LVT(A)(4)

This page is about the American light tank LVT(A)(4). For other versions, see LVT (Family).

LVT(A)(4)

LVT(A)(4)

USA

I Rank

Battle rating:

AB	RB	SB
1.3	1.3	1.3

Class:

PREMIUM

Light tank

Purchase:Bundle or Gift

Show in game

Description

The Amphibious Vehicle, Tracked, Armoured, Mark 4 - LVT(A)(4) was the fourth armoured, infantry support variant of the Amphibious Vehicle, Tracked - LVT, a vast family of amphibious warfare and landing craft developed by the U.S. Navy and U.S. Marines (the U.S. Navy and U.S. Marines use "L" to designate Amphibious Vehicles). The 37 mm main gun of the LVT(A)(1) was deemed insufficient for fire support by the U.S. Marines, thus the turret of the 75 mm Howitzer Motor Carriage M8 - M8 HMC, which is equipped with a 75 mm M2 howitzer, was modified to produce the LVT(A)(4). An M2HB Browning heavy machine gun was mounted on the ring mount above the turret's rear. The two M1919A4 light machine guns mounted on ring mounts on the aft deck behind the turret were removed. During World War II, a total of 1,890 units were built. The U.S. Army received 1,307 units, the British Army received 50, and the remaining units were used by the U.S. Marines.

Introduced during Update 1.97 "Viking Fury" as a reward for the 2020 Victory Day event, the LVT(A)(4) is a premium beginner light tank under the U.S. Army ground forces. It has similar firepower to the M8 HMC but has the unique ability to traverse across water, which most tanks do not have. To keep afloat in the water, the tank is made of relatively thin steel plates and provides little protection against anything heavier than light machine gun fire. Due to the low muzzle velocity of the rounds, it is possible to shoot over low obstacles in some situations, allowing players to damage other lightly armoured vehicles without exposing themselves. Finally, the M2HB Browning heavy machine gun can be highly effective while dealing with other lightly armoured vehicles as well as low and slow-flying aircraft in the beginner ranks.

General info

Survivability and armour

Armourfront / side / back

Hull12 / 6 / 6

Turret38 / 25 / 25

Crew5 people

Visibility133 %

Like its reserve rank brother, the LVT(A)(4) is a big tank with lots of space between modules and crew. This allows some surprising survivability when facing tanks that have low-calibre single shot guns, and even some automatic cannons such as the ones equipped on the Panzer II's. The LVT(A)(4)'s biggest adversary is HE or HEAT ammunition, such as the kind fired from the Chi Ha's 57 mm and Panzer IV's 75 mm. The LVT(A)(4)'s hull armour is very thin, and is only effective against rifle-calibre machine guns. The turret armour is a different story. With decent angles and relatively good thickness the turret can cause a fair amount of shots to ricochet or bounce. The turret is open-topped however, and is vulnerable to artillery and air attacks.

Armour type:

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

Armour	Front (Slope angle)	Sides	Rear	Roof
Hull	6.35 mm (84°) Upper glacis 12.7 mm (31°) Upper plate 6.35 mm (40°-80°) Lower glacis	6.35 mm Top 6.35 + 6.35 mm Bottom	6.35 mm	6.35 mm
Turret	38.1 mm Turret front 12.7 mm Gun mantlet	25.4-38.1 mm	25.4 mm
Commander's MG Ring	25.4 + 11.75 mm

Notes:

• The gun barrel (10 mm) is wrapped in 12.7 mm of armour
• The turret for the most part is open-topped, but at the very rear there are 9.5 mm of armour
• Tracks and Suspension - 15 mm
• Turret Ring - 12.7 mm + 6.35 mm Turret Ring Guard (Hull)
• Fenders - 6.35 mm

Mobility

Amphibious

The design allows you to swim and control movement in the water

Speedforward / back

AB45 / 6 km/h

RB and SB40 / 5 km/h

Number of gears5 forward

1 back

Weight18.1 t

Engine power

AB477 hp

RB and SB250 hp

Power-to-weight ratio

AB26.4 hp/t

RB and SB13.8 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	45	6	18.1	387	477	21.38	26.35
Realistic	40	5		221	250	12.21	13.81

The LVT's mobility is adequate. On hard surfaces it easily reaches its top speed of around 38 km/h. On soft surfaces it needs more time to accelerate, and the top speed is lowered. The reverse speed is extremely poor, which can cause you to take unnecessary hits. The hull traverse is great, allowing you to quickly change direction, however a downside is that when you turn the hull to aim, you might over-turn and swing the gun past the target, increasing the aiming time which can be fatal.

Due to its big and tall tracks, the LVT can drive over some obstacles that are too tall for normal-sized tanks.

