M8 LAC (China)

This page is about the light tank M8 LAC (China). For other versions, see M8 Greyhound (Family). For other uses, see M8 (Disambiguation).

␗M8 LAC

␗M3A3 Stuart

␗M8 LAC

␗M3A3 Stuart

China

I Rank

Battle rating:

AB	RB	SB
1.0	1.0	1.0

Class:

Light tank

Research:Free

Purchase:Free

Show in game

Description

The ␗Light Armored Car M8 is a rank I Chinese light tank with a battle rating of 1.0 (AB/RB/SB). It was introduced in Update 1.91 "Night Vision". It is identical to the American M8 Greyhound.

General info

Survivability and armour

Armourfront / side / back

Hull19 / 9 / 5

Turret19 / 19 / 19

Crew4 people

Visibility80 %

This vehicle's intended design leaves us with only 12.7 mm of armour at a 59° angle slope at the front hull, Side hull is only protected with 9.5 mm. And the strongest part being the gun mantlet with 25 mm added to 19.1 mm of turret armour. As a result this vehicle is only protected against rifle-calibre MG fire, with the sides easily penetrated by heavy MG fire. Although this may prove an advantage when fighting against shells with delayed fuse. The crew is very tight, so one AP shell at the center could knock out everyone inside, but notice that there is a huge gap between the driving compartment and the fighting compartment, meaning it will absorb plenty of shells and saving the player from being destroyed quickly. There are some rounds stored at the turret, and at the vehicle's floor, bringing less rounds eliminates the rounds stored in the turret. Also keep in mind that it is an open top vehicle, making it vulnerable to artillery and aerial attacks.

Armour type:

• Rolled homogeneous armour (hull)
• Cast homogeneous armour (turret, gun mantlet)
• Structural steel (mudguard, storage boxes, gun breech)
• Wheels (tires)

Armour	Front (Slope angle)	Sides	Rear	Roof
Hull	12.7 mm (59°) Upper Glacis 15.9 mm (29°) Lower Glacis 19.1 mm (44°) Upper Plate	9.5 mm (17-19°)	5-9.5 mm	6.35 mm (0-6°)
Turret	19.1 mm (conical) Turret front 25.4 mm (15°) + 19.1 mm (conical) Gun mantlet	19.1 mm (conical)		N/A

Notes:

• The turret is open-topped, but the very front portion is covered by 6.35 mm
• Wheels are 10 mm thick
• Belly armour is 6.35 mm thick.
• The gun breech is 150 mm thick.
• Additional 4 mm mudguards and storage boxes cover most of the hull sides

Mobility

Speedforward / back

AB101 / 15 km/h

RB and SB91 / 13 km/h

Number of gears8 forward

2 back

Weight7.9 t

Engine power

AB210 hp

RB and SB110 hp

Power-to-weight ratio

AB26.6 hp/t

RB and SB13.9 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	101	15	7.9	129	210	16.33	26.58
Realistic	91	13		97	110	12.28	13.92

While it has poor armour and survivability, the M8 LAC (China) excels in terms of mobility. As a wheeled vehicle it reaches 60 km/h on road in arcade with stock modules and 40 km/h off road.

On realistic it reaches 38 km/h off road, and 55 km/h on road with 7 gears, it also has -12 km/h reverse speed on two reverse gears.

Modifications and economy

Repair cost

ABfree

RBfree

SBfree

Total cost of modifications3 730

174

Talisman cost190

Crew trainingfree

Experts1 000

Aces10

Research Aces80 000

Reward for battleAB / RB / SB

10 / 10 / 10 %

100 / 100 / 100 %

Modifications

Mobility	Protection	Firepower
Tires Research: 330 Cost: 15 35 Suspension Brake System Research: 380 Cost: 17 40 Filters Transmission Engine Research: 720 Cost: 35 75	Improved Parts Improved FPE Crew Replenishment	Horizontal Drive Research: 330 Cost: 15 35 37mm_usa_m3_APC_ammo_pack Research: 330 Cost: 15 35 Adjustment of Fire Research: 380 Cost: 17 40 Elevation Mechanism Research: 540 Cost: 25 60 Artillery Support Research: 720 Cost: 35 75

