M2

M2

M2

USA

I Rank

Battle rating:

AB	RB	SB
1.3	1.3	1.3

Class:

Medium tank

Research:2 900

Purchase:700

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This page is about the medium tank M2. For other uses, see M2 (Disambiguation).

Description

The Medium Tank M2 is a rank I American medium tank with a battle rating of 1.3 (AB/RB/SB). It was one of the first American tanks to be released with the American ground tree in Update 1.45 "Steel Generals".

The M2 medium tank, as the first medium tank of the American line-up, has some features that would become staple of the American ground forces that would be great to be familiarized with. The first of which is sloping front armour which, despite the base thickness of only 28.5 mm, gives the total frontal effective armour of 40 mm. The second is the handling and mobility, which are quite comparable to its successors with its weight distribution and speed. As such, driving experience with the M2 would greatly benefit in later games once past Rank I.

The M2 Medium has the most machine guns on a tank in the game. There are nine visible machine guns, two on the turret, four in the hull sponsons, two fixed in the front hull, and the coaxial machine gun. The reason for the M2 Medium's many machine guns is due to the US Army's infantry inter-war belief in the machine gun being the main weapon to support an assault, with the 37 mm gun only meant to support the tank when facing other tanks. The priority in the machine gun can be seen with the metal flaps on the rear, which would show in-game in the armour viewer as 5 mm RHA plates. These plates were meant for the rear sponson gunners to shoot the machine gun rounds to "ricochet" the bullets downwards onto trenches as the M2 Medium crosses over them. While it isn't possible to do this in the game, it is a good indication on how important the machine guns were in the M2 Medium's design.

General info

Survivability and armour

Armour type:

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

Armour	Front (Slope angle)	Sides	Rear	Roof
Hull	28.5 mm (53°) Front glacis 28.5 mm (17-48°) Lower glacis 28.5 mm (13-16°) Driver's port	25.4 mm (16-36°) Front 25.4 mm Everywhere else	25.4 mm (1°) Hull top 25.4 mm Top engine deck 9.5 mm (12-52°) Bottom engine deck	9.5 mm
Turret	25.4 mm (10-14°) Turret front 25.4 mm (9-54°) Gun mantlet	25.4 mm (20°)	25.4 mm (19°)	9.5 mm

An anti-tank weapon greater than 37 mm can often find a way through the armor. One significant weak point on the frontal glacis would be the driver's hatch, as it is lightly sloped at about 15°. Not only that, but getting hit in this location would often lead to a knock-out of both the driver and commander in the center, which would incapacitate the M2's mobility and firepower.

Though the M2 Medium seem to be cramped for six crew members, they are actual quite spaced from each other so regular AP shots would have to precisely hit each mark in a line to knock them all out. However, if an adequate APHE round penetrates from the front or side, it could incapacitate the majority of the crew in one shot. A hit between the rear 2nd and 3rd bogie suspension at the hull sides as the ammunition is stored there and a shot in this region could either remove the majority of the ammunition or blow the tank up with a rack detonation.

Mobility

Mobility characteristic
Weight (tons)	Add-on Armor weight (tons)	Max speed (km/h)
19.0	N/A	60 (AB)
		54 (RB/SB)
Engine power (horsepower)
Mode	Stock	Upgraded
Arcade	542	668
Realistic/Simulator	310	350
Power-to-weight ratio (hp/ton)
Mode	Stock	Upgraded
Arcade	28.53	35.16
Realistic/Simulator	16.32	18.42

Armaments

Main armament

37 mm M3
Capacity			Vertical guidance	Horizontal guidance	Stabilizer
200			-10°/+25°	±180°	N/A
Turret rotation speed (°/s)
Mode	Stock	Upgraded	Prior + Full crew	Prior + Expert qualif.	Prior + Ace qualif.
Arcade	5.24	7.25	8.80	9.73	10.35
Realistic	3.27	3.85	4.67	5.17	5.50
Reloading rate (seconds)
Stock	Prior + Full crew	Prior + Expert qualif.	Prior + Ace qualif.
3.77	3.33	3.07	2.90

Ammunition

Penetration statistics
Ammunition	Type of warhead	Penetration in mm @ 0° Angle of Attack
		10m	100m	500m	1000m	1500m	2000m
M74 shot	AP	66	65	55	46	38	31
M51 shot	APCBC	66	65	55	46	38	31

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%
M74 shot	AP	792	0.87	N/A	N/A	N/A	-1°	47°	60°	65°
M51 shot	APCBC	792	0.87	N/A	N/A	N/A	+4°	48°	63°	71°

Ammo racks

Ammo rack of the M2.

Full ammo	1st rack empty	2nd rack empty	Visual discrepancy
200	101 (+99)	1 (+199)	Yes

Machine guns

7.62 mm M1919A4
Coaxial mount
Capacity (Belt capacity)				Fire rate (shots/minute)	Vertical guidance	Horizontal guidance
3,000 (250)				500	N/A	N/A
Hull mount (#1)							Hull mount (#2)
Capacity (Belt capacity)				Fire rate (shots/minute)	Vertical guidance	Horizontal guidance	Capacity (Belt capacity)				Fire rate (shots/minute)	Vertical guidance	Horizontal guidance
3,000 (250)				500	N/A	N/A	3,000 (250)				500	N/A	N/A
Sponson mount (Front left)							Sponson mount (Front right)
Capacity (Belt capacity)				Fire rate (shots/minute)	Vertical guidance	Horizontal guidance	Capacity (Belt capacity)				Fire rate (shots/minute)	Vertical guidance	Horizontal guidance
3,000 (250)				500	70°/+20°	-4°/+30°	3,000 (250)				500	-20°/+70°	-4°/+30°
Sponson mount (Rear left)							Sponson mount (Rear right)
Capacity (Belt capacity)				Fire rate (shots/minute)	Vertical guidance	Horizontal guidance	Capacity (Belt capacity)				Fire rate (shots/minute)	Vertical guidance	Horizontal guidance
3,000 (250)				500	-10°/+70°	-4°/+30°	3,000 (250)				500	-70°/+10°	-4°/+30°