Modifications and economy

Repair cost

AB410

RB218

SB1 000

Crew training450

Experts3 000

Aces45

Research Aces220 000

Reward for battleAB / RB / SB

2 × 20 / 20 / 50 %

2 × 100 / 100 / 100 %

Modifications

Mobility	Protection	Firepower
Tracks Suspension Brake System Filters Transmission Engine	Improved Parts Improved FPE Crew Replenishment	Horizontal Drive Adjustment of Fire Elevation Mechanism Artillery Support 75mm_us_M89_Smoke_ammo_pack

Armaments

Main armament

75 mm M2 howitzer

Ammunition100 rounds

Reloadbasic crew → aces

4.3 → 3.3 s

Vertical guidance-20° / 40°

75 mm M2 Howitzer					Turret rotation speed (°/s)					Reloading rate (seconds)
Mode	Capacity	Vertical	Horizontal	Stabilizer	Stock	Upgraded	Full	Expert	Aced	Stock	Full	Expert	Aced
Arcade	46	-20°/+40°	±180°	N/A	5.71	7.91	9.60	10.62	11.29	4.29	3.80	3.50	3.30
Realistic					3.57	4.20	5.10	5.64	6.00

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
M48 shell	HE	10	10	10	10	10	10
M66	HEAT	89	89	89	89	89	89

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%
M48 shell	HE	381	6.3	0	0.1	666	79°	80°	81°
M66	HEAT	304	6.02	0.05	0.1	548.13	62°	69°	73°

Smoke shell characteristics
Ammunition	Velocity (m/s)	Projectile mass (kg)	Screen radius (m)	Screen deploy time (s)	Screen hold time (s)	Explosive mass (TNT equivalent) (g)
M64	381	6.9	13	5	20	50

Ammo racks

Ammo racks of the LVT(A)(4)

Full ammo	1st rack empty	2nd rack empty	3rd rack empty	4th rack empty	Visual discrepancy
46	41 (+5)	32 (+14)	12 (+34)	1 (+45)	No

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-5° / 70°

12.7 mm M2HB
Mount	Capacity (Belt)	Fire rate	Vertical	Horizontal
Pintle	400 (200)	576	-5°/+70°	±180°

Usage in battles

The LVT(A)(4) is a fantastic fighting vehicle, it has a powerful 75 mm cannon attached to an LVT chassis is a great platform to fire on and giving its high profile, it is well built to fire over walls and other impediments. It is easy to hide the hull on some maps, like Abandoned Factory or Poland. One of the biggest issues, however, is that the vehicle is very easy to destroy with overpressure, so be very wary of vehicles firing powerful HE or HEAT shells such as the Spj fm/43-44 or the Sturmpanzer II, because if they get a shot off on your tank it will be destroyed. However, with the .50 cal machine gun, if enemies miss or do not destroy your vehicle, you can fire off a few bursts and destroy their vehicles.

Pros and cons

Pros:

• Good speed and manoeuvrability
• Five crew members with huge space between them increases survivability, especially when most guns it faces have small calibre and little explosive filler (e.g. the Stuart's 37 mm)
• Amphibious, meaning it can launch surprise attacks using rivers
• Amazing -20° gun depression allows excellent mountain combat ability
• Short reload time
• High penetration HEAT projectile
• High explosive filler will overpressure open-topped vehicles
• Heavy MG can effectively damage light vehicles and low-flying planes

Cons:

• Huge and tall hull makes it easy to be seen/shot at
• Very thin armour, can be penetrated by any cannon/heavy MG
• Easily destroyed with overpressure by large-calibre HE or HEAT shells, artillery strikes or air-dropped bombs
• Shells have low velocity which is a disadvantage in long range combat
• The crew in the open topped turret are very close together, meaning they can be taken out in a single shot or by aircraft
• Bad turret rotation, meaning it cannot respond to flankers in time
• Very slow reverse speed can prevent it from retreating back to cover in time

History

Development and Design

The vehicle's origins is from a swamp-access vehicle called the Alligator made for civilians. Donald Roebling, its developer, built an improved version of his vehicle with better speed in water. The United States Marine Corps became interested in this amphibious design as they began drawing up their amphibious warfare doctrine. They requested a more sea-worthy version of the vehicle for use in their military operations. Though Roebling and the Navy were reclusive on that idea (the Navy believes they have the current vehicle in store already), the idea brought fruit when World War II broke out in Europe and Roebling created a military version. After a few trials with improvements like a stronger engine, the Bureau of Ships placed a contract for 100 of these vehicles with all-steel armour. The first ones arrive in July 1941, with 200 more ordered before the initial contract was finished. The vehicle design was adopted and designated the LVT, with many different variants of the vehicle being produced throughout the war.

The first version of the LVT, the LVT-1, could carry 18 men or 4,500 pounds of equipment. The Marines first used the LVT-1 in Guadalcanal with 128 available to 1st Marine Division. Usage in the field revealed that the LVT was too thinly armoured for a rapid deployment back and forth the ships and landing site, but the Marines saw the vehicle's potential as an assault vehicle. So in June 1941, the Marines push forward with a Roebling design of the LVT armed with a gun turret. In order for this to be possible, the LVT underwent a redesign into the LVT-2 "Buffalo", which had a new powertrain and suspension to allow better performances on land and able to carry up to 6,950 pounds in equipment.

