan your moves in advance and do not stay too near to the front line as a successful retreat is hard to achieve with such a slow tank.

Modifications and economy

Repair costBasic → Reference

AB106 → 136

RB95 → 122

SB111 → 142

Total cost of modifications2 970

890

Talisman cost190

Crew training200

Experts1 000

Aces20

Research Aces96 000

Reward for battleAB / RB / SB

10 / 10 / 20 %

100 / 100 / 100 %

Modifications

Mobility	Protection	Firepower
Tracks Research: 200 Cost: 60 50 Suspension Research: 165 Cost: 50 40 Brake System Research: 165 Cost: 50 40 Filters Research: 250 Cost: 75 65 Transmission Research: 320 Cost: 95 80 Engine Research: 320 Cost: 95 80	Improved Parts Research: 200 Cost: 60 50 Improved FPE Research: 165 Cost: 50 40 Crew Replenishment Research: 250 Cost: 75 65	Horizontal Drive Research: 200 Cost: 60 50 Adjustment of Fire Research: 165 Cost: 50 40 Elevation Mechanism Research: 250 Cost: 75 65 Artillery Support Research: 320 Cost: 95 80

Armaments

Main armament

37 mm SA38 L/33 cannon

Shoulder stabilizer

Reduces the swing of the gun in one plane while moving

Ammunition58 rounds

Reloadbasic crew → aces

5.2 → 4.0 s

Vertical guidance-8° / 12°

37 mm SA38 L/33					Turret rotation speed (°/s)					Reloading rate (seconds)
Mode	Capacity	Vertical	Horizontal	Stabilizer	Stock	Upgraded	Full	Expert	Aced	Stock	Full	Expert	Aced
Arcade	58	-8°/+12°	±180°	Shoulder	14.9	20.7	25.1	27.8	29.6	5.20	4.60	4.24	4.00
Realistic					9.3	11.0	13.3	14.8	15.7

The 37 mm SA38 cannon has significantly better penetration and post-penetration damage than its predecessor, but has a longer reload rate than its peers. Know the layout of enemy vehicles well, target their gunners first or immobilize them by shooting at the engine, and make every shot count. Avoid exchanging shots at long distances as your gun's penetration values decrease heavily beyond 500 m. The turret traverse speed is also an issue since you'll not be able to react in time to flanking opponents.

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
Mle1938	APC	54	50	36	24	16	11

Shell details
Ammunition	Type of warhead	Velocity (m/s)	Projectile mass (kg)	Fuse delay	Fuse sensitivity (mm)	Explosive mass (TNT equivalent) (g)	Ricochet
							0%	50%	100%
Mle1938	APC	705	0.7	-	-	-	48°	63°	71°

Ammo racks

Ammo racks of the R.35 (SA38)

Full ammo	1st rack empty	2nd rack empty	Visual discrepancy
58	45 (+13)	1 (+57)	No

Note:

• As they are modeled by sets of 2, shells disappear from the rack only after you fire both shells in the set.

Machine guns

7.5 mm MAC 31 machine gun (coaxial)

Ammunition1 800 rounds

Belt capacity150 rounds

Reloadbasic crew → aces

6.5 → 5.0 s

Fire rate551 shots/min

7.5 mm MAC 31
Mount	Capacity (Belt)	Fire rate	Vertical	Horizontal
Coaxial	1,800 (150)	551	N/A	N/A

The small calibre of the MAC 31 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

Gameplay summary:

The R.35 is a decent light tank for its battle rating, so long as it is played with the right tactics. The most important aspect of R.35 gameplay is armour angling. Being that the side armour is actually thicker than the front armour, angling at 45 degrees or more is ideal. The tank is not particularly quick which means flanking is generally difficult. Sticking with your team is therefore the best strategy. Generally, medium range engagements are ideal, though it can hold its ground in other scenarios. Its low silhouette can also be used to hide behind obstacles, go hull-down and slip below an enemies' gun depression angle.

Close Range Engagements:

The R.35 is capable at close range, although the slow reload can cause issues. The armour if angled correctly may bounce enemy rounds even at point blank range, however the R.35 must disable the enemy tank with the first shot. Most enemies that the R.35 will face have a faster reload, and may be able to outmanoeuvre it, as the R.35 is somewhat slow. This means that getting too close to the enemy is a mistake, always maintain some distance with quick enemies. The tank however does turn surprisingly quick compared to its underwhelming turret traverse, so if you want to have your gun on target quicker in a brawl you can just turn your entire vehicle to line up your gun with the enemy's soft spots.

Long Range Engagements:

The R.35 will struggle to deal damage at long range, the cannon having mediocre penetration and reload. However staying at range can also be a good strategy, as enemies may struggle to penetrate the armour of the R.35 as well. The gun doesn't outshine its common adversaries at range, but considering your enemy is very likely to possess armour inferior to the R.35's, you can still beat most vehicles at this rank (except tank destroyers).

Notable Enemies:

Some notable enemies include: any German vehicles that use 20 mm autocannons, these include Panzer II and Flankpanzer tanks. Their autocannons will easily destroy the R.35 if the armour is not angled. Additionally, the R.35 struggles to penetrate Panzer II tanks.

Additionally, the R.35 will be easily penetrated by enemy vehicles equipped with the American 37 mm M3 cannon, the British QF 2-pounder gun, or the Swedish 37 mm kan m/38 gun.

Pros and cons

Pros:

• Gun with a good penetration power
• Has decent sloped hull armour
• Has a very thick gun mantlet area
• Thick sides allows for heavy angling

Cons:

• Thin turret ring.
• Limited crew count: 2 members (easy to immobilize with a single shot)
• Extremely low speed, with bad cross-country and hill-climbing ability
• Awful reverse speed of -3 km/h
• Single type of ammunition, with no explosive filler
• Slow reload speed

History

The Char Leger 1935 Renault (Renault Light Tank model 1935), armed with the SA 18 short 37 mm gun, was the most common French tank at the onset of the war in Europe, with 900 on active service in infantry tank battalions in May, 1940. However, like its competitor H.35, its gun was known to be unsatisfactory as an anti-tank weapon.

Only a few of these R.35s could be converted to the improved SA 38 main gun prior to the fall of France, with the H.35s and H.39s of the cavalry receiving priority. It is known the 1st (Free) Polish Tank Regiment in France near Paris did receive some converted R.35s in May, 1940. These upgunned R.35 tanks are sometimes referred to (erroneously) as the R.39.

Concurrently, in 1939, AMX had developed a new type of track and suspension for the R.35, which had continued to be produced. This new variant, also armed with the SA 38, and sometimes designated the R.40, had gone into production in March, 1940. It saw limited service, but it is known the 40th and 48th tank battalions had received 30 each, and the 1st Polish as many as another 25, in time to serve in the invasion and fall of France. Some of these were still around to be seized by French Resistance forces during the fall of Paris in 1944.

Media

Images

• 

Skins

• Skins and camouflages for the R.35 (SA38) from live.warthunder.com.

Videos

Char léger d'accompagnement 1939 R, French, Tier-1, Light Tank - Angry Nerd Gaming

See also

Other vehicles of similar configuration and role

• H.39
• H.39 "Cambronne"

External links

• [Wikipedia] Renault R35
• [Tanks Encyclopedia] Renault R35/40