Usage in battles

The M2 with its decent frontal armour, mobility, and firepower allows it to compete in Rank I. However, it is best to use the vehicle from a distance as it would increase the sloped armour effectiveness against enemy rounds, which would've lost most of its power due to the distance. While the 37 mm cannon can penetrate most tanks at the BR, the gun is on a slow traversing turret, requiring for careful alignment of the turret in the right direction. Flanking enemies would make this a problem so stay in an area that can narrow down enemy paths and stay alert.

Past that, the M2 can prove forgiving with its aforementioned sloped armour and large crew size of six. Though a penetrating shell could knock out a good number of the crew in the cramped interiors, it will prove unlikely to knock out every single crew member in one shot. As such, even if shot on the side, it is possible to react against the flanking enemy if the driver or commander is still alive to align the gun onto the offending target.

In short, the M2 is a good jack-of-all-trades vehicle for the American tree line, a common trait as one moves on into the Rank II and Rank III vehicles.

Pros and cons

Pros:

• Reliable 37 mm gun with good penetration and rate of fire
• Has a higher than average crew count of 6 crew members
• Has 7 machine guns modeled and functional, which can be effective against thin-skinned vehicles and aircraft

Cons:

• Cramped tank interior and large number of crew means a penetrating hit will more than likely get one
• Turret rotation is very slow
• No ammunition with HE filler
• Large and tall, making it an easy target
• All the ammo are packed into neat little boxes in the bottom of hull, a shot at suspension area could set one off
• 7 machine guns is of questionable value against all but the lightest armoured vehicles
• Very thin roof armour of 9.5 mm
• Past the front, the overall tank surface is poorly sloped and angled
• Tall center of gravity, resulting in very unstable turns at high speeds and at risk of tipping

History

Development

The development of the M2 light tank also started a development for a new medium tank. Rock Island Arsenal took up the project and developed a vehicle known as T5. It was basically an upscaled M2 Light Tank, still using the vertical volute spring suspension (VVSS), and this modified vehicle was designated the M2 Medium Tank in June 1939. 18 units in, and the tank was upgraded with a redesigned turret and a more powerful engine, this variant was designated the M2A1 Medium Tank.

The M2 Medium Tank had a high profile, with a height of 9 ft. 3 in., and had lots of machine guns on it (nine machine guns!). On each corner of the hull had a mounted machine gun, each with a crew member to man it. In the front, the driver can fire two fixed machine guns facing forward on the glacis plate. Two machine guns could be mounted on the turret as anti-aircraft weapons. The turret mounted a 37 mm M3 gun with a coaxial machine gun. The tank had a crew of six, commander, driver, and the four machine gunners.

Production

1,000 of these tanks were ordered by the government in 1940 to be manufactured by Chrysler, but the German success in the Battle of France showed that the M2 Medium was becoming an obsolete design, so the order was changed to instead produce 1,000 M3 Lees before the M2 even started production. In this period, Rock Island Arsenal produced 94 M2A1 medium tank until August 1941. This brings the total produced tank to 112 M2 medium tanks, 18 M2s and 94 M2A1s. These M2 tanks were used for training at states for tank crew members.

Despite its obsolete status by 1940 due to the Soviet T-34 tanks and the German Panzer III tanks, it provided useful insight in the future of American medium tank designs. The M2 was one of the first American designs to incorporate sloping armour on the glacis effectively, and revealed to the American generals that an excessive amount of machine guns on tanks were useless in battle.

In-game description

American builders moved away from combination wheel and track vehicles to develop a new tank they termed the T5. In an attempt to save time and money, while also standardizing construction, they pulled components and units from the prototype T2 light tank (the prototype for the mass-produced M1) in addition to its layout and some chassis elements. The Rock Island Arsenal headed up the design process for the T5, which began in 1936, though the first prototype was ready for trials at the Aberdeen Proving Ground in February 1938. The experience showed that the powertrain could not cope with combat weight exceeding 15 tons and that the tank's frontal bullet-proof armor needed an upgrade. A slanted armor plate soon appeared, protecting the crew from all bullet calibers and shells up to 37-40 mm at long distances.

Later the T5 Phase II modification and its alternative powertrain appeared, and in spring of 1939 the engine was replaced with the 350 hp radial Wright R973. Other upgrades included installing the frontal hull plates at a better angle and moving a pair of machine guns to the right-hand side. The new vehicle was termed the T5 Phase III.

The T5E1 prototype and its Guiberson diesel engine was modeled after the T5. It was later employed in trials for experimental equipment and twin-mounted 37 mm cannons.

The tank headed for full-scale production and was accepted by the American army under the designation M2. The first set of 15 units got under way in August 1939 at the Rock Island Arsenal, with 18 total units featuring that particular modification eventually built.

The tank's primary drawbacks were weak armor, a riveted construction, a high profile, narrow tracks, and an under-powered engine.

Media

BenningTV Tank Talk: M2-A1

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

• [Devblog] Steel Generals: M2 Medium Tank
• [Devblog] Developers about M2