Armaments

Main armament

37 mm M6 cannon

Ammunition80 rounds

Reloadbasic crew → aces

4.6 → 3.5 s

Vertical guidance-10° / 20°

37 mm M6					Turret rotation speed (°/s)					Reloading rate (seconds)
Mode	Capacity	Vertical	Horizontal	Stabilizer	Stock	Upgraded	Full	Expert	Aced	Stock	Full	Expert	Aced
Arcade	80	-10°/+20°	±180°	Shoulder	19.0	26.4	32.0	35.4	37.6	4.55	4.03	3.71	3.50
Realistic					11.9	14.0	17.0	18.8	20.0

The M8 LAC is armed with an 37 mm M6 cannon as its main armament. This is a small calibre fast-firing gun with a maximum penetration of 84 mm at 100 m (M51B1/B2 shell), being able to penetrate almost all the opponents it will ever face. While it lacks the post-penetration damage to one-shot most enemy, it can quickly finish them off with its fast reload. The penetration and trajectory drops a lot beyond 500 m. Note that the gun has a vertical stabiliser, giving the player a huge advantage in some cases, but keep in mind that the stabiliser only works when the tank is slower than 10 km/h.

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
M74B1	AP	79	76	65	54	45	37
M51B1/B2	APCBC	87	84	73	60	50	41

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%
M74B1	AP	883	0.87	N/A	N/A	N/A	47°	60°	65°
M51B1/B2	APCBC	883	0.87	N/A	N/A	N/A	48°	63°	71°

Ammo racks

Ammo racks of the M8 LAC (China)

Full ammo	1st rack empty	2nd rack empty	3rd rack empty	4th rack empty	Visual discrepancy
80	73 (+7)	65 (+15)	33 (+47)	1 (+79)	No

Notes:

• As they are modeled by rows of 4, shells disappear from the rack only after you've fired all shells in the row.
• Turret empty of shells (racks 1 & 2 emptied): 65 (+15) shells.

Machine guns

12.7 mm M2HB machine gun

Ammunition400 rounds

Belt capacity200 rounds

Reloadbasic crew → aces

10.4 → 8.0 s

Fire rate575 shots/min

Vertical guidance-10° / 40°

7.62 mm M1919A4 machine gun (coaxial)

Ammunition1 500 rounds

Belt capacity250 rounds

Reloadbasic crew → aces

10.4 → 8.0 s

Fire rate500 shots/min

12.7 mm M2HB
Mount	Capacity (Belt)	Fire rate	Vertical	Horizontal
Pintle	400 (200)	577	-10°/+40°	±180°

7.62 mm M1919A4
Mount	Capacity (Belt)	Fire rate	Vertical	Horizontal
Coaxial	1,500 (250)	500	N/A	N/A

The two machine guns on the M8 LAC are the good old .50 cal M2HB and the 7.62 mm M1919A4. The roof-mounted .50 cal can traverse 360 degrees and has great depression & elevation, posting a big threat to any plane that is flying too close to the M8. It has an unbelievable penetration of 31 mm at 10 m, meaning it can easily penetrate plenty of lightly armoured vehicles and even the side of some medium tanks. The 7.62 mm MG, on the other hand, can only efficiently damage exposed crews due to its low penetration.

Usage in battles

When using this vehicle keep in mind that you are virtually naked to every main gun, that means you should not expose yourself unnecessarily and not give the opponents a chance to shoot at you, coupled with the fact that the main gun can penetrate every other vehicle in its rank. Its excellent mobility gives this vehicle a very viable hit-and-run tactic. Ambush your opponent on your terms. After you destroy him, change your position again, find concealment or cover, use your fast reverse speed to your advantage, avoid one on one fights, and fair fights.

At the start of the match, the M8 is best used for a point-capping vehicle. Find a road connecting to a point to unleash its scary 90 km/h on-road top speed, and it is likely to get to the point before the enemy can. Once the point is capped, quickly move away as there are likely to be artillery strikes, which can critically damage the M8.

