M8A1 GMC

M8A1 GMC

M8A1 GMC

USA

II Rank

Battle rating:

AB	RB	SB
2.7	2.7	2.7

Class:

PREMIUM

Light tank

Purchase:Bundle or Gift

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Description

File:GarageImage M8A1GMC.jpg

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The 75 mm Gun Motor Carriage M8 is a gift rank II American tank destroyer with a battle rating of 2.7 (AB/RB/SB). It was introduced in Update 1.45 "Steel Generals", along with all other American tanks, but wasn't available until Winter of the 2014 as an unlockable gift in the "War Thunder Christmas Special". After that, the M8A1 became available again as a Warbond shop reward as part of War Thunder's 4th anniversary.

An upgunned M8 Scott armed with 75 mm M3 gun, the M8A1 is a light tank destroyer capable of flanking & destroying enemy tanks at the same time with its outstanding mobility.

General info

Survivability and armour

Armour type:

• Rolled homogeneous armour
• Cast homogeneous armour (Gun mantlet)

Armour	Front	Sides	Rear	Roof
Hull	28.5 mm (49-50°) Front glacis 44.1 mm (15-45°) Lower glacis	28.5 mm Top 28.5 + 5 mm Bottom	28.5 + 5 mm (2-46°) Top 25.4 mm (2-21°) Bottom	12.7 mm
Turret	38.1 mm (6-32°) Turret front 38.1 mm (13-62°) Gun mantlet	25.4 mm (20°)	25.4 mm (1°)	N/A

Notes:

• Suspension bogies and wheels are 15 mm thick while tracks are 10 mm thick.
• Tracks laid out on the turret side give an additional 10 mm of armour where they are stacked.
• Sandskirts on the bottom hull give additional 5 mm thickness.

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	71	19	15.6	419	565	26.86	36.22
Realistic	64	17		261	296	16.73	18.97

Armaments

Main armament

75 mm M3
Capacity				Vertical guidance	Horizontal guidance
46				-10°/+30°	±180°
Turret rotation speed (°/s)
Mode	Stock	Upgraded	Prior + Full crew	Prior + Expert qualif.	Prior + Ace qualif.
Arcade	7.10	9.90	12.00	19.60	20.90
Realistic	7.10	8.40	10.20	11.28	12.00
Reloading rate (seconds)
Stock	Prior + Full crew	Prior + Expert qualif.	Prior + Ace qualif.
8.71	7.71	7.10	6.70

Ammunition

Penetration statistics
Ammunition	Type of warhead	Penetration in mm @ 90°
		10m	100m	500m	1000m	1500m	2000m
M72 shot	AP	110	109	92	76	62	51
M48 shell	HE	10	10	10	10	10	10
M61 shot	APCBC	90	88	81	73	65	59

Shell details
Ammunition	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%
M72 shot	619	6.3	N/A	N/A	N/A	-1°	47°	60°	65°
M48 shell	463	6.3	0.4	0.5	666	+0°	79°	80°	81°
M61 shot	618	6.8	1.2	20	63.7	+4°	48°	63°	71°

Smoke characteristic
Ammunition	Velocity in m/s	Projectile Mass in kg	Screen radius in m	Screen time in s	Screen hold time in s:	Explosive Mass in g (TNT equivalent):
M89	259	3	13	5	20	50

Ammo racks

Ammo racks of the M8A1 GMC.

Full ammo	1st rack empty	2nd rack empty	3rd rack empty	4th rack empty	Visual discrepancy
46	35 (+11)	23 (+23)	12 (+34)	1 (+45)	Yes

Machine guns

12.7 mm M2HB
Pintle mount
Capacity (Belt capacity)				Fire rate (shots/minute)	Vertical guidance	Horizontal guidance
1,000 (200)				576	-5°/+70°	±180°

Usage in battles

This vehicle plays along with the American concept of the tank destroyers, fast and powerful, but lacking in armour. Using the terrain for cover is necessary to survive against the enemy shells, plus constant repositioning is needed to keep the enemy guessing where the M8A1 is located. However, if able to get the jump on the enemy, the 75 mm gun on this vehicle can destroy the vehicles at its rank and the addition of the .50 cal M2 Browning on top aids its versatility against lightly armoured vehicle and aircraft.