Early on it became clear that the LVTs that were in production - which were usually armed with only machine guns - did not have the firepower necessary to support the infantry, especially when facing enemy pillboxes, bunkers, and other entrenched positions used by the Japanese Army. In order to solve this problem, a fire support vehicle based on the LVT-2 was designed. It had a turret that was very similar to the turret of the M3 Stuart light tank. Before the introduction of the better armed LVT(A)-4 in 1944, 510 LVT(A)-1 were built by the Food Machinery Corporation.

The LVT(A)-1 was based on the LVT-2, but with a number of changes to make it a support vehicle. The LVT(A)-1 was fitted with a turret very similar to that of the M3 Stuart, and it was armed with the same 37 mm M6 cannon with 10 degrees of gun depression and 25 degrees of elevation. The main gun was fitted in the M4 mount, and there was a coaxial .30 cal (7.62 mm) machine gun. At the rear of the vehicle, two .30 cal Browning M1919A4 machine guns were fitted, and the gunners were protected by standard Navy gun shields. The deck was armoured, and the vehicle was fully enclosed. The front of the turret had 51 mm (2-in) of armour, and the ammunition was stored a number of racks throughout the vehicle. The vehicle had a crew of six; a commander and gunner in the turret, the driver and machine gunner in the front of the crew compartment, and two machine gunners at the rear of the vehicle. The LVT(A)-1 was a pure fire support vehicle, as there was no room inside to transport personnel or cargo. All the other features of the LVT(A)-1 were the same as on the LVT-2.

The LVT(A)-4 was essentially just an LVT(A)-1 but equipped with a different turret. It was still based on the LVT-2, but it has the turret of the 75 mm Gun Motor Carriage M8 "Scott" instead of the turret of the M3 Stuart light tank. Additionally, the two rear machine gun positions were removed; this reduced the crew to five, with the commander, gunner, and loader in the turret and the driver and co-driver in the front crew compartment. In total, 1,890 LVT(A)-4 vehicles were built, and they largely replaced the LVT(A)-1 in service. The 75 mm gun was more effective against fortified positions, but the 37 mm gun of the LVT(A)-1 was as effective or more effective against enemy armour. But, the main goal of the LVT(A)-1 and -4 was to support the infantry, not to destroy enemy armour - which is why the LVT(A)-4 was more effective.

The LVT(A)-4 was itself the basis of an improved fire support version of the LVT, the LVT(A)-5. This was an improved model of the LVT(A)-4. It featured a gyro-stabilizer for the main gun, and a powered turret. In the late 1940s many LVT(A)-5 received additional armour plating. A total of 269 LVT(A)-5 were produced.

Service

The first usage of the LVT family is as a cargo carrier in Guadalcanal, it was unarmoured at the time and only had machine guns as their main armaments. Their next usage was in Tarawa, which saw the first usage of the newly designed LVT-2. The vehicles in both cases carried ammunition, troops, and wounded back and forth the ships and the beach. After Tarawa, the LVT inventory increased by the battalion, as well as the appearance of the gun-armed LVT(A)-1 and LVT(A)-4. The LVT family continued to see service in Bougainville, the Marshall Islands, Saipan, Peleliu, Leyte (its largest usage in the war), Iwo Jima, and Okinawa. The LVTs also saw use in South East Asia in use by the British, but they never saw combat action.

Outside the Pacific, the LVT also saw use in the European Theater of Operations. Their first usage was in North Africa in November 1942 during Operation Torch to land troops, where its best usage was to get stranded landing boats back into action. The LVTs were also given to the British as part of Lend-Lease. The LVTs were used in the Normandy landings and other operations in Europe such as crossing the Rhine River in Germany and Po River in Italy.

After World War II, the LVTs continued to see action in the multiple conflicts in the world. A number were given to the Chinese Nationalists in the Chinese Civil War by America. Many of these were captured by the Chinese PLA, with some converted to use a 75 mm howitzer or a ZIS-2 anti-tank gun. The Americans used a number of LVT vehicles in the Korean War, notably the landing at Inchon and the attack on Seoul. The French also used American-supplied LVTs during the Indochina War and the Suez Crisis.

Media

Skins

• Skins and camouflages for the LVT(A)(4) from live.warthunder.com.

Images

• 

Videos

The LVT(A)(4) Light Tank - Orangefan

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

• [Event] Winner vehicles for the Victory anniversary
• [War Drawings] LVT(A)-4

Food Machinery Corporation (FMC)
Amphibious AFVs	LVT(A)(1) · LVT(A)(4)
IFVs	M3 Bradley · M3A3 Bradley