AB 43

AB 43

▄M3A3

AB 43

▄M3A3

Italy

II Rank

Battle rating:

AB	RB	SB
2.3	2.7	2.7

Class:

Light tank

Research:7 900

Purchase:10 000

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Description

The Fiat-Ansaldo Autoblinda 43 (shortened as AB 43) is a rank II Italian light tank with a battle rating of 2.3 (AB) and 2.7 (RB/SB). It was introduced in Update 1.85 "Supersonic".

General info

Survivability and armour

As a thin-skinned armoured car, the AB43 offers very little in the way of real protection with 8mm of armour all around, and a slightly thicker 35mm gun mantlet. This struggles to keep out heavy machine-gun fire at anything other than long-range and remains extremely vulnerable to artillery.

The vehicles' internal modules relatively widely spaced, however, so solid-shot AP rounds will often not knock out the AB 43 in a single hit. The cars' low-mounted ammo racks also reduce the likelihood of an ammo detonation.

Mobility

The AB 43 offers outstanding mobility on flat smooth ground. As well as a very high top speed, the vehicle also has an excellent turning circle making it extremely agile on more urban maps. The car also has fantastic reverse speed, being almost as fast in reverse as it is going forward. This allows the AB43 to escape from a bad situation incredibly quickly when the need arises.

As with most wheeled vehicles, however, the AB43 loses much of its speed on soft ground. Sand, thick mud and water of almost any depth slow the car to a crawl making it extremely vulnerable to enemy fire.

Mobility characteristic
Weight (tons)	Add-on Armor weight (tons)	Max speed (km/h)
7.8	N/A	90 (AB)
		81 (RB/SB)
Engine power (horsepower)
Mode	Stock	Upgraded
Arcade	170	210
Realistic/Simulator	97	110
Power-to-weight ratio (hp/ton)
Mode	Stock	Upgraded
Arcade	21.79	26.92
Realistic/Simulator	12.44	14.10

Armaments

Main armament

47 mm 47/40 mod.38
Capacity			Vertical guidance	Horizontal guidance	Stabilizer
146			-7°/+20°	±180°	N/A
Turret rotation speed (°/s)
Mode	Stock	Upgraded	Prior + Full crew	Prior + Expert qualif.	Prior + Ace qualif.
Arcade	13.3	__.__	__.__	__.__	__.__
Realistic	8.3	__.__	__.__	__.__	__.__
Reloading rate (seconds)
Stock	Prior + Full crew	Prior + Expert qualif.	Prior + Ace qualif.
__.__	__.__	__.__	__.__

Ammunition

Penetration statistics
Ammunition	Type of warhead	Penetration in mm @ 90°
		10m	100m	500m	1000m	1500m	2000m
Granata mod.35	HE	4	4	4	4	4	4
Granata Perforante mod.39	APBC	69	67	59	50	43	36

Shell details
Ammunition	Type of warhead	Velocity in m/s	Projectile Mass in kg	Fuse delay in m:	Fuse sensitivity in mm:	Explosive Mass in g (TNT equivalent):	Normalization At 30° from horizontal:	Ricochet:
								0%	50%	100%
Granata mod.35	HE	250	2.4	2	0.1	150	°	79°	80°	81°
Granata Perforante mod.39	APBC	755	1.4	1.2	15	30	°	48°	63°	71°

Machine guns

8 mm Breda Mod. 38
Coaxial mount
Capacity (Belt capacity)				Fire rate (shots/minute)	Vertical guidance	Horizontal guidance
1,992 (24)				600	N/A	N/A

Usage in battles

The AB43 makes for an extremely effective vehicle at its BR, combining outstanding mobility with an effective gun. This allows the vehicle to scout extremely well for its team, while still having the firepower to punish enemies who allow it to flank. Urban maps give the vehicle a chance to use its speed and mobility to quickly enter caps and good flanking positions, and their close-range gives the car a chance to outmanoeuvre larger enemies and fire shots into their rear and side armour.

On larger rural maps the AB43 will have to stick to roads in order to maintain its speed advantage, so players should be careful not to charge directly into enemy tanks. Players must be careful not to get caught out in the open, as the vehicles' tall profile makes it an easy target for enemies firing from a distance even when moving quickly.

The vehicle remains a fairly effective scout at higher battle ratings and can be a viable choice in higher-rank lineups if properly played. The 47 mm gun can still penetrate the side armour of most medium tanks up to 3.7, and its strong post-penetration effects give it good one-shot potential

The most consistently dangerous enemies for the AB43 are those with fast traversing, fast-firing guns that can hit the car as it races around the map. Heavy tanks such as the KV-1 are effectively immune to the 47mm gun, but only appear if the AB43 is teamed with higher-rank Italian tanks.

Pros and cons

Pros:

• Excellent speed and agility on flat ground, with an outstanding reverse speed
• Effective high-velocity gun against enemy contemporaries
• Speed and scouting ability remains useful in higher-rank lineups

Cons:

• Very poor armour and general survivability
• Extremely slow over poor terrain
• Large flat profile presents a good target for enemy guns
• The Italian tech tree lacks effective vehicles on par with AB43's matchmaking, often forcing players to make a lineup with higher-rank tanks

History

A prototype successor to the successful AB 41 armoured car. The turret was widened, with plans for a 47 mm gun (either the 47/32 or the new 47/40 to be used in the new M15/42 tanks) and a higher horsepower engine. The Germans seized the prototypes in the fall of Italy and ordered 102 made for their own use, which used the AB 41's 20 mm gun instead. These were sometimes designated AB 41/43s in German service.

Media

An excellent addition to the article will be video guides, as well as screenshots from the game and photos.

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

Paste links to sources and external resources, such as:

• topic on the official game forum;
• encyclopedia page on tank;
• other literature.

Italy light tanks
	Italy
L6/40	L6/40 · L6/40 (31 Rgt.)
M11/39	M11/39
Autoblindo	AB 41 · AB 43
Fiat 6614/6616	FIAT 6614 · AUBL/74 · AUBL/74 HVG
R3 Capraia	R3 T106 FA
Centauro	Centauro I 105 · Centauro I 105 R · Centauro I 120 · Centauro RGO · VRCC
Freccia	VBC (PT2) · Freccia
Dardo	Dardo · VCC-80/60 · VCC-80/30
Other	C13 T90
USA	▄M3A3 · ▄M24 · ▄M18
	Hungary
WWII	Csaba · Toldi IIA
Post	◔BTR-80A · KF41