The main tactic for this vehicle is Shoot and Scoot, constant repositioning after every shot as the armour on the M8A1 is rather thin for its battle rating. If hiding behind a rock, pop up from one side then the other rather than just from one side to force the enemy to spend milliseconds reacquiring the M8A1 in their sights, milliseconds that can put the favor of the battle to the M8A1. This involves many trick and will take some time to learn, but once learned, the M8A1 will be a huge assist to the team. Be careful to not get greedy and trigger-happy, the exposure trying to get a target may result in a loss, so play conservatively and know full well when that sometimes there will only be assist and move on. An M8A1 that is used properly is such a powerful tool that it can single handily swing the game. That being said one unlucky second and it is a pile of charred metal, due to the huge amount of ammo crammed into such a small area

Modules

Tier	Mobility		Protection	Firepower
I	Tracks		Parts	Horizontal Drive
II	Suspension	Brake System	FPE	Adjustment of Fire	M69 Shot
III	Filters		Crew Replenishment	Elevation Mechanism
IV	Transmission	Engine		M89

Pros and cons

Pros:

• Multirole (tank destroyer / light tank role)
• 75 mm M3 gun taken from M4A1 Sherman, strapped onto M5A1 Stuart tank form
• Rapid rate of fire at 8.95 RPM (6.7 s reload time)
• Can easily destroy every tank it faces
• Reaches top speed (56 km/h) relatively fast
• High acceleration (42 km/h) for a light tank carrying 75 mm gun
• Doesn't lose speed drastically upon turning
• Flanks so well as a light tank (exactly like M5A1 Stuart)
• Decent turret traverse with Ace Crew up to 11.9°/s
• .50 cal machine gun can eliminate low flying aircraft & speeding light tanks such as BT-7
• .50 cal machine gun is low profile unlike many other American tanks, making it easier to hide
• No ammunition is stored inside the turret
• Commonly misidentified as short-gunned M8 Scott

Cons:

• Considerably big for a light tank destroyer
• Gun breaks down if the mantlet is penetrated
• Slippy maneuverability
• Prone to drifting
• Below average turret traverse rate for an American tank
• Light tank armour, cannot withstand hit
• Open topped turret (which exposes the crew & ammo rack) can be barraged by artillery & airstrikes
• All of its ammunition are stacked in every corner inside center compartment, single explosion in the middle of the hull can explode the ammo racks.
• Usually becomes a priority target when spotted due to its armament & mobility

History

Development

In United State's entry into World War II, the troops in the front lines require a support vehicle similar to those in use by the German forces in the form of the StuG III. The project for such vehicle began as a design submitted in late 1941, which was a M5 Light Tank mated with a howitzer on the hull front, designated the T41. This design didn't pass as the howitzer on the hull sacrificed crew protection. The design was revised on the same M5 light tank and instead had the M5 turret removed and replaced with an open-topped turret similar to the US tank destroyers M10 and M18, which mounted a 75 mm howitzer. This change caused the hatches for the driver and assistant driver to be placed on the glacis front rather than the hull roof. This design, called the T17E1 HMC was approved and put into production under the designation 75 mm Howitzer Motor Carriage M8, or the M8 Scott. The 75 mm M2 howitzer was the initial armament of the M8 before switching to the updated 75 mm M3 howitzer on the M8A1 variant. The howitzer was capbale of firing smoke M89 or high-explosive M48 rounds, the vehicle could hold 46 of these 75 mm rounds. The M8 does not have any machine guns on the coaxial or hull-mounted area, but a .50 cal Browning was mounted on the rear right corner of the turret for infantry defense. The vehicle was put into production in April 1942 and continued until January 1944, of which a total of 1,778 units were produced by Cadillac only.

Combat usage

These vehicles would go on to serve in the Italian Campaign, European Campaign, and in the Pacific in the hands of the US Army. The M8 saw use in American service until the M7 Priest 105 mm self-propelled gun could be fielded in large numbers, which stopped the M8 production and service in American units. After being phased out of American service, the M8 was then given to the Free French forces that use them in the Western Front of the European operations. The French continue to use them all the way to 1954 in the French-Indochina conflict in use by South-Vietnamese forces. Other users of the M8 included the Khmers national army, Laos, China, and the Philippines.

Media

Excellent additions to the article would be video guides, 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 the tank;
• other literature.

USA tank destroyers
M10	M10 GMC
M36	M36 GMC · M36B2
T95	T28 · T95
M109	M109A1
ATGM	LOSAT · M901
Wheeled	M3 GMC · T55E1
Other	M8 HMC · M50 · M56
China	▃LVT(A)(4) (ZIS-2)