After capping a point, there are two good options (just examples, the player is free to play in their way). One is to hide at the side of the point, waiting for the enemy to re-cap it. Use its small profile to set up a good ambush, and flank the enemy unexpectedly. The fast-firing gun will genuinely shine when attacking several enemies from the side or rear, allowing the player to knock out a surprising amount of enemies. Once the enemies are wiped out, quickly re-cap the point and ambush again. Note that the player might want to change their position as some enemies might try and revenge.

Another playstyle is the hit-and-run tactic, thanks to its great mobility and small profile. If careful enough, it can travel between points like a ghost without being noticed and flank the enemies. The stabilizer will help a lot as it gives the player the ability to fire first. If the first shell missed or didn't penetrate, it can even finish off the enemy with the .50 cal HMG alone.

Enemies worth noting:

LVT series:

These amphibious tanks are well known for their huge hull size. Indeed, there is a huge space between the driving compartment and the fighting compartment that will absorb almost any incoming shells, and unfortunately, the M8's solid AP can't cope with this. If an M8 doesn't know where are the crew is located on an LVT, they will die due to not being able to knock out the crew effectively. Remember their crew location, and the M8 can easily take them out.

The driver is at the foremost part of the hull. Behind him, there is absolutely nothing, so you must avoid shooting there. Behind the empty space, the turret houses 2-3 crew members. Shoot there to disable its gun. And don't forget, at the very rear of the LVT, the two exposed machine gunners can be taken out with the .50 cal. Memorize those three main locations of the crew, and you can effectively destroy any LVT out there with your rapid reload. Also, if the angle isn't too large, the .50 can penetrate the LVT's weak armour.

Pros and cons

Pros:

• The M51 shell has 84 mm penetration at 100 m, enough to penetrate common opponents like the Pz.II, Pz.III B or Ha-Go, and the fast reload helps to precisely knock out the crew one by one
• The pintle-mounted heavy machine gun is very lethal against other similarly armoured vehicles (eg. AS 42, L3/33) and slow biplanes
• One of the fastest vehicles on road with a max speed of 90 km/h allows it to get to positions quickly
• Reverse speed of 12 km/h allows it to retreat from danger quickly
• Small profile makes ambushing/hiding easy

Cons:

• Wheeled vehicle, performs poorly off-road and cannot turn in place, and especially slow in desert maps like Sinai and snowy maps like Frozen Pass
• Virtually no armour, tight crew and open top make this vehicle very vulnerable to rapid-firing tanks like the Pz.II, M13 or strafing planes
• M6 cannon requires precision shots, as post penetration effects are weak especially against the LVT(A) series which are super spacious
• Turret traverse is rather sluggish, might not get the gun on target sometimes
• Looks very similar to the American M8 Greyhound, the lighter coloured camouflage can be hard to distinguish in Simulator Battles

History

During World War 2, more than 1,000 M8 armoured cars were lend-leased to the Allies, including Free France and Brazil. After WW2, the US Foreign Military Assistance Program donated surplus cars to the United States Constabulary in various Western European and Asian nations. French Forces noted usage of this car, and during the Korean and Vietnam War, both Viet Cong and Chinese got their hands on it as well, but the Korean Army was the primary user, who then donated them to the Vietnamese. Belgium also used these cars as part of NATO, and in UN forces sent to peacekeep in the Congo. M8s are still in service in Columbia, Guatemala, Peru, and Paraguay.

Chinese usage

The M8 greyhounds were supplied to National China (which was only Taiwan at this stage) by the US around 1950, roughly around the same time they were supplied with other tanks such as the M24 and M41. These tanks were exported to Taiwan in much greater quantities than the M8 LAC, therefore it saw little use in combat.

Media

Skins

• Skins and camouflages for the M8 LAC (China) from live.warthunder.com.

Videos

Best armored cars discusses the M8 LAC (China) at 0:32 - War Thunder Official Channel

M8 LAC, Taiwanese , Tier-1, Armored Car / Light Tank - Angry Nerd Gaming

See also

• M8 Greyhound (Family)

External links

• [World War II Database] M8 Greyhound (Web Archive)

Ford Motor Company
Armoured cars	M8 Greyhound
SPAAGs	M247 Sergeant York
Export	␗M8 LAC